U.S. Olympic Trials: Athletes Ready to Break Out in London

The Olympics are in London this year and the American team has a lot of young talent just waiting to break out. This talent is spread over a multitude of sports. Paige McPherson, Aly Raisman, Ashton Eaton and Christian Taylor are all in their first Olympics and will truly excel in London.

Christian Taylor, Triple Jump

Christian Taylor had a great youth career in the triple jump, winning gold in the triple jump at the 2007 World Youth Championships. He also did extremely well in the 2011 World Championships by earning a gold there as well. 

Taylor is a track and field competitor at the University of Florida and has won multiple NCAA championships. Taylor has a rival from the U.S. in the triple jump that he will have to beat—named Will Claye. 

Claye and Taylor were teammates at Florida, and despite being each other's biggest adversary, they are still good friends. It's a friendly rivalry that Taylor described as needed in the sport (h/t Miami Herald's Linda Robertson):

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“People like rivalries,” Taylor said. “You watch Usain Bolt and after a while you say, ‘Ah, come on, can somebody please beat him?’

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Hopefully, this rivalry leads to some entertaining jumps, but Taylor is the better of the two and should end up being the breakout star in the triple jump this year.

Aly Raisman, Gymnastics

The talk is all about Shawn Johnson's retirement or Jordan Wieber, but the girl who could steal people's hearts in London is Aly Raisman. She is an all-around talent with abilities to medal in three out of four events.

She was also extremely successful at the Pacific Rim games earning silver medals in the All Around, Balance Beam and Floor events. She's an asset to the American gymnastics team and has been improving on her Vault and Bars events to be a contender for the All Around gold in London. 

Raisman has also been impressing longtime U.S. national team coordinator Marta Karolyi. Raisman does have weaknesses—specifically in artistry, the vault and the bars. However, Karolyi states what Raisman needs to improve upon (h/t Inside Gymnastics' Elizabeth Grimsley):

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“She really doesn’t need [artistry]. She just needs to try to express,” Karolyi said. “She tries to express more, but I think her flexibility is a little better. She’s getting the credit for the leaps—even a year ago or two years ago she wouldn’t—so I see improvements.”

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Should Aly improve her artistic expression during the Olympic games, she could be the dark horse to lead the Americans to another gold in the individual All Around competition.

Paige McPherson, Taekwondo Under 67kg Women's Division

"McFierce" is her nickname. She is arguably the quickest striker in the sport this year. At just 22 years old, she is in her second world championships and has the talent to be a shocking surprise for the Americans in Taekwondo.

Her natural talent and ability is only part of her story. She was adopted at a young age by a family in South Dakota. Paige was one of five kids that the McPhersons adopted and raised in Sturgis.

After growing up in Sturgis, she moved to Miami to train. In an interview with USA Today's Michael Florek, "McFierce" describes the experience:  

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When I first came (to Miami) was definitely a culture shock, all of the necessities you get. There are malls every other corner of every street, whereas in South Dakota there was one mall and it was really small and it took 45 minutes to get there.

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So while she is enjoying the experiences training in Miami, she has to continue her improvement from a young prodigy to the girl who beat 2004 silver medalist Nia Abdallah to become a medalist in her own right. She has the ability and will be the next breakout Taekwondo medalist for the Americans.

Ashton Eaton, Decathlon

Ashton Eaton is in one of his first world competitions, but he has been dominant in qualifiers for the decathlon—setting a world record (h/t Washington Times' Arjuna Subramanian) to match the world record he set in his heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships earlier in 2012.

Eaton has everything needed to break out in London this year. He has the natural athletic talent to break his own world records and could be the best athlete in the entire Olympics in 2012. He is always looking to improve and even was quoted as saying (h/t Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden):

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"Savin a lot!!!!!" Eaton said after the decathlon was finished: "Not to pump my own tires, but I feel like I'm not maximized yet. I'm not at the end of my career, I'm at the beginning. I can run faster, I can jump higher and farther. I can certainly throw farther."

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Bryan Clay has been the name for the Americans. After his 2012 disqualification and Eaton's world record, Eaton has overtaken Clay as the guy for the Americans and will be the entire U.S. team's breakout star in the Olympics.