2022 Beijing Olympics: Breakout Stars to Watch at This Year's Games

Not even six months after the closing ceremonies for the last Summer Olympics, the torch has been lit again in Beijing.

Of course, concerns around COVID-19 caused the 2020 Tokyo Games to be pushed back by a year. While the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on day-to-day routines, Winter Olympics organizers opted to push ahead with their "closed loop," rather than wait and hope for improved future circumstances.

Like with Tokyo—and with the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea—the time difference will once again make it difficult for North American audiences to witness many events in real time. And while the pre-Olympic hype level seems to feel a bit muted, it's hard not to get caught up in the competitors' stunning triumphs and devastating setbacks once the events begin.

An Olympic moment is a lifelong dream for many athletes. Those who have reached the stage for the first time won't mind the lack of fans, or the grind of testing rituals, as they put themselves up to try to win competitions and set records.

Here are seven first-time Olympians to keep in your sights over the next couple of weeks in Beijing.

Country: USA

Age: 19

Events:

• Men's Snowboard Slopestyle (Feb. 6-7)
• Men's Snowboard Big Air (Feb. 14-15)

Why You Should Watch:

A California kid who has been snowboarding since he was two years old, Dusty Henricksen says his strongest Olympic memory came four years ago when he watched Red Gerard earn gold for Team USA in the snowboard slopestyle in Pyeongchang.

Henricksen turned 19 on Feb. 2, and he is now ready to chase his own Olympic dream—going head-to-head with Gerard and others in both the slopestyle and big air events.

After announcing his arrival on the global stage with a win at the Youth Olympic Games in 2020, Henricksen raised hopes that he could be the next big thing on a board when he captured gold in slopestyle at the 2021 X Games in Aspen—the first American to do so since the legendary Shaun White in 2009.

Country: China

Age: 18

Events:

• Women’s Freeski Big Air (Feb. 7-8)
• Women’s Freeski Slopestyle (Feb. 13-14)
• Women’s Freeski Halfpipe (Feb. 17-18)

Why You Should Watch:

Eileen Gu is just 18 years old. But she's embracing the opportunity to use the Olympic stage in Beijing to popularize action sports in the host country, particularly among girls.

Born and raised in San Francisco, the talented Gu has chosen to compete for China, her mother's birth country.

"At the end of the day, she really feels she can make an impact in these young women's lives," her agent, Tom Yaps, told NBC Sports in 2021. "She looked around and said, 'There are so many brilliant role models in the U.S. already,' and she felt her voice could really make an impact over there."

Fluent in both English and Mandarin, Gu is expected to compete for medals in all three women's freeski events. She won gold in both halfpipe and big air and a silver in slopestyle at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games. Last November, she became the first woman ever to successfully land a double cork 1440.

Country: USA

Age: 19

Events:

• Men's Ice Hockey (Feb. 9-20)

Why You Should Watch:

Team USA has gone young for Beijing. After failing to earn a medal in men's hockey at the past two Games, and without NHL players in the mix, the Americans will be leaning heavily on NCAA players, both past and present.

The roster is headlined by 19-year-old Matty Beniers, a sophomore at the University of Michigan. Beniers is a center who is both defensively responsible and able to put the puck in the net. He was selected second in the 2021 NHL draft by the expansion Seattle Kraken, and he already has significant international experience wearing red, white and blue.

As a young player looking to gain experience, Beniers won gold at the 2020 World Junior Championship. He then added a bronze to his trophy case at the senior men's tournament in Latvia in May. In December, his second spin at World Juniors was cut short when the tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19.

Other college standouts on coach David Quinn's roster include Beniers' Michigan teammate Brendan Brisson and defenseman Jake Sanderson, a skilled sophomore defenseman at the University of North Dakota who was selected fifth by the Ottawa Senators in the 2020 NHL draft.

During the 2018 Olympics, Team USA got important contributions from the three collegiate athletes. Troy Terry (Anaheim Ducks), Jordan Greenway (Minnesota Wild) and Ryan Donato (Seattle Kraken) are all now established as everyday NHL players, and Terry was selected to represent the Ducks at the NHL's 2022 All-Star Game.

