|
NCAA All-American Sabrina Ionescu, swimmer Nathan Adrian and Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce command the attention among the over 6,000 athletes expected to participate in the 2019 Pan American Games that run from July 25 to Aug. 10 in Lima, Peru. Fraser-Pryce and Adrian are two of the 78 Olympic medalists competing in Lima, where fans will also see Olympic champions Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia and Elaine Thompson of Jamaica. Here's a look at 15 athletes expected to shine in Lima who have already made a name for themselves, and others who are trying to do so with an eye toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (scheduled competition dates in parenthesis). You can watch all these athletes on ESPNU, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 on the ESPN App.  Sabrina Ionescu, women's 3x3 basketball, U.S. (July 27-29): Oregon's intense triple-double machine, who has a fan in Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, is spending a second straight summer with Team USA under the 3x3 format. Ionescu will guide a roster of four -- two players apiece from 2019 Final Four participants Oregon and Connecticut -- before beginning her expected romp through the NCAA record books in her senior season. Morgan Hurd, women's artistic gymnastics, U.S. (July 27-31): Big things await the 2017 world all-around champion, who with her ever-present eyeglasses is poised to become one of the faces of U.S. gymnastics heading into Tokyo. Hurd won the parallel bars at the U.S. Classic over the weekend and had the meet's highest score on the uneven bars. Arthur Zanetti, men's gymnastics, Brazil (July 30): The 29-year-old "Lord of the Rings" won gold at the 2012 Olympics in London -- Latin America's only gymnastics medal -- and then scored a silver on home turf four years later. Myles Powell, men's basketball, U.S. (July 31-Aug. 4): The 6-foot-2 guard, one of the NCAA's top scorers at 23.1 points per game in 2018-19, decided to return for his senior season at Seton Hall after testing the NBA draft waters. Powell is among the headliners of a team formed entirely of players from the Big East. The team is tasked with securing the first Pan American basketball gold for the American men since Michael Jordan led the way in 1983. Paola Longoria, women's racquetball, Mexico (Aug. 2-10): How dominant has three-time world champion Paola Longoria been at racquetball over the last decade-plus atop the sport? With her six golds won in six events in Pan American competition, one could argue that Michael Jordan should be considered the Paola Longoria of basketball. She was in the conversation as the greatest ever in her sport way before she turned 30 last Saturday and is a heavy favorite to win more gold in Lima. Cat Osterman, women's softball, U.S. (Aug. 4-10): The 36-year-old lefty legend -- currently an assistant at Texas State -- came out of retirement when the urge to take care of unfinished business on the diamond overcame any desire to be on the U.S. coaching staff. She heads to Lima with her sights set on Tokyo as softball returns to the Olympic lineup in 2020 for the first time since a silver-medal effort for the U.S. in 2008. The strikeout specialist and two-time Olympic medalist last wore the national team uniform in 2010. Khatuna Lorig, women's archery, U.S. (Aug. 7-11): Lorig has represented three countries in the Olympics, taught Oscar winner and "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence how to handle a bow and pitched tires by shooting an arrow through them. Her competitive juices continue to flow at 45, as the five-time Olympian will look to defend her individual gold and build on the team bronze from the Toronto Pan Ams four years ago. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson, sprinters, Jamaica (Aug. 7): There is no more formidable duo at these Games than the winners of the last three women's Olympic 100-meter races -- who also happen to share the season's fastest time in the event at 10.73 seconds. Fraser-Pryce, 32, took home the Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012. Thompson did so three years ago in Rio while also becoming the first sprinter to win the 100 and 200 in the same Olympics since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988. If both are on the 4x100, Jamaica will be unstoppable.  Nathan Adrian, men's swimming, U.S. (Aug. 8-9): One of the most decorated athletes on the U.S. roster is thrilled to simply be competing again after undergoing two surgeries over the winter stemming from a testicular cancer diagnosis he revealed in January. The 30-year-old, eight-time Olympic medalist is nevertheless tackling an active summer, with his participation in this month's FINA World Championships in South Korea preceding his trip to Peru, where he will swim in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events. Mijain Lopez, men's Greco-Roman wrestling, Cuba (Aug. 8): The most decorated athlete at the Pan American Games. The Cuban is a 3-time Olympic champion, 5-time world champion and is looking for his fifth Pan American gold. Lopez and Russian legend Aleksandr Karelin are considered as the best Greco-Roman wrestlers ever. Brandon Wu, men's golf, U.S. (Aug. 9-11): The product of Stanford, where he helped lead the Cardinal to the NCAA title two months ago with a 3-0 match play mark, is the first amateur in more than 50 years to qualify for the U.S Open and the Open Championship in the same summer. The 22-year-old fell short of the cut at the Open Championship in Northern Ireland, but finished tied for 35th at the U.S. Open and arrives in Peru as one of the most promising amateurs around. Caterine Ibarguen, triple jump, Colombia (Aug. 9): The 35-year old who has dominated the women's triple jump at several levels for the better part of this century is the reigning gold medalist in the Pan American Games as well as the Olympics. She will be challenged in Lima, where she looks to redeem herself from a runner-up performance against Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas two years ago at worlds. Mariana Pajon, BMX cycling, Colombia (Aug. 9): The two-time Olympic and eight-time world champion, now 27, has been winning medals since she was 5. She sat out for nine months with a knee injury. Kyle Snyder, men's freestyle wrestling, U.S. (Aug. 10): At 20, Snyder scored Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics to complete in a year in which he also conquered the NCAA and world ranks and became his sport's youngest-ever champion. So what's next for a wrestler who also compiled a 179-0 mark at Maryland's Our Lady of Good Counsel High School? It starts with a defense of his 97 kg gold medal earned at the last Pan Am Games before he shoots for loftier goals.
|
