Olympics 2016: Athletes Before They Were Famous
The first week of the Olympics is coming to a close, and so far we’ve seen some seriously amazing things. Athletes like the #FinalFive gymnasts, the young-but-powerful swimmers, the college sophomore shooter, and the powerhouse beach volleyball duo have already wowed the world with their winning performances, many resulting in gold medals for Team USA.
The unbelievable performances and all-around Olympic excitement have left us with a major thirst for learning more about the many athletes taking over Rio. But while it’s been fun to read up on the Olympians’ current and recent achievements and stories, it’s even more fun to look back and see what they were like long before Rio, when their Olympic dreams were just that. Click through for some impressive, hilarious, and adorable throwback pics of 15 of our favorite 2016 Olympians.
Instagram/@lauriehernandez_1/16Laurie Hernandez
16-year-old gymnast Laurie Hernandez may be known as the “human emoji,” but she’s also a seriously fierce competitor — and as this photo from her very early days in the sport shows, she always has been.
Instagram/@missyfranklin82/16Missy Franklin
Instagram/@kassidycook133/16Kassidy Cook
You don’t become an elite diver, flying through the air and into the water with the greatest of ease, without putting in years of hard work, which 21-year-old Kassidy Cook clearly did. Here she is back in 2005, in full focus at the Junior Pan American diving competition.
Instagram/@malpugh4/16Mallory Pugh
At 18 years old, Mallory Pugh is the youngest member of the U.S. women’s Olympic soccer team — and based on this childhood picture she shared on Instagram, she’s always been a tough girl on the field.
Instagram/@bmartrun5/16Brenda Martinez
Olympic runner Brenda Martinez has been working toward her Olympic dream since she was 5 years old, and clearly had a lot of heart even back then. She posted this picture on Instagram, noting it was “when the dream started.”
Instagram/@toss_and_catch6/16Laura Zeng
16-year-old Laura Zeng, who just may be the greatest rhythmic gymnast in history, has been dazzling in her sport since she was an adorable, sparkle-donning little girl.
Instagram/@alyraisman7/16Aly Raisman
Gold medalist Aly Raisman has been a gymnastic powerhouse since her early days (this video of her tumbling while teeny is perhaps even more impressive than her recent feats) — though back then, she insisted on going by Lexie instead of Aly.
Instagram/@kellymurph128/16Kelly Murphy
Indoor volleyball player, Kelly Murphy, who has been having a pretty good Olympics so far, threw back to her solid form in this Instagram picture from her high school days.
Instagram/@katiemeili9/16Katie Meili
Swimmer Katie Meili posted this picture of her “8 and under days,” saying she wishes she “was still this intimidating.” But, given the first-time Olympian already earned a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke (the event her teammate, Lilly King, now famously took gold in, we’d say she’s more than intimidating enough.
Instagram/@serenawilliams10/16Serena Williams
Tennis icon Serena Williams posted this #TBT a few weeks before the start of the Rio games, with a caption mentioning when she first fell in love with tennis, and noting that she “already knew that [she] would love the sport for the rest of [her] life.”
Instagram/@simonebiles11/16Simone Biles
Newly minted gold medalist Simone Biles shared this adorable side-by-side a couple years ago, of herself as a young gymnast and a teenager, both times in a purple uniform, both times with her “game face on.”
Instagram/@lexi12/16Lexi Thompson
In many ways, golf seems like one of those mature, grown-up sports that people don’t even start until they’re adults — which is why this throwback of now 21-year-old Lexi Thompson swinging a club as a child is extra adorable.
Instagram/@adelinegray13/16Adeline Gray
25-year-old wrestler Adeline Gray grew up wrestling boys (like in this photo from when she was 8 years old), which she notes in another post, made her “smarter, stronger, and more technical,” but also expressed her hope that one day, girls can compete against each other in wrestling, as they do in other sports.
Instagram/@aprilrossbeach14/16April Ross
April Ross is on a quest for her first beach volleyball Olympic gold (along with her defending champion partner, Kerri Walsh Jennings). But a few weeks before the Rio games kicked off, she shared a throwback picture of herself as “a young Olympian in training” — in a different sport. The picture shows a young April holding a soccer ball, rather than a volleyball. Whatever works, right?
Instagram/@lilyyz15/16Lily Zhang
For some of us, it’s all we can do to keep a table tennis volley going for more than two hits. And then there’s Lily Zhang, who has been killing it since she was barely taller than the table.
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