There will be an array of talent on offer in the French capital, and Inside The Games have constructed a top-10 list of athletes to watch out for ahead of this summer's spectacle in Paris. So, who should you keep an eye on?

Mondo Duplantis

In 2024, Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis has been undefeated, securing a global title and breaking a world record.

He won the world indoor championship in Glasgow in March, and just seven weeks later, he started his outdoor season at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, where he cleared 6.24m to set a new world record.

Since then, Duplantis has continued his winning streak with a victory at the European Championships in Rome, where he cleared 6.10m to win gold and attempted a new world record height of 6.25m.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

After a season largely lost to injury in 2023, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone showed she is back to peak performance by setting a world record of 50.65 in the 400m hurdles at the US Trials. At only 24, she now holds five world records.

She also set a personal best of 22.07 in the 200m and a world-leading time of 48.75 in the 400m earlier this season.

Although four other women heading to Paris have run under 53 seconds this season, McLaughlin-Levrone is nearly two seconds faster than her nearest rival, world champion Femke Bol, and is the clear favorite for the 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics. If she wins, she will be the first woman to claim two Olympic titles in the 400m hurdles.

Noah Lyles

At the Paris Olympics, US sprinter Noah Lyles is focused on achieving more than he did at last year’s World Championships.

Following his triumph in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay in Budapest, Lyles is setting his sights on these same events in Paris, plus adding the 4x400m relay to his list of goals. He is currently in excellent shape, recently clinching the sprint double at the challenging US Trials.

Lyles equaled his 100m personal best of 9.83 seconds and won the 200m in a world-leading 19.53 seconds. In early May, he anchored the USA to victory in the 4x100m relay at the World Relays, setting a world-leading time of 37.40 seconds.

Faith Kipyegon

High-altitude races beyond 1000m can be particularly grueling due to the decreased oxygen levels, but Faith Kipyegon made it look remarkably easy at last month’s Kenyan Trials.

The multi-world and Olympic gold medalist won the 5000m with a time of 14:46.28, finishing six seconds ahead of Beatrice Chebet, who had recently set a world 10,000m record. The day after, Kipyegon also won the 1500m with a time of 3:53.98, achieving the fastest times ever recorded at high altitude.

At 30 years old, Kipyegon is looking to repeat her World Championships success in both the 1500m and 5000m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Shericka Jackson

After a rookie mistake in her 200m heat at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, Shericka Jackson has been nearly flawless in the 200m.

Between June 2022 and May 2024, the Jamaican sprinter was undefeated in the 200m, capturing two world titles and achieving three of the four fastest times in history.

While the 29-year-old took some time to find her best form this year, her recent success at the Jamaican Championships, where she clinched the 100m title with a time of 10.84 seconds and the 200m with 22.29 seconds, shows she is peaking at just the right time.

Kishane Thompson

Kishane Thompson, a relatively new name on the international sprinting scene, had a breakthrough year last year that went largely unnoticed.

He achieved a 9.91 in the heats of the Jamaican Championships but did not advance to the final, thus missing out on the World Championships. Later in the season, he set a new PB of 9.85 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen.

At last week’s Jamaican Championships, Thompson opened his 2024 campaign with a personal best of 9.82 in the heats and won the final with a world-leading 9.77, earning his place in Paris. Could he be the athlete to restore Jamaica’s Olympic 100m supremacy?

Sha’Carri Richardson

World 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson has continued her strong performances from last season. She won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in May with a time of 10.83 seconds and went on to win the 100m at the US Trials with a world-leading time of 10.71 seconds.

In the 200m semifinals at the US Trials, she equaled her personal best of 21.92 seconds, but fell just short of a podium finish in the final, missing out on a spot in that event for the Olympics.

This allows Richardson to focus on defending her 100m and 4x100m relay titles at the Paris 2024 Games.

Lamecha Girma

If there is one athlete overdue for a global gold medal, it’s Lamecha Girma. The Ethiopian distance runner has competed in five global championships and has always come away with a silver medal.

This year, however, Girma, who holds world records for the 3000m steeplechase and the indoor 3000m, has been in phenomenal form. He was unbeaten indoors and has set personal bests of 12:58.96 in the 5000m and 3:53.82 in the mile at the start of the outdoor season. Most recently, he ran a world-leading 8:01.63 in the 3000m steeplechase in Stockholm.

With the reigning world and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali dealing with a knee injury, 2024 could be Girma’s opportunity to win that long-awaited global gold medal.

Ethan Katzberg

Ethan Katzberg’s win of the world hammer throw title last year was one of the biggest surprises of the championships. Since then, the Canadian thrower has remained unbeaten, confirming that his Budapest success was no accident.

In his first meet of 2024, just two weeks after turning 22, Katzberg broke the North American record with a world-leading 84.38m in Nairobi. He then won with 81.98m in Bergen and 82.60m at the Canadian Championships.

With just one month to go before the Paris Olympics, Katzberg leads the world rankings with the six longest throws of the year.

Nafi Thiam

After an injury kept Nafi Thiam from defending her world heptathlon title in Budapest last year, there were concerns about whether the Belgian star could regain her top form.

The 29-year-old answered those questions by capturing the European heptathlon title last month with a score of 6848, marking her third-best performance ever, despite it being her first competition since July.

Over the next month, Thiam will focus on fine-tuning her form in preparation for the Paris Games, where she hopes to achieve a historic milestone as the first woman to win three Olympic combined events titles.