Three-time Olympic champion: Kevin Durant
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The best female golfer in the world: Nelly Korda
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Carlos Alcaraz would love to follow up his triumph at the French Open with a second triumph at the Stade Roland-Garros
Image: Keystone
Had to say no to the Olympics after his transfer to Real Madrid: France superstar Kylian Mbappé
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Argentina will still be one of the big gold favorites - thanks in part to Manchester City's Julian Alvarez
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Global gymnastics star and icon for many girls and women: Simone Biles
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Lionel Messi will not be in France this summer either
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Three-time Olympic champion and a legend in France: Judoka Teddy Riner
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Will be on the court for Serbia in Paris: Nikola Jokic
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The high-flyer of athletics: Armand Duplantis
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Olympic gold is still missing from his grandiose palmarès: Novak Djokovic
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Also in the US Dream Team: Stephen Curry, four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors
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World number 1 and competing in Paris: golfer Scottie Scheffler
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Rafael Nadal already has two Olympic gold medals to his name
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Voted world athlete of the year last year: Spain's soccer star Aita Bonmati
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Always the center of attention: basketball star LeBron James
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Well on her way to becoming the most successful female swimmer in history: Katie Ledecky
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Not just two, but three: Nikola Karabatic and the French handball team have always reached the final at the last four Olympic Games, winning three times
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Greece counts on its NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo
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One of the biggest stars on the golf scene: Rory McIlroy
Image: Keystone
Three-time Olympic champion: Kevin Durant
Image: Keystone
The best female golfer in the world: Nelly Korda
Image: Keystone
Carlos Alcaraz would love to follow up his triumph at the French Open with a second triumph at the Stade Roland-Garros
Image: Keystone
Had to say no to the Olympics after his transfer to Real Madrid: France superstar Kylian Mbappé
Image: Keystone
Argentina will still be one of the big gold favorites - thanks in part to Manchester City's Julian Alvarez
Image: Keystone
Global gymnastics star and icon for many girls and women: Simone Biles
Image: Keystone
Lionel Messi will not be in France this summer either
Image: Keystone
Three-time Olympic champion and a legend in France: Judoka Teddy Riner
Image: Keystone
Will be on the court for Serbia in Paris: Nikola Jokic
Image: Keystone
The high-flyer of athletics: Armand Duplantis
Image: Keystone
Olympic gold is still missing from his grandiose palmarès: Novak Djokovic
Image: Keystone
Also in the US Dream Team: Stephen Curry, four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors
Image: Keystone
World number 1 and competing in Paris: golfer Scottie Scheffler
Image: Keystone
Rafael Nadal already has two Olympic gold medals to his name
Image: Keystone
Voted world athlete of the year last year: Spain's soccer star Aita Bonmati
Image: Keystone
Always the center of attention: basketball star LeBron James
Image: Keystone
Well on her way to becoming the most successful female swimmer in history: Katie Ledecky
Image: Keystone
Not just two, but three: Nikola Karabatic and the French handball team have always reached the final at the last four Olympic Games, winning three times
Image: Keystone
Greece counts on its NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo
Image: Keystone
One of the biggest stars on the golf scene: Rory McIlroy
Image: Keystone
Basketball, tennis, golf - three of the world's most popular sports are sending their figureheads to Paris this summer. Football - much to France's chagrin - is still on the sidelines.
For many sportspeople, the Olympics are the pinnacle of emotions. Not so in tennis or golf, where the four Grand Slam tournaments are more important. In basketball, too, an MVP title or championship ring is probably higher in the hierarchy than the Olympic medal. Nevertheless, Paris 2024 is high on the list. These are the biggest stars of these summer games:
Basketball
The USA is once again sending a dream team to the Olympics. The three biggest stars are LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. James is a two-time Olympic champion, Durant is a three-time champion and Curry is taking part for the first time. Serbia with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Greece with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and France with prodigy Victor Wembanyama will also provide glamor.
Tennis
With Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the two most successful professionals in history will be competing on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The Serb would like to become Olympic champion for the first time, while the Spaniard, who already has two gold medals, may be playing the last tournament of his career. They will have competition from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Golf
With Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the two biggest names in Golf National will be on the greens west of Paris. A total of ten major winners will tee off. Nelly Korda, the women's number 1 and daughter of former Australian Open tennis winner Petr Korda, is also a global figurehead.
Artistic gymnastics
Simone Biles is probably the biggest female sports star of our time. After suffering from unaccustomed nervousness and disappointment in Tokyo three years ago, the 27-year-old American made an outstanding comeback with four world championship titles. She has also already won four Olympic titles, and with further successes she could work her way up the list of the most successful Olympians.
Swimming
Katie Ledecky won her first of seven Olympic gold medals as a 15-year-old in London in 2012. Now the swimmer is on the verge of becoming the most successful woman in swimming pool history in the long distances from 400 to 1500 m crawl. At world championships, the American has already done so.
Athletics
Athletics lacks a global superstar like the former sprinter Usain Bolt. The high-flyer in the core Olympic sport is pole vaulter Armand "Mondo" Duplantis. The American-born athlete, who competes for his Swedish mother's home country, has already cleared the magical height of 6 meters more than 60 (!) times and electrifies the crowds.
Judo
Teddy Riner is a legend in France. With an additional medal - he has two chances in the heavyweight or mixed team competition - to his three gold and two bronze medals, the eleven-time world champion would become the most successful judoka in history.
Handball
A Frenchman is also the biggest figure in handball. Nikola Karabatic, now 40, extended his career especially for the home games. The three-time world handball champion has won an Olympic medal every time since 2008, three gold and one silver.
Football
The French team's hopes that Kylian Mbappé would take part were not fulfilled. The timing of his transfer to Real Madrid was not right, even though the superstar had initially expressed an interest. Lionel Messi is also missing 16 years after his Olympic victory in Beijing. Nevertheless, Argentina still have something like star power thanks to world champions Nicolas Otamendi and Julian Alvarez. The line-up is better in the women's competition, where Spain will be represented by most of the world champions, including World Cup discovery Aita Bonmati.
SDA
