Amusan not among ten stars World Athletics ‘experts’ tipped to ignite the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

World record holder Team Nigeria Tobi Amusan is not among the ten-star stars being tipped by experts from the athletics governing body, World Athletics, to shine bright at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

With various area championships having been held throughout June, and the national championships window now closed, the fields for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are starting to take shape.

Some of the sport’s biggest stars, as well as some newer names, have excelled in recent weeks.

With just 30 days to the beginning of athletics at the games, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who missed most of the 2023 season through injury, has shown she is back to her best by winning the 400m hurdles at the US Trials in a world record of 50.65 – her fifth world record of her career so far, despite still being just 24 years of age.

Mondo Duplantis, the Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, another dominant force in the sport tipped to shine. He has been undefeated so far this year. Not only that, he has already won a global title and broken a world record.

Faith Kipyegon, the 30-year-old Kenyan who won the 1500m and 5000m at last year’s World Championships and is now eyeing a similar double at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Also on the list is US sprinter Noah Lyles is not simply looking to replicate his feat from last year’s World Championships; he wants to go above and beyond.

Having won the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m in Budapest last year, Lyles wants to win those same disciplines in the French capital, along with the 4x400m. He is clearly in medal-winning form, too, having recently won the sprint double at the highly competitive US Trials.

Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in May in 10.83, then breezed through the rounds of the US Trials before taking the title in a world-leading 10.71.

Kishane Thompson, a relatively new name on the international sprint scene, Kishane Thompson’s breakthrough last year went almost unnoticed.

The enigmatic 23-year-old opened his 2024 campaign at last week’s Jamaican Championships, clocking a PB of 9.82 in the heats before winning the final in a world-leading 9.77 to earn his spot in Paris. Could he be the man to put Jamaica back on top of the Olympic 100m podium?

Shericka Jackson, since making the rookie error of easing up too early in her heat at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Shericka Jackson has been near flawless in the 200m.

Ethan Katzberg is another name on the list. Katzberg won the world hammer title last year, he was considered one of the most surprising winners of the championships. But the Canadian has been undefeated since then, showing that his performance in Budapest was no fluke.

When an injury ruled out Nafi Thiam from defending her world heptathlon title in Budapest last year, some wondered whether the Belgian all-rounder would be able to return to title-winning form.

She’ll now spend the next month sharpening her form ahead of the Paris Games, where she’ll look to make history by becoming the first woman to win three Olympic combined events titles.

If anyone is due a global gold medal, it’s Lamecha Girma. The Ethiopian distance runner has contested five global championships to date, and has won silver every time, Paris could be golden for her.