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Sport’s Future Record Breakers

Body/ Life — 15 January 2020 / 1 min read

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AUTHOR — Aaron Toumazou

Following a decade of achievement from Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Christiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps and co., the ’20s will unveil a new generation of the athletic elite. Some may already be on your radar, many will emerge from this year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo, where podium top spots will be challenged and world bests smashed.

From tennis court to football pitch; diving board to climbing wall; here are the young sportsmen and women likely to be making it into the record books in the years to come.

Sport’s Future Record Breakers

Janja Garnbret, Sport Climbing

Sport climbing makes its Olympic debut this year, and hotly tipped to take home the top prize from the new event is 20-year old Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret.

The last two years have seen Garnbret emerge triumphant in the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) World Championships, both for bouldering and combined climbing, and she also became the first athlete to win every bouldering world cup event in a single season last year.

Caeleb Dressel, Swimming

Last year saw the most triumphant swimmer of the last decade, Michael Phelps, have three of his world records broken. Then 22-year old Caeleb Dressel was responsible for two of these.

Both came in July’s World Aquatics Championship, where the American won a record eight medals (also breaking Phelps’ record of seven in a single competition).

Having taken home two golds in the Rio 2016 Olympics as part of the US relay team, his first individual Olympic medal is surely on the cards this Summer.

Ellie Downie, Gymnastics

British gymnast Ellie Downie got a taste for competition of Olympic proportions in 2016 aged only 16. The 2017 European Championships that followed cemented her place in the British gymnastic hall of fame early when she became the first Brit to qualify for all finals at a major international event.

In 2019, she won the British all-around title for a second time and took all-around silver at the European Championships in Poland.

In a sport where elite participants generally peak much earlier than in other disciplines, Tokyo could well be her final shot at Olympic medals, but it doesn’t look likely that’ll hinder her commitment to athletic achievement down the line. In an interview with the Telegraph, she alluded that the transferrable speed and agility could see her take to the track once she’s done on the bars.

Kylian Mbappé, Football

Aged only 21, Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé has been considered one of the best footballers in the world for some time now. He highlighted his worth as part of France’s world cup-winning squad in Russia, 2018, where he became the second teenager to score in a world cup final after Pelé.

Known for his finishing, dribbling and immense speed, the number seven forward has also achieved accolades such as Ligue 1 player of the year in his debut senior season with Monaco and is already PSG’s ninth top goalscorer in the club’s history.

Coco Gauff, Tennis

A 15-year old Coco Gauff put on an extraordinary show at Wimbledon last year before being knocked out by eventual champion Simona Halep. Conquered in the fourth round, she parted the All England Club having raised the eyebrows of some of the biggest names on the court; not only Halep but Andy Murray and Serena Williams, too.

“I personally was nothing like her at 15,” said Williams about Gauff's Wimbledon effort. “First of all, I didn’t play like that. I didn’t look like that. She’s just so poised...” High praise indeed.

Lois Toulson, Diving

The GB team has made many splashes on the diving board in recent years, and the latest prodigy to rise through the ranks is Huddersfield-born Lois Toulson.

The 10-metre specialist won bronze in her 2018 Commonwealth Games debut, and following the silver medal she achieved in the synchronized 10-meter platform event at Rio 2016, there are high hopes for her individual 10-meter debut in Tokyo this summer.

Noah Lyles, Track & Field

Three gold medals in Tokyo is the next big goal for 22-year-old Noah Lyles, who’ll compete for the 100-, 200- and 4x100-metre relay titles.

Having clocked a 19.65 200-metre race for a new meet record at Paris's 2019 Diamond League, dethroning Usain Bolt’s 19.73 at the same event, young Lyles shows a lot of promise when it comes to stealing titles from the man who’s long owned the short-distance track.

Katie Ledecky, Swimming

With a total of 15 World Championship gold medals, 22-year-old Katie Ledecky has stood at the top of the podium more than any other female swimmer in history and is currently the world record holder for women’s 400-, 800- and 1,500-metre freestyle.

As part of Team USA, she’s had her fair share of Olympic golds too, and competitors will be hard-pressed to get ahead in any of the four distances she’ll be competing in come July.

Simone Biles, Gymnastics

Of all the young talents on this list, few have quite the medal potential in Tokyo’s Olympic games as Simone Biles. At 22, she’s already the reigning gold medalist from Rio 2016’s individual all-around, vault and floor events.

And if you caught just a snippet of 2019’s World Championships in Stuttgart, you’ll no doubt have been inundated by her achievements. Her five top placings tied her for most gold medals won at a single World Championships with Larisa Latynina and Boris Shakhlin, both of whom set the bar as far back as 1958.

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Sport’s Future Record Breakers