Over 10,000 of the planet's most distinguished sportsmen and women will soon descend on Paris for the latest edition of the highly-anticipated Olympic Games, as the French capital gears up for two weeks of unrelenting sporting action.
While some may head home in the middle of August simply beaming with pride at the OLY next to their name, plenty have medal aspirations in mind, and superstars at both ends of the experience scale will be out to write their own headlines across all disciplines.
Here, Sports Mole picks out some of the best athletes to look out for in each of the 32 different sports at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
AQUATICS
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Sixteen years on from his Olympic baptism as a baby-faced 14-year-old, Great Britain's diving icon Tom Daley partners Noah Williams in the men's 10m synchronised platform, and let us also not forget breaststroke master Adam Peaty, a three-time Games champion.
The USA's Caeleb Dressel also returns on the back of breaking a staggering six world records at Tokyo 2020, where he won no fewer than five golds, as well as compatriot Katie Ledecky, who has seven Olympic titles to her name.
ARCHERY
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In the men's individual competition, Turkey's Mete Gazoz bids to defend his title from Tokyo 2020, but reigning women's individual champion An San of South Korea will not be present after a failed trial period.
In her absence, Great Britain trio Penny Healey, Bryony Pitman and Megan Havers will look to make their mark; Pitman won the individual silver at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham.
ATHLETICS
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Still going strong at the age of 37, Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce seeks to add to her haul of eight medals from her previous four Olympic appearances, including the 4x100m relay title at Tokyo 2020.
Also keep an eye out for the gravity-defying feats of Swedish pole vault world-record holder Armand Duplantis, while Eliud Kipchoge aims for a three-peat in the men's marathon.
BADMINTON
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The Tokyo 2020 men's gold medallist and current world number two, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen is the man to beat in Paris, although the top-ranked player on the planet - Shi Yuqi - will have a thing or two to say about that.
The latter's fellow Chinese representative Chen Yufei is intent on retaining her crown in the women's singles, where Kirsty Gilmour flies the flag high for Great Britain.
BASKETBALL
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Only some of the NBA's most celebrated talents will be on show in the men's tournament. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama - take your pick.
The USA's Brittney Griner - who stands at 6ft 9in tall - headlines the women's roster, along with 42-year-old Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, the Tokyo 2020 MVP.
BOXING
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Diving down into amateur territory - at least that is how it is defined at the Games - Great Britain's Delicious Orie competes in the men's +92kg division boasting gold medals from the Commonwealth and European Games.
Also watch out for Rosie Eccles, competing in the women's 66kg tournament, and the USA's Jahmal Harvey, the 2021 world champion in the featherweight division.
BREAKING
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Making its official debut at the Olympics, a total of 32 breakers will compete for gold in Paris - 16 in the B-Boys and 16 in the B-Girls - and in the former, the USA are represented by 30-year-old Victor Montalvo, the 2022 World Games champion and 2023 World Championships gold medallist.
In the B-Girls section, Lithuanian representative Dominika Banevic - also known by her alias B-Girl Nicka and just 17 years of age - is the undoubted one to watch, having also become world champion in Belgium last year.
CANOEING
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The most successful New Zealander to ever do it at the Olympics, Lisa Carrington won a trio of canoeing golds at the 2020 Olympic Games, while Nevin Harrison of the USA took the C-1 200 metres crown three years ago.
Thirty-four-year-old Casey Eichfeld will also be competing at his fourth Olympics this summer, while Joe Clarke MBE of Great Britain - a gold medallist at Rio - returns after missing the 2021 event.
CYCLING
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Boasting enviable Tour de France-winning know-how, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia is the one to watch in the road events, as defending men's champion Primoz Roglic is not involved this time around.
Also watch out for Great Britain's BMX queen Beth Shriever, who took home the Olympic title from the Tokyo Games and has just made a full recovery from a collarbone injury.
EQUESTRIAN
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A team jumping gold medallist at London 2012 and individual champion from 2020, 41-year-old Ben Maher is gunning for more glory with Great Britain, as are fellow Tokyo winners Laura Collett, Tom McEwen, Charlotte Dujardin and 57-year-old Carl Hester.
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl of Germany also has two crowns to defend, having taken the gold in both the individual and team dressage events three years ago.
FENCING
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World and Olympic champion Romain Cannone of France has a men's individual epee title to defend in his homeland, while Hong Kong's Cheung Ka Long and Hungary's Aron Szilagyi are the reigning foil and sabre champions.
