World
Usain Bolt, 29, Jamaica
Athletics, from Saturday 13
Bolt's hamstring injury at the start of July will only add to the
anticipation over the defence of his 100m and 200m titles in Rio. His rivalry
with controversial American Justin Gatlin will once again be the headline act of
the Games.
Dafne Schippers, 24, Netherlands
Athletics, from Friday 12
Three years ago Schippers was claiming a World Championship
bronze medal in heptathlon. Her stunning switch to sprinting - winning 200m gold
and 100m silver at the 2015 worlds - is set to lead to Olympic medals in Brazil.
Michael Phelps, 31, USA
Swimming, from Sunday 7
The most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals to his name, Phelps marked his return to the big stage by qualifying for Rio in three individual distances at the US Olympic trials at the age of 31. As well as the 100 and 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, he should also figure in three relay events.
Claressa Shields, 21, USA
Boxing, from Friday 12
The American shot to fame by claiming middleweight gold in London at the age of just 17. Invincible since, with two world titles to her name, Shields starts as the big favourite to become a double Olympic gold medallist.
Mehdi Khodabakhshi, 25, Iran
Taekwondo, Friday 19
Taekwondo stars do not come much more dominant than the Iranian, who heads to Rio as the reigning world and Asian Games champion in the men's 80kg division, and with a reputation which makes him a massive favourite for gold.
British
Jessica Ennis-Hill, 30
Athletics, Friday 12 and Saturday 13
It has been far from plain sailing for Ennis-Hill since her historic heptathlon triumph at Super Saturday in 2012. Since her return from time out to start a family, she has
shown glimpses of the form that swept her to gold in London, though she faces a stiff challenge for her crown, not least from compatriot Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Adam Peaty, 21
Swimming, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7
The Englishman will head to Rio as the reigning world record-holder and world
champion in the 100m breaststroke, making him a huge favourite to
claim Great Britain's first men's Olympic swimming title since Adrian Moorhouse
in 1988.
Nicola Adams, 33
Boxing, from Friday 12
All-conquering Adams recently added the world title to her ever-growing
collection of honours at the fourth time of trying. The flyweight is set to
become the first Briton to retain an Olympic boxing gold medal since Harry
Mallin in 1924.
Lizzie Armitstead, 27
Cycling, Sunday 7
Pipped to road-race gold at London 2012 by Marianne Vos, Armitstead won the world title in Richmond, Virginia last year. Also the British and Commonwealth champion, she is the racer to beat in one of the first gold medal events of the Games.
Mo Farah, 33
Athletics, from Saturday 13
Farah faces a monumental task to repeat his double-winning feat of four years
ago. But he managed to claim both 5000m and 10,000m titles at last year’s IAAF World Championships, and will accept nothing less than a repeat performance in Rio.
Scottish
Laura Muir, 23
Athletics, from Friday 12
The 1500-metre runner has hit top form at exactly the right time, having broken Kelly Holmes’s British record at the Anniversary Games last weekend. Her growing tactical maturity combined with her fierce competitiveness gives her a fighting chance of a medal.
Andy Murray, 29
Tennis, from Saturday 6
Winning gold at London 2012 gave a massive boost to Murray, who went on to win the US Open that year and Wimbledon the following summer. Going into these Games as Wimbledon champion again, he stands an excellent chance of retaining his Olympic title.
Katie Archibald, 22
Cycling, from Thursday 11
With a world championship and six European titles under her belt, Archibald is part of a team pursuit squad that has an excellent chance of coming home with gold. She may lack the Olympic experience of team-mates such as Laura Trott, but after missing out on this year’s worlds through injury she is determined to make her talent count.
Lynsey Sharp, 26
Athletics, from Wednesday 17
The Commonwealth silver medallist faces tough opposition in an 800-metres field that includes the controversial South African Caster Semenya, but she proved in Glasgow that she can peak for the big race no matter how adverse the circumstances.
Katherine Grainger, 40
Rowing, from Saturday 6
Having won gold in the double sculls with Anna Watkins in London after three consecutive Olympic silvers, Grainger is now partnered by Vicky Thornley. The two only just made it into the British team at the last minute, but insist that their sights are still firmly on a medal.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here