Rio Games: Six young athletes to keep an eye on

Published : Jul 26, 2016 13:58 IST

Fernando Gaviria is one of the hottest young riders on the track today and won the omnium title at the 2015 world cycling championships. In 2014, the Colombian created waves on the road too, when he defeated legendary sprinter Mark Cavendish in two sprint finishes at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.

The 19-year-old Ami Kondo won the -48kg title in the 2014 world judo championships with a series of dazzling performances. She also secured the gold medal in the same weight category at the junior world championships in the same year. The Japanese has maintained consistency and is now a favourite for the title in the Rio Games.

Jaheel Hyde won the gold in the 400m hurdles at the junior world championships last year and posted a stunning world youth record of 12.96 on his way to the 110m hurdles gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. The 18-year-old Jamaican will now be eyeing glory in Rio.

Katie Ledecky shot to fame when she stunned favourite Rebecca Adlington to win the 800m freestyle gold at the London 2012 Games. The United States swimmer has since won four world titles and set numerous world records and could compete for seven gold medals in 2016.

Marcus Vinicius D'Almeida is known as the "Neymar of Archery" in Brazil and you can understand why. The 18-year-old Brazilian won silver at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and three gold medals at the South American Games in Santiago, both in 2014.

Simone Arianne Biles is a familiar face in the world of artistic gymnastics. Biles is the three-time world all-around champion (2013–15), three-time world floor champion (2013–15) and two-time world balance beam champion (2014, 2015). Biles is also the first African-American to be world all-around champion.

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Fernando Gaviria is one of the hottest young riders on the track today and won the omnium title at the 2015 world cycling championships. In 2014, the Colombian created waves on the road too, when he defeated legendary sprinter Mark Cavendish in two sprint finishes at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.
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