The first batch of men’s athletes and, as described in our introduction, a group of 12 featuring names that have probably failed to enter your radar unless you happen to follow their sports:
Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia 🇦🇲, Greco-Roman Wrestling)
The most decorated Olympian of Independent Armenia, Aleksanyan upstages football star Henrik Mkhitaryan by virtue of his dominance on a sport where his nation is a powerhouse.
The Greco-Roman wrestler is a three-time World Champion (2014, 2015, 2017), and has captured five European titles to date (2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020), but his best known for being the reigning Olympic Champion since 2016, when he climbed two steps from the third place obtained in London 2012.
Nicknamed the White Bear by his compatriots, the 29-year-old truly sets the standard of excellence in Armenia, having been named the country’s top athlete multiple times and flag bearer on the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. The oddsmakers’ favourite for Tokyo, his legend will only continue to grow should he add more gold to his resume.
Rafael Aghayev (Azerbaijan 🇦🇿, Karate)
Once nicknamed the Diamond of the Karate World, Aghayev is considered by many the greatest karateka in history and a trailblazer in a sport that will make its long-awaited Olympic debut in Tokyo.
A five-time World Champion and eleven-time European Champion in Kumite, Aghayev has always counterbalanced his average height and lesser reach with an explosiveness and tactical acumen that are still major assets at age 36 and against years of data and video his rivals can use to prepare for their clashes.
A showman on the mat, provoking, teasing, and flashing a smile at opponents as he piles up the points, the Azeri punches, kicks and sweeps with a speed that electrifies martials arts crowds. And none are more knowledgeable and appreciative of it as the Japanese fans in front of which Aghayev will look to put the cherry on top of its glittering career with Olympic gold.
Pavlos Kontides (Cyprus 🇨🇾, Sailing)
Named as Cyprus’ finest athlete in seven of the last eight years, sailor Kontides cruises several miles ahead of any other athlete hailing from the Mediterranean nation, especially since the retirement in late 2019 of tennis player – and former Grand Slam Finalist – Marcos Baghdatis.
The first and only Olympic medallist in the country’s history, snatching silver in the Men’s Laser Class at the 2012 Olympics, the 30-year-old boasted his credentials with a couple of sensational seasons in 2017 and 2018, accumulating two consecutive World titles and a European crown (2018) on his way to the distinction as the 2018 World Sailor of the Year.
Naturally tipped as one of the favourites ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Kontides and his compatriots hold justified dreams of gold in Japan, an achievement that would echo Cyprus’ anthem on the Olympic stage for the first time.
Ott Tanak (Estonia 🇪🇪, Rally Racing)
The man who once earned viral status for a dramatic escape after submerging his car in a lake during the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix has managed to change the conversation over the years, landing headlines for his achievements on the roads and driving such public interest in his homeland that he was the subject of a box-office hit in 2019.
“Ott Tanak, the Movie” documented his unsuccessful attempt to become the 2018 World Champion, but both driver and fanbase would eventually get their due, with the 33-year-old completing his decade-long ascension the following season by grabbing six victories out of 13 races and finally hoisting the Championship trophy. The maiden Rally World Champion from Estonia interrupted the French monopoly on the WRC, which had been divvied up between Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier since 2004, and then stunned everyone with a move from Toyota to rivals Hyundai, a sign that Tanak’s appetite is still to be satisfied.
Iivo Niskanen (Finland 🇫🇮, Cross-country Skiing)
Hardened by dark wintery runs in the forests of Oulu in Northern Finland, Double Olympic Champion Iivo Niskanen has never hidden his fondness for going past the limits of pain, clocking over 900 hours of gruelling preparation every year to excel in the most pressure-heavy environments.
Yet to win a World Cup crystal globe in his career, the 29-year-old possesses a flair for the dramatic, having been voted as the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in three occasions on the strength of his outstanding performances in selected moments. The first of those was the sprint event of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he claimed gold in surprising fashion, and another happened in Pyeongchang four years later, with Niskanen snatching the 50km mass start after a tense sprint finale.
For many skiers, Olympic glory would be the pinnacle, however Niskanen’s signature victory dates back to the 2017 World Championships contested in home soil. With all eyes on him, he lasered the energy of his favourite pump-up tune, Gonna Fly Now from the Rocky movies, to smash the field in the 15 km individual race, becoming the national star that Finland’s rich winter sports tradition requires.
Lasha Talakhadze (Georgia 🇬🇪, Weightlifting)
Only 27 years old, the Georgian star is well on the way to match his own weight in gold, courtesy of all the medals and world records he has amassed recently and that have spurred forward a sport plagued by doping scandals.
The 2016 Olympic Champion in the +105 kg (since 2018 reclassed for +109kg), superheavyweight weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze can stake a claim as the strongest athlete ever, having hit a 222kg snatch and clean & jerked 263 kg for a mind-blowing 485 kg total load at the 2021 European Championships. Owner of the four heaviest total lifts of all time across weight classes, Talakhadze has already set and improved two dozen world records, establishing himself as an athlete truly on a class of its own.
Named the IWF Men’s World Weightlifter of the Year after the last three seasons (2017-2019), Talakhadze already has four World Championship wins and five European titles to his name but, more than honours, what the Georgian is really chasing are new milestones for the sport. Including the mythical and long dreamed 500kg total load.
Francesco Friedrich (Germany 🇩🇪, Bobsleigh)
The world’s powerhouse when it comes to sliding sports, Germany has always produced its fair share of dominant figures, especially in luge and bobsleigh, yet Francesco Friedrich isn’t just another pick from the assembly line. He has always dreamed of usurping compatriot Andre Lange as the greatest bobsledder of all-time and, at age 31, he might already be just that.
