Sport: Surfing
Country: Australia
It'll be surfing's first year in the Olympics and expectations are high, especially for living legends like Gilmore. A seven-time world champion (tied with Layne Beachley for the most women's titles of all time), Gilmore was the first surfer to win a world title in her rookie season, back in 2007. Now 32, she continues to dominate pro surfing and finished the 2020 season ranked No. 4 in the world, the top-ranked Australian going into Tokyo. Watching the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as a 12-year-old caused Gilmore to fall in love with the idea of going to the Olympics, she told POPSUGAR in February. "I never thought I'd get the chance as a surfer, but here we are, and it's like a dream come true." Gilmore beat the current world champion, Carissa Moore, at the last competition of 2019, and she's a fierce competitor who could make a major play for gold.
Image Source: Getty / Ed Sloane / Contributor