Country: Canada

Age: 29

Events:

• Women's Ice Hockey (Feb. 3-17)

Why You Should Watch:

With a deep talent pool to draw from and a long history of success, the brain trust behind Canada's women's hockey program likes to stay the course to keep its winning tradition alive.

That can make it tough for new players to crack Canada's Olympic roster, which is why it's exciting to see forward Jamie Lee Rattray suit up for her first Games in Beijing at age 29.

Rattray has been wearing the maple leaf—and scoring goals—since her teenage years, when she won silver and gold medals at the women's U18 level. At Clarkson University, she won an NCAA championship in 2014 and received the Patty Kazmaier award as the top player in women's collegiate hockey. And on Canada's World Championship teams, she added a gold in Calgary last summer to her bronze and two silvers from past tournaments.

At Worlds, coach Troy Ryan elected to use Rattray as a 13th forward. He inserted her into the lineup as needed, and she rewarded him with four goals in seven games. That helped to solidify her place on Canada's Olympic roster.

Women's hockey fans are very familiar with Canada's veteran threats, like Marie-Philip Poulin and Natalie Spooner. Rattray is a bit of a wild card, but she carries a resume that suggests she could be a difference-maker in Beijing.

Country: ROC

Age: 15

Events:

• Team Figure Skating (Feb. 4-7)
• Women's Singles Skating (Feb. 15-17)

Why You Should Watch:

Even when they aren't skating under their country's flag, Russian teenagers are the forces to watch in women's figure skating. 

In Pyeongchang in 2018, 15-year-old Alina Zagitova captured gold and 18-year-old Yevgenia Medvedeva earned silver. In Beijing, a new crew of youngsters could sweep the podium.

The most promising is Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old who has been setting record after record in just her first year of senior competition. She's coming into Beijing with quadruple toe and Salchow jumps in her arsenal, as well as a triple Axel.

At the 2021 Rostelecom Cup Grand Prix event in Sochi last November, Valieva's scores set new world records for the women's short program, free skate, and total overall score. She then went on to beat her short program number while winning another gold at January's European Championship in Estonia.

Between her unparalleled skills and her exquisite artistry, Valieva has already raised the bar for women's figure skating. Beijing will be her biggest stage to date.

Country: USA

Age: 17

Events:

• Men's 500m (Feb. 12)
• Men's 1,000m (Feb. 18)

Why You Should Watch:

Long-track speedskating is a sport that's typically heavy on veterans, and Team USA is no different. In 2022, both Brittany Bowe and Joey Mantia will be back for their third cracks at the Olympic podium. Between them so far, they have just one medal—a bronze for Bowe in Team Pursuit from 2018.

The wild card on the U.S. speedskating team is the teenager. Jordan Stolz, just 17, broke the track records of the legendary Shani Davis when he qualified in Milwaukee at January's U.S. Olympic Trials, and he could deliver more surprises in Beijing.

Stolz is just the third U.S. skater in history to qualify for the Olympics as a 17-year-old. He follows Eric Heiden (1980) and Emery Lehman (2014).

Country: USA

Age: 27

Events:

• Mixed Team Relay (Feb. 5)
• Women's 500m (Feb. 5-7)
• Women's 1,000m (Feb. 9-11)
• Women's 1,500m (Feb. 16)
• Women's 3,000m relay (Feb. 9-13)

Why You Should Watch:

Another 'old rookie,' Kristen Santos missed out on Pyeongchang after suffering a skate cut to her hand just a month before the 2018 Olympic Trials, derailing her dream.

As she watched from the sidelines, she recalibrated her personal goals. She decided it was no longer enough just to skate at the Olympics. Now, she wants to win a medal.

In the rough-and-tumble world of short track, that's no small thing. The last American woman to stand on the podium in an individual Olympic event was Katherine Reutter in 2010, who earned a silver in Vancouver in the 1,000 meter distance.

Santos is coming into Beijing with momentum on her side. She won her first-ever World Cup gold medal in Japan in October, in the 1,000m distance—one week after picking up a pair of bronzes at a World Cup event in Beijing, on the same track where she'll be skating for the Olympic competition.

With Maame Biney, Corinne Stoddard and Julie Letai, Santos will also skate on the U.S. women's relay team. It's the first time since 2010 an American team has qualified for the event.