Team USA is currently leading the medal count at the Paris 2024 Olympics with 31 medals including 6 gold, 13, silver, and 12 bronze. This week, the United States breakdancing team makes its debut, and gymnast Simone Biles will return for the Aug. 5 floor exercise final. That’s not all though—the USA weightlifting team could be the best in 64 years. Here are 11 athletes to keep an eye on this week.
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Breaking athlete Victor Montalvo poses for a portrait during the 2024 Team USA Media Summit at Marriott Marquis Hotel on April 16, 2024 in New York City.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Breakdancer Victor Montalvo, 30, is making his debut for Team USA on Aug. 9 and 10. “I feel like it’s up to me to show this audience what breaking is all about,” he told Red Bull. “I want to be innovative. I want to create my own path and inspire others.”ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687352_883_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Jeffrey Louis tries on clothes during Team USA Welcome Experience ahead of Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at Polo Ralph Lauren on July 21, 2024 in Paris, France.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC
Jeffrey Louis, 29, is also making his Team USA breakdancing debut on Aug. 9 and 10. “I want to use that moment to create something,” he told TeamUSA.com. “A lot of people are going to come with moves, but if I don’t win, I want them to pull from that and say, that’s what real essence is.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687352_697_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Breaking athlete Sunny Choi poses for a portrait during the 2024 Team USA Media Summit at Marriott Marquis Hotel on April 16, 2024 in New York City. ” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Breakdancer Sunny Choi, 35, is making her debut on Aug. 9 and 10. “I’m feeling a lot of nerves and anxious,” she told NBC News. “I have moments where I feel proud, or I feel gratitude.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687353_522_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Logan Edra tries on clothes during Team USA Welcome Experience ahead of Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at Nike on July 21, 2024 in Paris, France.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC
Logan Edra, 21, is making her breakdancing Team USA debut on Aug. 9 and 10. “My relationship with breaking is very spiritual and also very tough,” she told Red Bull. “There were a lot of traumas and hardships I had to get through as a kid, but when I’m breaking, it helps me find release from those and balance. Breaking was born out of struggle, so I feel at home and like I belong when I’m dancing. When I break, I feel like a superhero. I feel empowered.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687353_1_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Noah Lyles of the United States celebrates winning the mens 100m final during the London Athletics Meet, part of the 2024 Diamond League at London Stadium on July 20, 2024 in London, England. ” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Paul Harding – British Athletics/British Athletics via Getty Images
Track & field athlete Noah Lyles, 27, will be competing in the the 200m on Aug. 5-6 and the 4x100m relay on Aug. 8-9. “I’ve become kind of popular in the village,” he told USA Today. “Unfortunately, that has come with its own set of challenges, being able to find my own space within the village whether that’s eating or training in the gym.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687354_177_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Jordan Chiles of the United States performs her floor routine during the Artistic Gymnastics Team Final for Women at the Bercy Arena during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on July 30th, 2024, in Paris, France.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Gymnast Jordan Chiles, 23, will compete in the floor exercise final on Aug. 5. “I’d rather try and do everything and give everything and be like, ‘Whatever happens, happens,'” she told Business Insider.
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687354_943_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Simone Biles of the United States performs her floor routine during the Artistic Gymnastics Team Final for Women at the Bercy Arena during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on July 30th, 2024 in Paris, France.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Gymnast Simone Biles, 27, will also compete in the floor exercise final on Aug. 5 after leading the women’s gymnastics team to win the gold on July 30.
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687355_980_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=” Quincy Wilson looks on after competing in the men’s 400 meter semi-final on Day Three 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Track & Field at Hayward Field on June 23, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon. ” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Track & field athlete Quincy Wilson is just 16 and will compete in the 4x400m relay on Aug. 9. He is the youngest male track athlete to represent the United States in the Olympics.
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687355_726_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Weightlifter Jourdan Delacruz poses for a portrait during the 2024 Team USA Media Summit at Marriott Marquis Hotel on April 16, 2024 in New York City. ” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Weightlifter Jourdan Delacruz, 26, will be competing on Aug. 7-11. “In weightlifting, you’re surrounded by really uplifting people,” she told TeamUSA.com. “Women’s weightlifting is a lot larger now, but when I started, it was pretty tight-knit and small. They were very welcoming, and I felt really supported. I think that’s why I pursued it so fully.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687356_164_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”US Olivia Reeves competes in the women’s 81kg weightlifting snatch event of the Pan American Games Santiago 2023, at the Chimkowe Gymnasium in Santiago on October 23, 2023.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images
Weightlifter Olivia Reeves, 21, will also be competing on Aug. 7-11. “I just like breaking my personal records,” she told USA Weightlifting. “That is the most fun really. Me against me. I always want to do my best.”
” src=”https://cirrkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722687356_925_11-Olympic-Athletes-You-Need-to-Watch-This-Week.jpg” alt=”Wesley Brian Kitts of Team United States competes during the Weightlifting – Men’s 109kg Group A on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo International Forum on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.” width=”500″ height=”366″ />Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Weightlifter Wes Kitts, 34, will be competing on Aug. 7-11. “I think it’s gonna be really cool to have those memories and those pictures and just to get to do the Olympics how it was supposed to be last time,” he told NBC Sports. “To get to walk in the Opening Ceremony and to do the vacation afterwards with my wife and to have my boys come there.”
