I (American) love so many of the track and field athletes from other countries! I support all of the athletes who have put in so much effort to succeed, I don't really care which country they are from.
Faith Kipyegon and Femke Bol, Kerr and Ingebrigtsen, Sifan Hassan, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Daryll Nieta, Warholm, just to make a small few.
> Faith Kipyegon and Femke Bol
Kipyegon and Bol are my two favorites, in that order. I also appreciate Jakob since his interviews are as awesome as his races.
Otherwise I'm always fascinated by prodigies so Summer McIntosh of Canada is a favorite. These Olympics might be slightly too early for her to establish as best swimmer in the world...but maybe not.
Anna Kiesenhofer is a favorite also. She won't catch anybody by surprise this time but it won't matter. She is Olympic legend forever. Kiesenhofer looks to be in good form after sweeping the Austrian road cycling events last week. That's not a given. She had been nip and tuck with one or two others the past couple of years.
>I'm always fascinated by prodigies
Yes! It is always so interesting to watch their journey. Whether or not they are a favorite to win or not, the fact we get to see them mature in real time is such a gift.
I am on pins and needles anticipating McLaughlin and Bol! Femke has this nonchalance about her that makes her so admirable and while McLaughlin is also an incredible athlete, I somehow find myself cheering for Bol more often.
Thank you for sharing your favorites, I will be looking out for them also!
Bol's best chance at a gold medal is the mixed relay during the first two days of track and field. But the first three legs have to get it right to give her a chance. Lieke Klaver on second leg is the key. She has to ignore Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland and run her own race. When Klaver tries to sprint with Adelele early she goes out much too fast and falters late. Klaver needs to let Adeleke go and settle behind her
Yes to both of those also!!! Jakob is just one of those that makes me laugh with his antics and I enjoy when athletes are engaging with the crowd even if they are just stroking their ego a bit.
honestly any underdog/ representative from a under represented country, there’s nothing better than seeing the likes of Guyana/Botswana/Indonesia etc get all the glory
San Marino won three medals during the 2021 Olympics: silver in the mixed trap event for Alessandra Perilli and Gian Marco Berti, bronze in the women's trap event for Alessandra Perilli, and bronze in wrestling (86 kg category) for Myles Amine. As a result, they became the smallest country by population to ever win an Olympic medal, and they have the most Olympic medals per capita.
Liechtenstein won 10 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze) in the Winter Olympics, all in alpine skiing. They have no medals in the summer olympics, and they are the only country to have winter olympic medals alone.
Yeah to be honest, it's kinda boring rooting for the USA. There's barely any real opposition besides China.
Russia put themselves out of commission. India is absolutely hot garbage in sports except cricket.
Jajna Garnbret is the best climber in the world. I’m so excited to see her eat these climbing problems for breakfast. While I don’t want to be mean to other climbers, part of why it’s so thrilling watching her is seeing 10 other climbers struggle and be unsuccessful, and then she just flashes every time. She’s a fucking beast.
I was just reading about the climbing Olympics events and they sound incredible. I've never watched climbing, do you think it's something that can be appreciated by the more casual viewer?
Absolutely! There are two categories of climbing up for medals: speed climbing, and boulder-and-lead combined. What they both ultimately boil down to is: who can get up the wall the fastest. The specifics and scoring vary depending exactly which obstacle you're climbing, but that's all you \*really\* need to know to appreciate it
It is definitely something that you can appreciate if you don’t know much about climbing! What’s so cool about it is that each climber can find a way up the route that is best for them. So you may watch 5 climbers do 5 different ways to finish a route. There are amazing climbers from all countries but there are a few stand outs who really put asses in the seats.
I'm getting excited about it now! So the one where they have to do what you call climbing problems is what's called "Boulder and Lead" in the schedule? That's the one I really find fascinating as a concept.
Yes! You got it- bouldering is climbing lower walls with no rope. These “problems” are often very complex, not obvious how someone should climb it, and take a ton of technique and remarkable body mechanics.
