Ten Faces to Follow for the Olympics in Athens

Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics

Already hailed as the greatest runner over 200 and 400 metres since Michael Johnson, Bolt does not turn 17 until later this month. But he has equalled the 200m world junior record of 20.13sec and in 2002 became the sport's youngest world junior champion. Johnson is among those to have extolled the virtues of the youngster who could burst into the public consciousness next week when he travels to the world championships in Paris.

Natalie Coughlin (United States) Swimming

Coughlin is the US swimming team's jack of all trades. The 20-year-old University of California star competes in three different disciplines - backstroke, freestyle and butterfly. Billed as the best American female swimmer since Tracy Caulkins, who won three gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Coughlin could attempt to emulate Mark Spitz by winning seven gold medals in Athens, despite a relatively disappointing world championships last month.

Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) Athletics

This year Bekele was called the greatest prodigy in the history of sport after winning consecutive double world cross-country titles. "Who can compare?" Runner's World asked. "Pele? Bjorn Borg? Tiger Woods? But did any of them ever do anything to match what this 20-year-old Ethiopian has accomplished?" Bekele is a protege of Haile Gebrselassie, who will be seeking to win the 10,000m in Athens.

Ekaterini Thanou (Greece) Athletics

Every Olympics usually throws up an unexpected local hero and Thanou could surprise a few people, including the defending champion Marion Jones, in the 100m. All the pressure will be on her training partner Konstantinos Kenteris in the men's 200m and Thanou has been preparing diligently and quietly away from the spotlight since she won the European title in Munich last year. She races so sparingly as to have aroused suspicions but is one to keep an eye on.

Svetlana Khorkina (Russia) Gymnastics

Not strictly a new name because she has been the queen of the asymmetric bars for eight years with 12 golds in Olympic, world and European competitions, competing in both Atlanta and Sydney. But, having recently posed nude in Russian Playboy and having launched an acting career in Hollywood, she is sure to draw the attention of the tabloid press, who may previously have been unaware of the charms of the willowy 25-year-old Russian.

Jana Pittman (Australia) Athletics

To be compared with Cathy Freeman can be both a blessing and a curse but Pittman says she is just honoured to have inherited the role of Australia's great Olympic hope. Pittman, a 400m hurdler who can also race competitively in the flat one-lap race, has been the coming woman since 2000 when she won both titles in the world junior championships. She broke through to world class last year when she won the Commonwealth title.

Michael Phelps (US) Swimming

Ian Thorpe overshadows everything and everyone in swimming but if anyone is going to eclipse him it will be Phelps. In the world championships in Barcelona last month he won four gold and two silver medals and he broke five individual world records. Next year will give him a chance to match Spitz's 1972 Olympic performance of seven races, seven gold medals and seven world records. Then even the Thorpedo will be blown out of the water.

Liu Guoxiong (China) Table tennis

The Athens games will be a significant milestone for the Chinese because the Beijing Olympics will then be only four years away. They are to launch a massive public relations campaign with Liu Guoxiong at the forefront. The Chinese government has sent the man who in 1999 became the first to hold the Olympic, World Championship and World Cup titles on an English language course and hope that, in Athens, he will be the happy, smiling face of Beijing.

Georgina Harland (Great Britain) Modern pentathlon

Travelled to Sydney as reserve and was inspired by watching her team-mate Stephanie Cook win the inaugural gold medal. When Cook retired afterwards it was Harland, a Loughborough geography graduate, who was looked to as her successor. Her preparation has not gone fully to plan because she suffers from nerves in the shooting discipline but is working with a sports psychologist to overcome the problem.

Leana Cave (GB) Triathlon

In 2002 Cave wrested control of the world title for the three-discipline sport of swimming, cycling and running from Australia, Canada and the United States, who have vied for dominance in the event for years. It was the culmination of a remarkable year that saw her rise from obscurity to world class. She was largely unknown outside her own sport before finishing second in the Commonwealth Games.