The women's tournament is headlined by the USA's foil gold medallist Lee Kiefer, while China's Sun Yiwen took epee gold three years ago, and home favourite Manon Brunet seeks to improve on her third-placed sabre finish from Tokyo.
FIELD HOCKEY
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A multitude of global superstars will be on show in the men's hockey competition, including Indian trio Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh, the last three winners of the FIH Player of the Year award.
Dutchwoman Xan de Waard - the winner of the corresponding women's prize last year - captains the Netherlands after their run to Tokyo glory, while Laura Roper is the most-capped GB women's player with 350 appearances.
FOOTBALL
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With Euro 2024 and the Copa America both taking place in an Olympic year, several managers have been left frustrated in their efforts to prise big names away from their clubs, who are under no obligation to release them.
However, Argentina's men's ranks will be headlined by Manchester City past and present - Julian Alvarez and Nicolas Otamendi - while Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi captains Morocco in the same section.
Michael Olise will also don the France strip following his move from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich, and many will also be running the rule over 17-year-old Barcelona and Spain defender Pau Cubarsi.
While the men's teams can only name three over-23 players, there are no such restrictions in the women's tournament, where 38-year-old Brazil legend Marta - regarded as one of, if not the best female footballer of all time - makes her sixth Olympics appearance.
Current Ballon d'Or Feminin holder Aitana Bonmati and two-time winner Alexia Putellas star in Spain's squad, which is brimming with world champions, while France veterans Eugenie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard are still going strong too.
GOLF
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Well, where do we begin? Perhaps with the two reigning Olympic champions - Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda - who enter the Paris Games ranked third and first in the world respectively.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler - a few months on from his shocking arrest - arrive in France as the only two players ranked higher than Schauffele.
GYMNASTICS
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Set to grace the Olympic scene with his phenomenal pommel horse work for the final time, Max Whitlock - a three-time Olympic champion - will endeavour to retain his title in that discipline for the third year running before hanging up his leotard.
Look out for Jake Jarman's gravity-defying acrobatic feats too, and the same also applies to the jewel in the USA's crown, Simone Biles, who experienced a severe case of the 'twisties' at Tokyo 2020 but touches down in Paris with an astonishing collection of tricks in her locker.
HANDBALL
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Champions in both the men's and women's handball tournaments at Tokyo 2020, the weight of expectation is on the French whose men's team is headlined by Paris Saint-Germain's Nikola Karabatic. Regarded as one of the best players of all time, the 40-year-old - who retires after the Games - boasts an outrageous 1277 goals from 348 matches.
Hungary-based Estelle Nze Minko - who has 454 goals under her belt from 187 appearances - leads France's female champions, while Camilla Herrem has scored 898 times for Norway.
JUDO
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Among a Japanese-dominated field, France's home favourite Teddy Riner carries the hosts' hopes on his shoulders, having won two golds at the Games in addition to an outstanding 11 World Championship titles.
Great Britain's hopes of a podium placement may rest on Chelsie Giles, a Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist in the women's 52kg before becoming European champion one year later.
MODERN PENTATHLON
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Great Britain enjoyed a double triumph at the Modern Pentathlon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and both reigning champions - Joe Choong and Kate French - will have the opportunities to defend their titles in Paris.
Hungary's Csaba Bohm and South Korea's Seong Seung-min - the reigning world men's and women's individual champions - will be regarded as the principle threats for the Briton's titles this summer.
ROWING
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Greece's Stefanos Ntouskos is eyeing back-to-back triumphs in the men's single sculls, but the favourites tag arguably belongs to Germany's Oliver Zeidler, who became world champion for the third time in 2023.
Similarly, New Zealand's Emma Twigg may be up against it when it comes to defending her women's single sculls title, having finished five seconds behind world champion Karolien Florijn in last year's global finals.
RUGBY SEVENS
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The 2021 World Player of the Year and one of the finest scrum-halfs on the planet, France's Antoine Dupont opted to skip this year's Six Nations in order to prioritise this year's Rugby Sevens Olympic tournament in his beloved homeland.
Meanwhile, New Zealand women's captain Sarah Hirini boards the plane with a plethora of medals to shout about already, including Games gold in 2020 and a silver at Rio in 2016, not to mention two Rugby Women's World Cup titles.
SAILING
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Continuing GB's legacy of producing star sailor after star sailor, Emma Wilson, John Gimson and Anna Burnet - three athletes who already have Olympic medals in their locker - were announced as part of the first GB troupe confirmed for the Olympics.
