The Most Inspiring Athletes You’ll Want to Root For at the 2016 Olympics Inline

  • ShellyAnn FraserPryce
    Photo: Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty Images
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    Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Track and Field, Jamaica

    Many will be cheering as Usain Bolt attempts to sweep gold for the third year in a row, but don’t overlook fellow Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The 29-year-old runner, also known as Pocket Rocket, may become the first woman to ever win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter track race.

  • Leila Liina and Lily Luik
    Photo: Ints Kalnins/ Reuters
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    Leila, Liina, and Lily Luik, Track and Field, Estonia

    The three blonde Estonian Luik sisters have already given themselves a nickname in preparation for this year’s Olympics: The Trio to Rio. And while they’re not expected to medal in the women’s marathon event, the Luiks have already made history by becoming the first triplets to qualify for the Olympics.

  • The Womens Team USA Soccer
    Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images
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    The Women’s Team, Soccer, USA

    The American women’s soccer team has been battling for pay equality at home. What better way for the 2015 World Cup champions to prove they deserve everything they’re asking for and more than by winning their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, cementing themselves as the undisputed best soccer team in the world?

  • Ren Qian
    Photo: Buda Mendes / Getty Images
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    Ren Qian, Diving, China

    China has long dominated diving, and this 15-year-old is a strong contender to take home the gold at her first Olympics in the individual 10-meter diving platform. Ren Qian first gained international attention at the FINA World Cup earlier this year, where she scored a perfect 10 in that event.

  • Oksana Chusovitina
    Photo: Thomas Coex / AFP / Getty Images
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    Oksana Chusovitina, Gymnastics, Uzbekistan

    If American gymnast Aly Raisman is called “Grandma Aly” because she’s competing at 22, we shutter to think what people might name 41-year-old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan. Remarkably, Chusovitina has qualified for seven Olympic games (yes, seven) throughout her career starting in 1992, when she won a team gold medal. Now she’s hoping to nab a prize in the vault event, for which she won silver in 2008.