The most successful slider in World Cup and World Championships history, “King Franz” was also the youngest pilot in history to conquer World Championship glory when he piloted the victorious two-man sled at the 2013 edition. Stunningly, both Germany and Friedrich would go bust at the 2014 Olympics, but that was the last time he left a major competition emptyhanded.
Also the captain of Germany’s leading four-man unit, Friedrich has swept each of the eight World titles awarded since 2017, giving him a record total of ten, and became a double gold medallist at the 2018 Winter Olympics when he drove his two-man sled (alongside breakman Thorsten Margis) to a dramatic last run tie with the Canadians. Dedicated and meticulous, Friedrich’s next challenge is extending his run of success until Beijing 2022, where he hopes to level Lange’s tally of four Olympic titles.
Bob Jungels (Luxembourg 🇱🇺, Road Cycling)
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg might not incorporate enough land or population to ever be considered a sporting powerhouse, but it has managed to punch well above its weight on occasion, especially when it relates to cycling. The fifth nation in history with the most Tour de France winners (4), Luxembourg continues to churn out quality riders and the 28-year-old Jungels has been the standout in recent years, regularly bearing the country’s colours in the biggest races as a 12-time National Champion (6x Road Race, 6x Time Trial).
A Grand Tour stage winner, former pink jersey holder and two-time top ten finisher at the Giro d’Italia (2016, 2017), Jungels’ signature triumph to date came in 2018 at the prestigious Liège-Bastogne-Liège, leading to his selection as Luxembourgish Sportsman of the Year. Contrary to some of his most famous compatriots, a major result at the iconic French stage race has eluded him so far, yet he still has time to achieve something that would truly etch his name in Luxembourg’s sports lore.
Denis Vieru (Moldova 🇲🇩, Judo)
With a single Olympic medal secured during the XXI Century, the bronze of boxer Veaceslav Gojan in Beijing 2008, Moldova’s recent success at the international scale, even in popular sports such as weightlifting, wrestling and taekwondo has been sporadic at best.
Enter judoka Denis Vieru, who might on course to change that on the strength of a sustained rise in the -66 Kg category. The Under-23 European Champion in 2016 at the age of 20, Vieru’s breakout season came in 2019, with several triumphs in Grand Prix events, a bronze medal at the World Championships, gold in the Summer Universiade and a stunning triumph on the illustrious Paris Grand Slam, one of the landmark events in the judo calendar.
Third-best at the 2020 European Championships, the 25-year-old’s growing resumé puts him in the conversation for a podium appearance in Tokyo 2020 and maybe even at the highest step, something never achieved before by a Moldovan athlete.
Aleksandar Ivović (Montenegro 🇲🇪, Water Polo)
Arguably one of the best Water Polo players of the last decade, Aleksandar Ivovic’s resumé in Montenegro’s national sport is as decorated as it comes in terms of trophies, medals, and individual distinctions. Named the Best Player in the World in 2018, he is a two-time (2013, 2019) World Championships top scorer, a three-time LEN Champions League winner at club level with legendary Italian outfit Pro Recco, and an idol in Montenegro after leading the national team to a European title in 2008 and two World League victories (2009, 2018).
However, what the 35-year-old cannot call himself is an Olympic medallist, and both athlete and country would love for that to change before the 2015 and 2016 Montenegro Athlete of the Year rides into the sunset. After dramatic fourth place finishes in 2008, 2012 and 2016, the center-back will look to cap an extraordinary career with success in Tokyo 2020, potentially delivering what would be just the second medal in Montenegro’s Olympic history.
Taha Akgul (Turkey 🇹🇷, Freestyle Wrestling)
The reigning Olympic Champion in the 125kg category, Taha Akgul hails from Sivas, one of Turkey’s hotbeds when it comes to world class wrestlers. Educated at home in the fundamentals of the sport since early age, Akgul followed on the footsteps of former Olympic and World Champions such as Hamza Yerlikaya and Ahmet Ayik, and as the two-time World Champion confirmed his favouritism in Rio 2016 to collect his nation’s only gold medal in the final days of the Games, his place as a leading sports figure amongst the Turks was sealed.
Famed for his feverish dedication to his craft, refusal to take any vacation time over the last decade, and for maintaining the same modest lifestyle as before all the accolades, the seven-time European Champion feels he cannot afford to let his guard down ahead of his much-awaited title defence in Tokyo and for good reason. He will once again shoulder the hopes of a massive nation and there is also danger laying in the challenge posed by Georgian rival Geno Petriashvilli, who has shared top honours with Akgul in recent years.
Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine 🇺🇦, Boxing)
A former European, World and Olympic heavyweight Champion (2012) as an amateur boxer, amassing a stellar record of 335 wins and just 15 losses in the process, Oleksander Usyk’s profile has grown significantly since he turned professional in 2013, and emerged as one of the most successful pound-for-pound boxers in the World and a star in his native Ukraine.
Walking the trail blazed by, among others, the Klitchko brothers, the 34-year-old has gone undefeated in his first 18 professional bouts, winning the undisputed cruiserweight championship in 2018 to become just the fourth boxer in history to simultaneously hold the titles attributed by the four major boxing organizations, the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. Named the Best Boxer of 2018 by most dedicated publications, Usyk, who shares a birthday with the great Muhammad Ali, decided to vacate his titles to move up to heavyweight status, where he is beefing up for the biggest paid duel of his career, a mandatory fight with the WBO Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua.
Part III – Domestic heroes
Wheeling a round puck 
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