Brazilian duo Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze have a title to defend in the women's 49erFX event, as does Australia's Matthew Wearn in the Laser, which he competes in on the back of successive ILCA 7 triumphs at the World Championships.
SHOOTING
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One of the all-time great American shooters, Skeet specialist Vincent Hancock endeavours to win Olympic gold number four in Paris, following up his successes at the 2008, 2016 and 2020 editions.
The home hopes rest on the shoulders of men's 25m rapid fire pistol champion Jean Quiquampoix, while Matthew Coward-Holley took the bronze for Great Britain in the Trap at Tokyo 2020.
SKATEBOARDING
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Making just its second appearance at the Olympic Games, the skateboarding events will see British phenom Sky Brown return after her bronze medal in the Tokyo Women's Park, where she became the youngest British Olympic medallist at just 13 years old.
Australia's Keegan Palmer and Japan's Sakura Yosozumi are the defending champions in those events, while Kokona Hiraki was just 12 when she finished second behind the latter three years ago.
SPORT CLIMBING
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Another sport returning for its second year at the Olympic Games, the Sport Climbing titles are currently held by Alberto Gines Lopez of Spain and Janja Garnbret of Slovenia, both of whom will have a shot at defending their gold medals.
However, the former faces intense competition from Jakob Schubert, the 33-year-old Austrian who won bronze in Tokyo and has no fewer than six World Championship gold medals in his collection.
SURFING
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Not a single Briton will be competing in the surfing events this summer, but reigning women's shortboard champion Carissa Moore - who also has five world titles to her name - will be, in what is set to be her swansong on the waves.
However, Brazilian men's champion Italo Ferreira is not present, so 2020 silver medallist Kanoa Igarashi may have a glint in his eyes, as should the former's countryman Gabriel Medina, a three-time World Games gold medallist.
TABLE TENNIS
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Seeking a singles three-peat in the men's table tennis event, China star Ma Long - lauded as one of the finest players the sport has ever seen - will take some stopping in Paris.
The same can be said of defending women's champion Chen Meng, while Liam Pitchford and Anna Hursey are the only GB competitors gunning for table tennis glory.
TAEKWONDO
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The first British man to ever win a World Championship gold medal in taekwondo, Bradly Sinden seeks to go one better than his Tokyo silver three years back, although he will have to dethrone Uzbekistan's Ulugbek Rashitov in order to do so.
Italy's Vito Dell'Aquila is the current Olympic gold medallist in the men's flyweight section, while Thai flyweight champion Panipak Wongpattanakit is the only reigning women's holder taking part.
TENNIS
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A quick peek at the ATP and WTA rankings would suffice for this section; Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Jannik Sinner will grace the Paris clay, as will two of the sport's most beloved performers.
Two-time singles gold medallist Andy Murray is expected to bring his glittering career to a close in France, where he is set to compete in both the singles and doubles, while Rafael Nadal will do the same, teaming up with Alcaraz in a dream doubles pairing.
TRIATHLON
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The Tokyo 2020 women's individual champion and four-time world champion, Bermuda's Flora Duffy became her nation's first-ever Olympic gold medallist three years ago and is back to go for number two in Paris.
Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt is also seeking a second straight gold in the men's section, where Great Britain's Alex Yee will be one of his main threats.
VOLLEYBALL
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Fresh from leading the USA to women's indoor glory at Tokyo 2020 - following a London silver and Rio bronze - 37-year-old Jordan Larson captains the Americans once more.
Hosts France clinched the gold in the corresponding men's event, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Earvin N'Gapeth, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
WEIGHTLIFTING
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The only British weightlifting representative to leave Tokyo with a medal, Emily Campbell - now a household name in the UK - returns three years on from taking the silver in the women's 87+ kg event behind China's Li Wenwen.
In the men's field, Georgian world-beater Lasha Talakhadze has and should continue to dominate. With two Olympic golds, seven world titles and seven European crowns - in addition to the snatch, clean and jerk and overall total global records - Talakhadze is one of the greatest to ever do it, or should we say lift it.
WRESTLING
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While 125kg men's champion Gable Steveson and fellow American David Taylor will not be defending their titles, Cuba's 41-year-old legend - Mijain Lopez - could bcome the first ever Olympian to win five consecutive golds in one event, having blown the 130kg Greco-Roman competition out of the water since 2008.
Also watch out for Iranian powerhouse Amir Hossein Zare, the Tokyo 125kg bronze medallist and two-time world champion in the same event.
Ben Knapton
