The Team USA track and field Olympic delegation to the Rio Games was the youngest in history, thanks in part to the presence of teenage stars Sydney McLaughlin, Vashti Cunningham and Lexi Weeks.

Which athletes from the current generation of junior stars could make waves at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo?

Athlete: Sydney McLaughlin
School: Union Catholic, NJ
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: 400m hurdles, 400m, 4x400m relay

McLaughlin's standout year saw her break two national high school records: the 400m hurdles (54.15) and indoor 400m (51.84). The rising high school senior placed third in the 400m hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials to become the youngest American track and field Olympian since 1972.

The 17-year-old advanced to the semi-final round in Rio, where she placed fifth in 56.22.

With one Olympic experience under her belt, a 21-year-old McLaughlin will be more mature for the Tokyo Games in 2020. We see her branching out to the 400m and representing Team USA on the 4x400m relay as well as both individual events.

Athlete: Vashti Cunningham
School: Bishop Gorman, NV
Graduation Year: 2016
Event: High Jump

The 18-year-old IAAF World Indoor champion took runner-up honors at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was one of two teenage track stars in the American Olympic delegation. Cunningham, the national high school record holder, was the youngest competitor to advance to the Olympic high jump finals, where she placed 13th. Cunningham signed with Nike after winning the world title in March. Her young age and experience will give her an advantage in 2020, as many top competitors will retire before Tokyo.

U.S. champion and four-time Olympian Chaunté Lowe, aged 32, says that she will not return for another Olympics. The three medalists in Ruth Beitia of Spain, Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria and Blanka Vlasic of Croatia are 37, 26 and 32, respectively.




Athlete: Lexi Weeks
School: Cabot, AR/Arkansas
Graduation Year: 2015
Event: Pole Vault

The national high school record holder improved from 14-7.5 to 15-5 in one year, as she won the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles, plus nabbed third place at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the Olympic Games. Weeks cleared a best mark of 14-7.25 to place 10th in the preliminary round in Rio; she did not advance to the final. Weeks' rate of improvement indicates that she is nowhere near hitting her ceiling just yet. For reference, U.S. Olympic Trials champion Jenn Suhr is 34 years old.

Olympic Games silver medalist Sandi Morris trains with Weeks at the University of Arkansas.



Athlete: Khalifa St. Fort
School: St. Thomas Aquinas, FL
Graduation Year: 2016
Event: 100m, 4x100m

Khalifa St. Fort has already competed at the sport's highest levels for her native Trinidad & Tobago. Last summer, she became the youngest female sprinter in history to medal at a senior level world championship when she ran in the 4x100m prelims. T&T placed third in the finals in Beijing, China. This summer, she again competed on the 4x100m relay --but this, time, in the finals-- where Trinidad & Tobago ultimately placed fifth. St. Fort set the national junior record in the 100m at 11.16 at the Trials in June. With Ato Boldon as her coach, St. Fort looks poised to represent her country at international events for years to come.



Athlete: Sammy Watson
School: Rush-Henrietta, NY
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: 800m

Sammy Watson's age group dominance in the 800m is reminiscent of 2016 Olympian Ajee Wilson, who opted to sign with adidas in lieu of competing in the NCAA after her high school graduation. Watson still has a year to make that decision but a few things are clear: the 16-year-old has not lost an 800m to a junior athlete since 2014 and has picked up gold medals at the 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships and IAAF World U20 Championships. She set a PB of 2:02.91 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she placed third in her preliminary round and did not advance. With four more years of experience racing against top level seniors, she'll hone the tactics needed to survive and advance through the rounds.




Athlete: Christina Aragon
School: Billings, MT/Stanford
Graduation Year: 2016
Event: 1500m

There were several noteworthy "firsts" for American 1500m runners this year: Matt Centrowitz won Team USA's first Olympic gold since 1908, Jenny Simpson earned Team USA's first-ever Olympic medal by a female athlete, and Christina Aragon won the United States' first-ever junior world medal in the 1500m. In four years, could Aragon earn a senior level medal?

She ended her high school career as the USA's fourth-best prep ever with her 4:09.27 PB and she's headed to Stanford this fall to train with another all-time high school great, Elise Cranny. Both women competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials this year, where they advanced to the semi-final round.