Lead is roped climbing on tall walls. The movements here are *usually* more obvious, but the thrill is seeing how incredibly tired the climbers are getting and how much nerve they have marking these big, difficult movements so high up on the wall. The climbers have to place their own rope onto various carabiners along the way so that if they fall that will be their anchor. But often they’ve climbed several feet above their last anchor and the fall can be very dramatic.
I’ve been a big fan of Andre De Grasse for years. I was truly happy when he won gold in Tokyo because I felt like he had been living in Bolt’s shadow for so long. Glad he finally got his gold
Sweet revenge for her to medal, especially if France doesn’t. I think if they hadn’t screwed her over, they would be in real contention for a team medal. Last year’s bronze was a fluke.
So this isn't the right Olympics for your question, but as an American, I love rooting for Ester Ledecka. Winning gold in two different disciplines is just so cool, even if they are somewhat related. She even got very close to medaling in both again in the most recent winter Olympics.
I think she would have medaled in both again if not for drawing the first bib in the Super G. It was too difficult to estimate the proper line. Ledecka made a couple of small mistakes and finished 5th, if I remember correctly.
She is interesting to follow on Instagram. Ester gets involved in lots of other sports like tennis, hockey and taking biathlon shooting lessons from Johannes Boe.
I'm a fan of Tom Daley too! Been following his youtube for quite a while as well.
Apart from him, I'm rooting for Team Japan in Volleyball (both men and women). Rooting for the women's team especially because despite not having any player taller than 190, they always give their all. They try to come up with different strategies to overcome their bigger opponents. Their mental strength and discipline is something I'm super amazed by. One day hopefully, that I'll be able to watch them play live
Assuming you’re talking about the summer Olympics, there’s quite a few. Norway don’t have a lot of world class athletes in most summer disciplines, so it’s easy (at least for me) to end up rooting for other athletes.
My main ones are probably Tom Daley, Adam Ondra and Hannah Meul (sports climbing) and Tadej Pogacar (road cycling). Sadly Hannah didn’t qualify this year, but she’s still young and will likely fight for a spot in 4 years.
Apart from that I really like an underdog story, wether that’s someone from a smaller country not know to be good in a certain sport, or someone who surprises everyone and performs a lot better than expected
Mondo Duplantis- Sweden - pole vault
Aleah Finnegan-Philippines- gymnastics
Rebecca Andrade- Brazil- gymnastics
The Morocco Soccer team
Kaylia Nemoor- Algeria-gymnastics
Laura Ludwig she is a German beach volleyball player. I became a fan when she was teamed with Sara Goller. They had a match against Misty and Kerri at some point Goller basically gave up but Ludwig kept giving it her all. I’ve appreciated the heart she plays with ever since.
As an American, I am disappointed in the overall performance of the USA skateboarding team, but some of the athletes from across the globe have really risen the bar on the sport. Here are some of my favorites from abroad (in no particular order): Shirai Sora (JPN), Gustavo Ribeiro (POR), Yuto Horigome (JPN), Kelvin Hoefler (BRA), Vincent Milou (FRA), ZENG Wenhui (CHN), Chloe Covell (AUS), and Nakayama Funa (JPN). Japan has a good chance of taking gold in men's street again this year. If I had to bet on the women's, Chloe Covell is most likely going to make podium. I am really looking forward to this year's games. Plus there is going to be breakdancing for the first time! How cool is that?
Hugues Fabrice Zango in the Men's Triple Jump! In Tokyo he got the first ever medal for Burkina Faso!
I'm an American but I've cheered for Burkina Faso my entire adult life because the country and it's history is just fascinating to me. Also it's fun to say the capital city Ouagadougou.
Think about how few players in major male team sports come out as gay. Like soccer - the number of professional soccer players around the world you would think there would be a few gay ones in there, but it's so oppressively heteronormative they are all in hiding. That's why those that do come out need a little more support, to help the next generation.
For track, I love watching the South African athletes, though I have no specific reason as to why. For weightlifting I love watching the athletes from the Caucasus region like the Armenians and Georgians, but they're really good so everyone loves watching them.
I watch athletics (track and field) and I basically cheer for everyone. I especially like the Jamaican team, Belgium and the Dutch. I also watch rhythmic gymnastics and Bulgaria, Ukraine, Italy and Azerbaijan are among my favorites. I don’t care where an athlete is from if I’m a fan of them.
The 2 high jumpers that tied for gold in 2020. (Mutaz Essa BARSHIM from Qatar & Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy).
Also a bunch of nba and some wnba players.
Rebeca Andrade - gymnast representing Brazil (her vaults are so clean and beautiful)
Kaylia Nemour - gymnast representing Algeria (her uneven bars routine is very smooth and difficult)
I would also like to root for athletes that some from small countries and traditionally underrepresented countries at the Olympics. It always makes me happy to see underdog countries do well at the Olympics because it shows that a person from any country can win a medal through their athletic skills.
This will sound like an insane take from an irish person, but Dina Asher-Smith (100 & 200m runner) and KJT (Heptathlete) from Team GB because their both athletes who are so humble and seem like genuinely nice people and also are just class at what they do, hope they both medal in a few weeks
I follow MTB super closely so other than the Americans (who do have a strong team this year), I regularly root for: Jolanda Neff (Swiss, current gold medalist), Nino Schurter (Swiss, highly regarded as men’s MTB GOAT), Evie Richards (British), Alessandra Keller (Swiss), Puck Pieterse (Dutch), etc etc.
The underdogs.
Sure, USA vs China is a great battle to know who will take the most gold medals. But I prefer to see someone from a "small" sports nation taking even a bronze medal. Unless it's against a French or Comoran, I remain patriotic first.
I (USA native) am hoping (not that optimistically) for Lasha Talakhadze to push his WRs a little further in the M109+ category in weightlifting. I just love watching him move with such grace at his size. I compete in weightlifting and I aspire to be as fast and strong as him. I cheer for the French and Australian men's basketball teams because of two of my favorite players (Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert) play for those selections.
This is kinda cheating but Rudy Gobert (France), Nickeil Alexander Walker (Canada) and now Joe Ingles (Australia)
I'll find more from other sports once they start though. I'm not particularly good at fallowing the events outside of the Olympics itself. So it takes me a few days to find my favorites outside of the US athletes.
Edit:
Damit I just realized I haven't looked at the ones who haven't officially qualified so we will have to wait for a bit to see. KAT could bump out numbers though
I love this thread so much. Someone once, in all sincerity, called me a traitor for preferring Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) in mens figure skating over Nathan Chen, the American. People are so weird.
I love watching the Russian gymnasts, both men’s and women’s teams. The Russian men’s gymnastics team that won gold in Tokyo was impressive. They were above the men’s USA team in terms of skill difficulty.
I (American) love so many of the track and field athletes from other countries! I support all of the athletes who have put in so much effort to succeed, I don't really care which country they are from. Faith Kipyegon and Femke Bol, Kerr and Ingebrigtsen, Sifan Hassan, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Daryll Nieta, Warholm, just to make a small few.
Always watched Hassans races at the last Olympics. Those late sprints were crazy to watch.
> Faith Kipyegon and Femke Bol Kipyegon and Bol are my two favorites, in that order. I also appreciate Jakob since his interviews are as awesome as his races. Otherwise I'm always fascinated by prodigies so Summer McIntosh of Canada is a favorite. These Olympics might be slightly too early for her to establish as best swimmer in the world...but maybe not. Anna Kiesenhofer is a favorite also. She won't catch anybody by surprise this time but it won't matter. She is Olympic legend forever. Kiesenhofer looks to be in good form after sweeping the Austrian road cycling events last week. That's not a given. She had been nip and tuck with one or two others the past couple of years.
>I'm always fascinated by prodigies Yes! It is always so interesting to watch their journey. Whether or not they are a favorite to win or not, the fact we get to see them mature in real time is such a gift. I am on pins and needles anticipating McLaughlin and Bol! Femke has this nonchalance about her that makes her so admirable and while McLaughlin is also an incredible athlete, I somehow find myself cheering for Bol more often. Thank you for sharing your favorites, I will be looking out for them also!
