With 6 Months Until the Olympics, Meet 6 US Athletes Poised to Win Gold in Tokyo

Sport: Gymnastics

Easiest pick on this list, and it's not even close. Barring injury, Simone Biles is a lock to make the US gymnastics team and begin what is likely her final Olympic run. The 23-year-old is looking to cement her status as the greatest gymnast of all time, with five Olympic and 25 World Championship medals already under her belt. Her tricks get more stunning every year (she has three named after her, which means she was the first to perform them in competition), and the level of difficulty and the ease of her execution put her miles above the rest of the competition. When Biles is in the arena, it's required viewing.

Sport: Swimming

Caeleb Dressel has already drawn the inevitable Michael Phelps comparisons: he swims the same strokes (freestyle and butterfly), has broken Phelps's world records, and already holds two Olympic relay golds from Rio. Coming off an incredibly successful showing at the 2019 World Championships — he took home eight medals, six of them gold — Dressel will be looking to make a name for himself on the Olympic stage. And he'll have ample opportunity to do so; he could try for as many as seven golds in Tokyo.

Sport: Track and field

Do yourself a favor and go watch Noah Lyles's 200-meter race and 4x100-meter relay leg from the 2019 World Championships. Not only is Lyles one of the best sprinters on the planet, but he's also electrifying to watch, with the kind of stride that's as smooth and easy as it is powerful. The US track and field team will be a force at Tokyo, and Lyles, pending his qualification and entering his first Olympics with two world championship golds under his belt, will be one of its leaders.

Sport: Track and field

Dalilah Muhammad owns the 400-meter hurdles world record twice over; she broke it once at the 2019 USA Track and FIeld National Championships and then again, later that year, at the world championships. She's also going into Tokyo as the defending Olympic champion but with major competition from fellow American Sydney McLaughlin, who has bested her in past Diamond League races. If both qualify for Tokyo (they're expected to), this showdown showdown and Muhammad's unflappable dominance on the world stage will be riveting.

Sport: Swimming

If you only remember Simone Manuel for her groundbreaking gold medal in 2016, let us be the ones to inform you that she's only gotten better since. Manuel grabbed four golds at the 2019 World Championships and has said upfront that she's looking to take home multiple medals in 2021. Can she defend and add on to her golds in the 100m free and the 4x100 medley?

Sport: Soccer

We could've closed our eyes and pointed to anyone on the US Women's National Team (USWNT) for this list, but Lavelle more than deserves the spot. We won't be forgetting her virtuoso, take-on-the-whole-opposing-defense goal in the 2019 World Cup Final any time soon, capping off a tournament in which she managed to shine on a team full of stars and even take home the Bronze Ball as the tournament's third-best player. Lavelle is peaking at the right time, because USWNT have a bone to pick at Tokyo: in 2016, the team went home medal-less for the first time since the sport's Olympic debut in 1996. While the final roster hasn't been set, fresh faces like Lavelle, Samantha Mewis, and Lindsey Horan are going to be big factors as the team looks to reclaim gold.

Sport: Surfing

OK. . . we couldn't keep this list to just six. We're too excited to watch surfing star Carissa Moore represent the US in Tokyo this summer, when the sport will make its Olympic debut! Moore has captured four world titles in her decorated career, the most recent coming in December 2019 after a heated three-way race with fellow Americans Caroline Marks and Lakey Peterson. Moore is currently ranked second in the world and, as the defending world champion, she's already an early Olympic favorite with momentum on her side.