From Coco Gauff, Sha'Carri Richardson to Summer McIntosh - 12 female stars from North America who could define LA28

Two years out from the Olympic Games LA28, a dozen women from the U.S. and Canada are already staking their claim to the Games' biggest storylines.

Sha'Carri Richardson has called her 2026 season "legendary" before it has begun.

Summer McIntosh stacked four individual golds at the Singapore aquatics worlds last August.

Coco Gauff added 2025 Roland-Garros to her major collection last June.

LA28 will be the first Games in history to welcome more female than male athletes.

Demand is already following.

In the first LA28 ticket drop earlier this month, women's sessions in gymnastics, volleyball and football (soccer) outperformed their male equivalents, and the most popular medal session on the opening day of sales was the women's football (soccer) final.

Two years out, the women who could define these Games are already making their case. Here are 12 from North America to keep an eye on ahead of 2028.

Sha'Carri Richardson

Richardson left Paris 2024 with relay gold and 100m silver, then stumbled from the blocks at the Tokyo 2025 Worlds and finished fifth in 10.94.

"2025 owes me nothing," she said afterward. Now, she’s targeting that legendary return in 2026.

At LA28, the women's 100m final will be contested on day one, every round packed into a single Saturday (15 July).

Coco Gauff

After carrying the U.S. flag into the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, Gauff became the first American woman to win Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2015, claiming her second grand slam title before her 22nd birthday.

LA28 will be her second Olympic Games, after making it to the third round in the French capital.

Summer McIntosh

In Singapore last August, Canada's McIntosh walked away with four individual world titles and Swimmer of the Meet honours from World Aquatics, further solidifying her status as one of the most dominant swimmers of her generation.

At 19, she is already a three time Olympic gold medallist, having won the 200m butterfly, 200m medley and 400m medley at Paris 2024.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden

Jefferson-Wooden pulled off the sprint triple at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships, winning the 100m in a championship-record 10.61, the 200m in a world-leading 21.68 and taking 4x100m gold.

The first American woman to sweep all three at a single Worlds, she could arrive at LA28 as the woman to beat.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

In Tokyo last September, McLaughlin-Levrone ran 47.78 in the rain – the second-fastest women's 400m in history, 0.18 off Marita Koch's 1985 world record.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist is now the first athlete ever to win world titles in both the 400m hurdles and the flat 400m.

Her next act: deciding what event to race at LA28.

Katie Ledecky

Ledecky's 23rd world title came in Singapore last August, when she out-touched Summer McIntosh in the 800m freestyle. That event – her signature – is the final individual race of the swim programme at LA28, where Ledecky, at 31, has already confirmed she plans to race at home.

Ilona Maher

After helping Team USA's rugby sevens side to bronze at Paris 2024 and playing at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, the most-followed rugby player on the planet’s next moves are still unknown.

But LA28, on home soil, looms as her potential homecoming.

Trinity Rodman

A Paris 2024 gold medallist as part of Team USA’s powerful squad, Rodman has shaken off a 2025 back injury to open 2026 with goals in friendlies against Chile and Paraguay.

In January she signed a three-year, $2-million-a-year deal with the Washington Spirit – the richest in NWSL history.

Jordan Chiles

Chiles wrapped up a four-NCAA-title UCLA career in April with a second floor exercise crown.

She has not committed to LA28, but has not ruled it out either.

“It’s on my mind,” said Chiles. “It’s not completely out of my head. I still think about it.”

After a career-best collegiate season as her finale, can she resist the appeal of a Games headed to her adopted home?

Ellie Black

A four-time Olympian already, Black anchored Canada's first-ever world team medal at the 2022 Worlds in Liverpool, closing out those championships with the bronze on the beam.

Now 30, the Nova Scotian is chasing a fifth Olympic Games at LA28, a rarity in gymnastics: only two others, Brazilian Daniele Hypolito (5) and Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina (8), have hit the milestone in the sport.

Caitlin Clark

In March, Clark was named MVP of the FIBA Women's World Cup qualifiers in her senior Team USA debut, averaging 11.6 points and 6.4 assists a game as the Americans went undefeated.

LA28 would be her Olympic debut, and she will be 26 when she arrives.

Caroline Marks

A Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist and 2025 WSL Championship Tour runner-up, Marks will surf LA28 at Lower Trestles in San Clemente – her backyard surf break.

"I'll be trying my hardest to be in as many Olympics as possible," she said.

Fans can register through 22 July for a chance at Drop 2 of LA28 Olympic ticket sales, opening in August 2026, at Tickets.LA28.org.*

*NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT REQUIRED TO REGISTER, ENTER OR WIN. RESTRICTIONS APPLY. ELIGIBILITY SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION. MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE AT TIME OF REGISTRATION. TERMS, DEADLINES AND PROCESS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. OFFICIAL TERMS FOR THE LA28 TICKET DRAW ARE AVAILABLE HERE. TICKET AVAILABILITY NOT GUARANTEED AND TICKET PURCHASES SUBJECT TO ADDITIONAL TERMS AND REQUIREMENTS HERE.

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