First-Timers Going for the Gold

By Adena Jones ·July 21, 2021July 21, 2021

A year ago, the Olympic future for -hundreds of athletes hung in the -balance as the world tried to protect its citizens from the COVID-19 virus. Sports seemed like the last thing on anyone’s mind as the Tokyo Olympics faced uncertainty and were eventually postponed.

This summer, the games will go on—but with a different format than previous years. Spectators from abroad will not be allowed to attend the international multisport event, which takes place July 23 to August 8 in Japan.

Despite the unusual circumstances, athletes who saw their dream deferred in 2020 won’t have that happen again as they get ready to compete as part of Team USA. Meet eight Black women—all first-time Olympic hopefuls—whose goal is to make America proud at the Summer Games.

01Aliphine TuliamukThe Kenyan-born marathoner is crushing stereotypes by having her first child less than seven months before the games. Tuliamuk, who placed first at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials for -Marathon, had planned to start a family after competing. When the games were postponed, she formulated a new plan that involved training during the first eight months of her pregnancy, running six to nine miles at a time.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images 02Kelsey StewartSince her game-winning walk-off hit against Japan in the World Championship, Stewart has been front and center as softball makes a return to Olympic play. In 2020, the utility player from Wichita, -Kansas, joined her Scrap Yard Fast Pitch team in a walkout to protest a controversial tweet by their general manager, who seemed to criticize athletes who kneel during the national anthem.

Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images 03Michelle MoultrieMoultrie has been waiting for her Olympic window since she joined Team USA in 2011, while still in college. Softball had been dropped from the Olympics at the time, and though it was reinstated for this summer’s games, it may not make another return until 2028. Now, the veteran outfielder from Jacksonville, Florida, heads into Tokyo as a first-time Olympian ready to seize her moment.

Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images 04Samarria BrevardAs her sport makes its Olympic debut, Brevard, a native of Riverside, California, has been labeled “the Serena Williams of skateboarding.” Winner of the 2014 Kimberly Diamond championship in South Africa, she became, three years later, the first -African-American woman to win a medal at the X Games. In 2018, she was also the first female skateboarder ever to compete against the guys in the X Games Real Street contest.

Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images 05Jordan ChilesIn 2019, Chiles left her hometown gym in Vancouver, Washington, to train in Spring, Texas, at the World Champions Centre (the same training facility used by -Simone Biles, the most-decorated gymnast in World Championship history). The move paid off, as this year, the long-standing senior team member scored a first-place all-around finish at the 2021 Winter Cup. Her performance on the mat offered an exciting sneak peek at her final Olympic form.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images 06Tamyra Mensah-StockNamed 2019 United World Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year, Mensah- Stock has had her eyes on the games since 2016. The Katy, Texas, native won the U.S. Olympic trials in 2016, but didn’t qualify to compete in Rio. A three-time Senior World Team member, Mensah-Stock took home the bronze medal in 2018 and claimed the championship one year later. Now it’s time for her Olympic medal.

Harry How/Getty Images 07Jacarra WinchesterThough an injury took away her 2016 Olympic wrestling dreams, a 2021 debut was all but written for Winchester, who hails from the Oakland area. The 2019 Senior World Champion has won at every level of her career. In 2010, she was the California Interscholastic Federation Girls state champ; in 2015, she became the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association National Champion for Missouri Valley. She was also the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Open champ.

Harry How/Getty Images 08A’ja WilsonOne of the WNBA’s most dynamic personalities, with the game to match, Wilson is ready to add Olympic medalist to her list of accomplishments. The pride of her hometown of Hopkins, South Carolina, Wilson was the 2020 WNBA MVP, theNo. 1 Draft pick and Rookie of the Year in 2018, and the 2017 NCAA Champion. For the 2021 Olympics, she will join Hall of Fame Team USA coach Dawn Staley, who also coached her at the University of South Carolina.