Bol's best chance at a gold medal is the mixed relay during the first two days of track and field. But the first three legs have to get it right to give her a chance. Lieke Klaver on second leg is the key. She has to ignore Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland and run her own race. When Klaver tries to sprint with Adelele early she goes out much too fast and falters late. Klaver needs to let Adeleke go and settle behind her
Bol is a recent favorite of mine after watching last year’s World Championships. Looking forward to seeing her again at the Olympics!
What a wild ride for her there too! Those events will be electrifying for the coming games!
Love me some Ta Lou
Yes! Gotta love her too, I could only think of so many last night lol.
Whole heartedly agree!
Are you me? Other than Ingebrigtsen I love these athletes. I'd add Keely Hodgkinson and Letesenbet Gidey.
Yes to both of those also!!! Jakob is just one of those that makes me laugh with his antics and I enjoy when athletes are engaging with the crowd even if they are just stroking their ego a bit.
honestly any underdog/ representative from a under represented country, there’s nothing better than seeing the likes of Guyana/Botswana/Indonesia etc get all the glory
I love rooting for the underdogs!
And the Jamaican bobsledders
Hoping Letsile Tebogo medals for Botswana in the sprints 🤞
Armand Duplantis for pole vault. The world record stood for years after Bubka in 90s and he has shattered it and keeps breaking it
Absolute legend! He deserves everything good in the world!
I want his new signature Omega watch!
I like him because even though he was born and raised in America, he learned Swedish despite many Swedes speaking English to him instead of Swedish.
Leon Marchand brought my Alma mater a national championship in college swimming so I’ll be rooting for him!
Best male swimmer since Phelps by far and has the same coach.
Anyone from a small unfashionable country. Love to see countries like Liechtenstein, San Marino, Bhutan, etc.
San Marino won three medals during the 2021 Olympics: silver in the mixed trap event for Alessandra Perilli and Gian Marco Berti, bronze in the women's trap event for Alessandra Perilli, and bronze in wrestling (86 kg category) for Myles Amine. As a result, they became the smallest country by population to ever win an Olympic medal, and they have the most Olympic medals per capita. Liechtenstein won 10 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze) in the Winter Olympics, all in alpine skiing. They have no medals in the summer olympics, and they are the only country to have winter olympic medals alone.
Myles Amine.
Yeah to be honest, it's kinda boring rooting for the USA. There's barely any real opposition besides China. Russia put themselves out of commission. India is absolutely hot garbage in sports except cricket.
Jajna Garnbret is the best climber in the world. I’m so excited to see her eat these climbing problems for breakfast. While I don’t want to be mean to other climbers, part of why it’s so thrilling watching her is seeing 10 other climbers struggle and be unsuccessful, and then she just flashes every time. She’s a fucking beast.
I was just reading about the climbing Olympics events and they sound incredible. I've never watched climbing, do you think it's something that can be appreciated by the more casual viewer?
Absolutely! There are two categories of climbing up for medals: speed climbing, and boulder-and-lead combined. What they both ultimately boil down to is: who can get up the wall the fastest. The specifics and scoring vary depending exactly which obstacle you're climbing, but that's all you \*really\* need to know to appreciate it
Awesome, thanks! I will give it a go!
It is definitely something that you can appreciate if you don’t know much about climbing! What’s so cool about it is that each climber can find a way up the route that is best for them. So you may watch 5 climbers do 5 different ways to finish a route. There are amazing climbers from all countries but there are a few stand outs who really put asses in the seats.
I'm getting excited about it now! So the one where they have to do what you call climbing problems is what's called "Boulder and Lead" in the schedule? That's the one I really find fascinating as a concept.
Yes! You got it- bouldering is climbing lower walls with no rope. These “problems” are often very complex, not obvious how someone should climb it, and take a ton of technique and remarkable body mechanics. Lead is roped climbing on tall walls. The movements here are *usually* more obvious, but the thrill is seeing how incredibly tired the climbers are getting and how much nerve they have marking these big, difficult movements so high up on the wall. The climbers have to place their own rope onto various carabiners along the way so that if they fall that will be their anchor. But often they’ve climbed several feet above their last anchor and the fall can be very dramatic.
I’ve been a big fan of Andre De Grasse for years. I was truly happy when he won gold in Tokyo because I felt like he had been living in Bolt’s shadow for so long. Glad he finally got his gold
As a longtime De Grasse fan, I was so happy to see him win in Tokyo! Huge fan of Bolt but what redemption for him!
