Cue Kanye’s "Stronger" — the 2016 Summer Olympics are just around the corner.
Athletes from all over the world will convene in Rio de Janeiro in early August in their quest for the ultimate prize: an Olympic gold medal. Despite pressing concerns over Zika and water pollution, the games promise to be historic.
This year will feature the most female Olympians ever: approximately 45% of participants. From taekwondo to track, the female competitors are ready to break records. The U.S. women’s basketball team is looking to go for its sixth straight gold as part of its 41-game Olympic winning streak while India will be sending its first-ever female gymnast. You may be familiar with stars such as Gabby Douglas or Missy Franklin, but there are many more female athletes poised to make headlines next month.
Ahead, we round up some of those amazing athletes, including marathon triplets, members of the first-ever refugee team, and a six-time Olympic qualifier.
Check back as we add more badass athletes you should know before the games begin on August 5. May the best woman win.
Name/Age: Gabby Douglas, 20
Sport: Gymnastics
Country: U.S.A.
Why She Rocks: Gabby Douglas left the 2012 London Olympics as the first African-American woman in Olympic history to be an individual all-around gymnastics champion, as well as the first American gymnast to take home gold in both the team all-around and individual all-around in the same games. Her face was also featured on Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal boxes in the U.S., and she penned a New York Times best-selling memoir.
In Her Words: “I love the challenge. I love to push limits. I feel like I haven’t reached my full potential yet,” she told Teen Vogue.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Name/Age: Yusra Mardini, 18
Sport: Swimming
Country: Syria (refugee in Germany)
Why She Rocks: Mardini and her little sister jumped out of a sinking boat and pulled it to shore in Lesbos, Greece, as Syrian refugees. With their mother, they fled to Lebanon and then Turkey before settling in Germany. Having swum competitively for Syria in 2012, she will be a member of this year’s inaugural team of Refugee Olympic Athletes.
In Her Words: “I want to make all the refugees proud of me. It would show that even if we had a tough journey, we can achieve something,” she told The Guardian.
Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Name/Age: Ibtihaj Muhammad, 30
Sport: Fencing
Country: U.S.A.
Why She Rocks: After obtaining a dual international relations and African-American studies degree from Duke University, Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first U.S. woman to compete in a hijab at the Olympics.
In Her Words: “I want to compete in the Olympics for the United States to prove that nothing should hinder anyone from reaching their goals — not race, religion or gender” she wrote in her U.S.A. Team bio.
Devin Manky/Getty Images
Name/Age: Nicola Adams, 33
Sport: Boxing
Country: U.K.
Why She Rocks: The first woman to win an Olympic boxing title in 2012, Adams will enter the 2016 Games as the reigning European Games, Commonwealth, World, and Olympic champion. Openly bisexual, she was named the most influential LGBT individual in Britain by The Independent in 2012.
In Her Words: “We didn't make it far in the football but not to worry us Olympians will bring back some medals from the Rio Olympic #38daystogo,” she posted on Twitter.
Warren Little/Getty Images
Name/Age: Jacqueline, “Jackie” Galloway, 20
Sport: Taekwondo
Country: U.S.A.
Why She Rocks : A dual citizen, Galloway was named to the Mexican national taekwondo team at just 14, and was an alternate for the London 2012 Games. In Rio, she will be the first heavyweight taekwondo athlete to represent the U.S. at the Olympics.
In Her Words: “Really, my goal is to win gold at the Olympics. And that’s not just my goal, that’s my plan,” Galloway told Team U.S.A.
Hector Retamal/Getty Images
Name/Age: Leila, Liina, and Lily Luik, 30
Sport: Marathon
Country: Estonia
Why They Rock: The “Trio to Rio” from this tiny Baltic country will be the first set of triplets to ever compete in the same sport, one that they only took up seriously at the age of 24.
In Their Words: "It would be great... It's like our dream, and we know that we have to live in reality. It is very hard to compete against the Kenyan runners. We are not at the same kind of level as they are now, but in two or three years we can do that," they told Reuters.
Vitnija Saldava/AP Photo
Name/Age: Simone Biles, 19
Sport: Gymnastics
Country: U.S.A.
Why She Rocks: Biles is the most decorated female gymnast in history, holding the World Championships record for most gold medals (10) won by a female gymnast, and she a has a signature move, “the Biles ” named after her. She's nearly a shoo-in for the gold again, this time in her first Olympics.
In Her Words: “I’m really excited for the possibility of my first Olympic run. I have an amazing team behind me. It’s just so exciting, and I know everyone’s just so anxious, so when you have the best of teams supporting you, there’s just no other… It makes me feel so happy,” Biles told Refinery29.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Name/Age: Allyson Felix, 30
Sport: Track & Field, 400-Meter Sprint
Country: U.S.A.
Why She Rocks: Nicknamed “Chicken Legs ” in high school, Felix has gone on to become a six-time U.S. National 200-meter champion, and has clocked the fastest time in the world for the 400-meter sprint at this year’s U.S. Olympic trials despite a sprained ankle.
In Her Words: "I just gave it everything I had…Things were hitting me right and left, but giving up wasn't an option," she told Reuters.
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Name/Age: Oksana Chusovitina, 41
Sport: Gymnastics
Country: Uzbekistan
Why She Rocks: Chusovitina has been competing longer than most of her rivals have been alive. The only female gymnast to compete in six Olympic Games (beginning in 1992 when she helped the former-USSR team win gold), she will also be the oldest in Olympic history, after a 25-year career competing internationally for the former Soviet Union, the Unified Team, Germany, and finally, Uzbekistan.
In Her Words: "Am I old? I don’t feel old," she told The New York Times in 2012, adding, "Gymnastics keeps me young."
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