PHOENIX — It won't be long before there is nearly nonstop coverage of the most amazing athletes in the world.
12News is your home of the 2024 Olympics in Paris and we will showcase the world's best as the games get underway next summer. It was only two short years ago when more than 10,000 participants jetted off to Japan to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The 2020 games were held a year later, in 2021, due to postponement by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though this time around, athletes won't have the full four years to prepare for the games, many of the athletes 12News caught up with over the break are super excited to head to Paris for a variety of reasons.
We reached out to plenty of athletes with Arizona ties. Some have trained here while others grew up in State 48, dreaming of one day becoming an Olympian.
That group includes, but is certainly not limited to, Jagger Eaton, Mykayla Skinner and Jade Carey.
You'll remember Eaton rolling onto the skateboard scene for its debut in the Summer Games in Tokyo. He made his hometown of Mesa in the Valley proud by pulling in a bronze medal in the competition.
"There's no contest like the Olympic games," Eaton told 12News.
One athlete you won't see competing in Paris is Gilbert's Mykayla Skinner. In Tokyo, the gymnast was an incredible substitute for Simone Biles who back out of the vault event. Skinner proudly took silver in the event, making her Olympic dream come true.
"Simone really came and helped me through it every step of the way and was cheering me on," Skinner said back in 2021.
But now Skinner is focusing on her growing family. She and her husband have moved to Utah and are expecting a baby girl this fall.
Skinner wasn't the only gymnast to add to Team USA's medal count in Tokyo. Jade Carey clutched gold with her mesmerizing floor routine and returned home to a proud Phoenix crowd.
"It was so nice to have all the support from everyone back home in Arizona," she said.
While all that glitters is gold, nothing sparkles quite like Allyson Felix, the most decorated U.S. Track and Field athlete to date. She's absolutely America's pride and joy when it comes to track and field, with five trips to the Olympic games.
In Olympic competition, Felix earned a gold medal in the 4 x 400 relay and bagged a bronze in the 400 meter.
Felix has found top-tier training here in the Valley.
"Ever since I was a little kid, this is like the only thing I've ever dreamed about doing," she said, in a post-victory interview.
Let's not forget to mention Molly Seidel's finish in the women's marathon. The bronze medalist is from Flagstaff.
Plus, how about a hand for hoops? You'll remember the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker shooting his way to gold, as the United States basketball team took over the hardwood in Tokyo.
Lady hoopsters hooked their own hardware in Tokyo. The Phoenix Mercury's Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith grabbed gold on the women's basketball team for the United States. Taurasi has made history as the only athlete in basketball to earn five gold medals in five consecutive Olympic games.
Another athlete who made a splash in the pool and in the medal count is Allison Schmitt. She has 10 total medals in four Olympics. The co-captain for the USA swimming team in Tokyo trained with legendary Arizona State University Coach, Bob Bowman.
Swimmer Hali Flickinger has picked up two bronze medals in Olympic competition.
Chase Kalisz cashed in on gold in the 400m individual medley for swimming in 2020.
Olivia Smoliga, who was born in the Valley, also took home a bronze.
While Scottsdale's Taylor Ruck took second and third in two separate relays for Team Canada.
Finally in the pool, University of Arizona's Delaney Schnell, of Tucson, picked up silver in the 10m synchronized diving event.
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