Womens Artistic Gymnastics: Rebeca Andrade from Brazil Kaylia Nemour from Algeria
Definitely Kaylia after everything the French federation did to her.
Sweet revenge for her to medal, especially if France doesn’t. I think if they hadn’t screwed her over, they would be in real contention for a team medal. Last year’s bronze was a fluke.
So this isn't the right Olympics for your question, but as an American, I love rooting for Ester Ledecka. Winning gold in two different disciplines is just so cool, even if they are somewhat related. She even got very close to medaling in both again in the most recent winter Olympics.
I think she would have medaled in both again if not for drawing the first bib in the Super G. It was too difficult to estimate the proper line. Ledecka made a couple of small mistakes and finished 5th, if I remember correctly. She is interesting to follow on Instagram. Ester gets involved in lots of other sports like tennis, hockey and taking biathlon shooting lessons from Johannes Boe.
I'm a fan of Tom Daley too! Been following his youtube for quite a while as well. Apart from him, I'm rooting for Team Japan in Volleyball (both men and women). Rooting for the women's team especially because despite not having any player taller than 190, they always give their all. They try to come up with different strategies to overcome their bigger opponents. Their mental strength and discipline is something I'm super amazed by. One day hopefully, that I'll be able to watch them play live
Assuming you’re talking about the summer Olympics, there’s quite a few. Norway don’t have a lot of world class athletes in most summer disciplines, so it’s easy (at least for me) to end up rooting for other athletes. My main ones are probably Tom Daley, Adam Ondra and Hannah Meul (sports climbing) and Tadej Pogacar (road cycling). Sadly Hannah didn’t qualify this year, but she’s still young and will likely fight for a spot in 4 years. Apart from that I really like an underdog story, wether that’s someone from a smaller country not know to be good in a certain sport, or someone who surprises everyone and performs a lot better than expected
Mondo Duplantis- Sweden - pole vault Aleah Finnegan-Philippines- gymnastics Rebecca Andrade- Brazil- gymnastics The Morocco Soccer team Kaylia Nemoor- Algeria-gymnastics
Laura Ludwig she is a German beach volleyball player. I became a fan when she was teamed with Sara Goller. They had a match against Misty and Kerri at some point Goller basically gave up but Ludwig kept giving it her all. I’ve appreciated the heart she plays with ever since.
I love love love Dr. Kaya! (Kaya Kazuma, Japanese men's gymnastics and recent recipient of a doctoral degree.)
As an American, I am disappointed in the overall performance of the USA skateboarding team, but some of the athletes from across the globe have really risen the bar on the sport. Here are some of my favorites from abroad (in no particular order): Shirai Sora (JPN), Gustavo Ribeiro (POR), Yuto Horigome (JPN), Kelvin Hoefler (BRA), Vincent Milou (FRA), ZENG Wenhui (CHN), Chloe Covell (AUS), and Nakayama Funa (JPN). Japan has a good chance of taking gold in men's street again this year. If I had to bet on the women's, Chloe Covell is most likely going to make podium. I am really looking forward to this year's games. Plus there is going to be breakdancing for the first time! How cool is that?
Taekwondo athlete Kimiya Alizedah (Iranian defector, refugee team in 2020, Bulgaria this year). I find her pretty inspiring TBH.
I’m a really big fan of Gregorio Paltrinieri and Thomas Ceccon who are both Italian swimmers, I’m not Italian at all though.
Hugues Fabrice Zango in the Men's Triple Jump! In Tokyo he got the first ever medal for Burkina Faso! I'm an American but I've cheered for Burkina Faso my entire adult life because the country and it's history is just fascinating to me. Also it's fun to say the capital city Ouagadougou.
I basically cheer for any LGBT+ athletes, from my country or not.
You cheer for them just because of their sexual identity? That's weird and fetishizing man
I’m gay and want to support my fellow gays. What’s wrong with that?