Athlete: Kate Murphy
School: Lake Braddock, VA
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: 1500m

Kate Murphy is one of the nation's best-ever high school runners: her 4:07.21 1500m PB ranks No. 3 all-time and her 9:10.51 3K PB ranks No. 4 all-time. The rising senior seems to enjoy the 1500m as her primary event and contested it at the Olympic Trials, where she advanced to the semi-final round. Murphy has also accumulated big-time meet experience in her young career: she won the 1500m at the 2015 Pan-Am Junior Athletics Championship and placed 12th in the 3K at the IAAF World U20 Championships this summer.

Murphy set her 1500m PB in what was largely a solo run, indicating she has plenty of upside in the event.




Athlete: Tia Jones
School: Walton, GA
Graduation Year: 2019
Event: 100m Hurdles

Tia Jones burst onto the scene in 2015, when she won the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 100m hurdles title as an eighth grader. The United States is super-deep in the event --Team USA swept the 1-2-3 spots at the Olympic Games in Rio!-- and she faced a loaded field of all-time great performers nearly every time she stepped on the track at a major meet. How loaded? Six of the top ten performances in U.S. prep history were recorded in 2016.

In an event crowded with talent, Jones was the most consistent this year. She placed second at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, second at USATF Junior Nationals and took home a bronze medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland.

As a freshman, she's also already the best-ever: she set the national high school record with a shocking run of 12.84. Look for her to continue Brianna Rollins' winning ways in 2020 and beyond.




Athlete: Candace Hill
School: Rockdale County, GA
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: 100m, 200m

Candace Hill was just seventeen in her first Olympic Trials appearance this year, and though her run did not end with a finals berth in the 100m or 200m, the experience was a learning one for the world's fastest junior athlete. Hill broke the national high school record last year in 10.98; she's clocked three sub-11.10 runs this year. The next step for the 2015 world U18 champion and 2016 world U20 champion will be not only to replicate that sub-11 run, but to do so consistently.

Hill became the youngest professional track and field athlete in U.S. history when she signed a 10-year deal with ASICS last fall.




Athlete: Lauren Rain Williams
School: Oaks Christian, CA
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: 200m

Lauren Rain Williams captured her first California state title in the 100m this spring, but an injury prevented her from going for gold in what is likely her best event: the 200m. The injury also prevented her from competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials. However, she's a serious competitor: Williams took runner-up honors at the IAAF World Youth Championships last summer behind only record setter Candace Hill; she also clocked an astounding, albeit wind-aided 22.44 this year to rank No. 3 all-conditions in prep history. Once healthy again, Williams looks like the heir to a long line of Californians on the throne of U.S. sprinting. The current queen, Allyson Felix, has said that the 2016 Games will be her last Olympics.



Athlete: Allie Ostrander
School: Kenai Central, AK/Boise State
Graduation Year: 2015
Event: 10K

The longer the race, the better Allie Ostrander fares. The diminutive Alaskan transitioned seamlessly from the top of the high school ranks to the NCAA elite last year, as she took runner-up honors at the NCAA XC Championships. An injury forced her to step off the track during the 5K at the NCAA Indoor Championships and she had a quiet track season thereafter. But she reappeared in Eugene, Ore. in early July for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where, with six weeks of running under her belt, Ostrander advanced to the 5K finals and placed eighth. Four years from now, Ostrander will make the Olympic team after moving up to the 10K.




Athlete: Madison Wiltrout
School: Connellsville, PA
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: Javelin Throw

Madison Wiltrout set the national high school record in the javelin as only a sophomore last year with her giant heave of 185-8.25. Her dominance is such that she owns three of the top ten farthest throws in prep history. You may not have heard her name much this year, as she underwent elbow surgery in 2015 and struggled through a long recovery period. She fought back this spring to defend her Pennsylvania state title, take runner-up honors at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and earn a fifth place finish at USATF Junior Nationals. In four years? She'll set the American record.




Athlete: Alyssa Wilson
School: Donovan Catholic, NJ
Graduation Year: 2017
Event: Shot Put, Discus Throw

Alyssa Wilson surpassed Michelle Carter this year on the prep all-time list for shot put. Yep, that Michelle Carter --the shot diva-- who won Olympic gold this summer in Rio, a first for an American woman in the shot put. But there's still one name ahead of Wilson for the national high school record: Raven Saunders.
Wilson enters her senior year with Saunders' 56-8.25 mark on the brain. Her own best is 55-9.25 and if she can continue her progression to edge the South Carolina native, then she's on a good trajectory: Saunders also competed in Rio this summer, where she placed fifth in the shot put finals.

Of course, Wilson earned her own hardware this summer: she took home a bronze medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland.