RED WHITE & WHO?
UNDER-THE-RADAR AMERICANS YOU’LL BE HEARING FROM DURING THE GAMES
The names Simone Biles and Kevin Durant are well known among sports fans, but there are plenty of American athletes in Tokyo who you likely have not heard of. From swimmers to sprinters to softball players, The Post breaks down the Team USA stars to keep an eye on during the Olympics:
Sydney McLaughlin Track & Field
McLaughlin, 21, is just getting started. Last month, at the Olympic trials, the Dunellen, N.J., native broke Dalilah Muhammad’s world record in the 400m hurdles while securing her second Olympic berth. McLaughlin has a specific routine — she brings her Minions blanket with her to each competition and eats gummy bears the night before each race. It has worked, and now she will try to replicate her success in
Tokyo. — David Lazar
Nevin Harrison Canoeing
The 19-year-old prodigy began her career as a serious canoer just five years ago, when hip dysplasia truncated her budding track-and-field pursuits. A year later, Harrison represented the U.S. competitively for the first time. Her meteoric rise reached new heights at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, where the Seattle native won gold in the 200m race, becoming the first American to win a world title in a sprint canoe event. — Jared Greenspan
Noah Lyles Track & Field
Lyles has been hailed as the next great American sprinter since he burst onto the scene as a high school phenom. Now the 23-year-old, a native of Gainesville, Fla., finally has a chance to burnish his reputation with gold in Tokyo. After failing to qualify for the 100-meter dash — he finished a disappointing seventh last month at the U.S. trials — he rebounded with a blistering, world-leading time of 19.74 in the 200 meters. Focusing on the 200 only further stamps him as the favorite. — David Lazar
Torri Huske Swimming
Huske, the 18-year-old swimming sensation from Arlington, Va., made waves when she broke the U.S. 100-meter butterfly record twice at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb., last month. The first-time Olympian previously won five gold medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m mixed medley relay and the 4x100m medley relay. The incoming freshman at Stanford is considered a medal contender in the 100-meter butterfly in Tokyo. — Elizabeth Karpen
Women’s 3x3 basketball team
Meet the U.S. team of four WNBA players trying to capture the inaugural gold medal in this new Olympic event. Allisha Gray, 26, is the do-everything wing player, a former national champion at South Carolina and the No. 4 draft pick by the Dallas Wings in 2017. Kelsey Plum, 26, is a ball-handler and microwave scorer — she became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer at Washington and was the No. 1-overall pick by the Las Vegas Aces in 2017; she missed the 2020 season due to a torn Achilles. UConn alum Stefanie Dolson, 29, of Port Jervis, N.Y., is the team’s big, at 6-foot-5, and a capable 3-point shooter. Jackie Young, 23, the No. 1-overall pick in 2019, was a late replacement for Katie Lou Samuelson, who tested positive this week for COVID-19. — Evan Orris
Caeleb Dressel Swimming
There are high hopes for Dressel, the world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, in his second Olympics. While still in the middle of a decorated college career at the University of Florida, the Green Cove Springs, Fla., native won gold medals in Rio in the 4x100 meter freestyle and the 4x100 medley relay. In Tokyo, Dressel, 24, will be competing in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and as many as four relays.
— Elizabeth Karpen
Jessica Springsteen Equestrian
The daughter of “The Boss,” Springsteen is heading to Tokyo alongside her 12-year-old stallion, Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, as a member of the U.S. equestrian jumping team. Springsteen, who grew up on a 300-acre farm, began riding at the age of 4. The 29-year-old earned a spot on the U.S. team as an alternate at the 2012 London Games and missed out on the Rio Games in 2016 due to recurring leg issues. She enters the Tokyo Olympics slotted at 27th in the world rankings. — Jared Greenspan
Mariah Duran Skateboarding
The 24-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., will compete in Tokyo in the women’s street division — she currently is ranked No. 7 in the world — of the first Olympics skateboarding competition. Duran started her career at the age of 10 and entered her first competition at the age of 13. In 2018, she won her first gold medal at the X Games, after which she quit her job at a local pizzeria to focus on skating.
— Evan Orris
Christen Press Soccer
Press may not be the most recognizable name on a stacked USWNT roster — that’s where Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan come in — but she is the World Cup winners’ most in-form player and their leading scorer over the past two years. Press has been directly involved in 37 goals (either scoring or assisting) in her past 38 games with the U.S. squad. Press, 32, from Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., has 63 career international goals. This is her second Olympics: She was part of the U.S. team that suffered a disappointing quarterfinal exit at the Rio Games in 2016. — Jared Greenspan
Triston Casas Baseball
The 21-year-old slugger is the top prospect in the Boston Red Sox’s farm system and is expected to be the starting first baseman for a USA baseball team that contains a mix of minor leaguers and former major league journeymen. Casas, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., was selected with the No. 26-overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. Now with Boston’s Double-A Portland affiliate, he has put up 25 home runs and 109 RBIs in his first 166 pro games. — Evan Orris
Adeline Gray Wrestling
Gray, 30, is among the favorites to take home a gold medal in the heavyweight category at this year’s Olympics. The Denver native is the only U.S. wrestler, male or female, to have won five world titles, and the first American woman to win back-to-back world titles since 1999. Gray also has been an outspoken advocate in trying to grow the sport of women’s wrestling. — David Lazar
Nelly Korda Golf
Korda, 22, is on the brink of stardom, having won three tournaments in 2021 — including her first major at the KPMG Women’s
PGA Championship in June — to become the third American to climb to No. 1 in the Rolex World Golf Rankings. The Bradenton, Fla., native is from a family of sports standouts. She’ll be joined on the Olympic golf team by her sister Jessica, 28. Father Petr won the 1998 Australian Open in tennis, mother Regina Rajchrtova was an Olympian in 1988 in tennis and younger brother Sebastian recently reached the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Cat Osterman/ Monica Abbott Softball
Softball is back in the Olympics — and so are two iconic pitchers. Osterman, a Houston native, was a four-time All-American during a legendary college career at Texas. The 38-year-old won two Olympic medals — gold in 2004 and silver in 2008 — before softball was discontinued as an Olympic sport. In the 2008 Olympics, she threw a seven-inning no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Australian national team. Abbott, a 35-year-old from Salinas, Calif., also pitched for the 2008 squad in Beijing, posting a 0.29 ERA with a 3-0 record while striking out 32 batters. — Evan Orris
Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil Beach volleyball
Claes, 25, and Sponcil, 24, are shaking up the veteran-heavy sport of beach volleyball. The firsttime Olympians will be the youngest U.S. team to compete at the Summer Games and the first Olympic products of NCAA beach volleyball. Before teaming up on the international circuit, Claes, who is from Placentia, Calif., won consecutive NCAA crowns at USC; Phoenix native Sponcil did the same in her time at UCLA. The duo punched their tickets to Tokyo after unseating beach volleyball legend Kerri Walsh Jennings and partner Brooke Sweat as the No. 2 U.S. pair. — Elizabeth Karpen
Sunisa Lee Gymnastics
Alongside the otherworldly Simone Biles, Lee headlines what some believe to be the most talented U.S. gymnastics team in history. Lee, 18, earned a trip to Tokyo with a dazzling performance at last month’s U.S. gymnastics trials: She posted the highest all-around score on the second day of the event, the first time any gymnast had bested Biles in any phase of an all-around meet since 2013. At the 2019 world championships, Lee won medals in the floor exercise and the uneven bars. The St. Paul, Minn., native is already making Olympic history, becoming the first Hmong American to make the gymnastics team.