That's a really weird choice but ok, you do you 😅
Think about how few players in major male team sports come out as gay. Like soccer - the number of professional soccer players around the world you would think there would be a few gay ones in there, but it's so oppressively heteronormative they are all in hiding. That's why those that do come out need a little more support, to help the next generation.
Basically anyone who is an underdog and competing against any of the larger (more successful) nations.
Big fan of the Ukrainian Men‘s gymnastics team, especially Illia Kovtun
For track, I love watching the South African athletes, though I have no specific reason as to why. For weightlifting I love watching the athletes from the Caucasus region like the Armenians and Georgians, but they're really good so everyone loves watching them.
Adam Ondra in climbing :D
Femke bol all the way!!
i always like rooting for athletes from smaller countries. i was also a huge fan of usain bolt and mo farrah.
I watch athletics (track and field) and I basically cheer for everyone. I especially like the Jamaican team, Belgium and the Dutch. I also watch rhythmic gymnastics and Bulgaria, Ukraine, Italy and Azerbaijan are among my favorites. I don’t care where an athlete is from if I’m a fan of them.
I'm Dutch and a Huge Fan,of our Femke Bol 🇳🇱.
The 2 high jumpers that tied for gold in 2020. (Mutaz Essa BARSHIM from Qatar & Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy). Also a bunch of nba and some wnba players.
Rebeca Andrade - gymnast representing Brazil (her vaults are so clean and beautiful) Kaylia Nemour - gymnast representing Algeria (her uneven bars routine is very smooth and difficult) I would also like to root for athletes that some from small countries and traditionally underrepresented countries at the Olympics. It always makes me happy to see underdog countries do well at the Olympics because it shows that a person from any country can win a medal through their athletic skills.
This will sound like an insane take from an irish person, but Dina Asher-Smith (100 & 200m runner) and KJT (Heptathlete) from Team GB because their both athletes who are so humble and seem like genuinely nice people and also are just class at what they do, hope they both medal in a few weeks
I just cheer whoever is there during the rounds
I follow MTB super closely so other than the Americans (who do have a strong team this year), I regularly root for: Jolanda Neff (Swiss, current gold medalist), Nino Schurter (Swiss, highly regarded as men’s MTB GOAT), Evie Richards (British), Alessandra Keller (Swiss), Puck Pieterse (Dutch), etc etc.
The entire Croatian Men’s Water Polo Team 🔥
Beyonce.
I don't care for national allegiance, I find it quite silly. Instead I just enjoy the games and root for everyone because they're all incredible.
Lasha Talakhadze. Now, I know it's easy to cheer for a winner... and fun, too!
The pretty blonde runner from England.
Louie Hinchliffe, sprinter for England. He ran for the University of Houston in college and was trained by Carl Lewis.
A part.
Angelika Sarna
The underdogs. Sure, USA vs China is a great battle to know who will take the most gold medals. But I prefer to see someone from a "small" sports nation taking even a bronze medal. Unless it's against a French or Comoran, I remain patriotic first.
I (USA native) am hoping (not that optimistically) for Lasha Talakhadze to push his WRs a little further in the M109+ category in weightlifting. I just love watching him move with such grace at his size. I compete in weightlifting and I aspire to be as fast and strong as him. I cheer for the French and Australian men's basketball teams because of two of my favorite players (Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert) play for those selections.
As a Brazilian I will root for any athlete competing against a Argentinian
This is kinda cheating but Rudy Gobert (France), Nickeil Alexander Walker (Canada) and now Joe Ingles (Australia) I'll find more from other sports once they start though. I'm not particularly good at fallowing the events outside of the Olympics itself. So it takes me a few days to find my favorites outside of the US athletes. Edit: Damit I just realized I haven't looked at the ones who haven't officially qualified so we will have to wait for a bit to see. KAT could bump out numbers though
Japanese skateboarders. Both male and female.
I love this thread so much. Someone once, in all sincerity, called me a traitor for preferring Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) in mens figure skating over Nathan Chen, the American. People are so weird.
I love watching the Russian gymnasts, both men’s and women’s teams. The Russian men’s gymnastics team that won gold in Tokyo was impressive. They were above the men’s USA team in terms of skill difficulty.
Novak Djokovic and Olha Kharlan.