7 key Olympians to watch in the final week in Paris

Seven days of competition remain on the schedule at the Paris Olympics. With scores of medals still to be awarded, these athletes will play starring roles in the drama.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, basketball: The crafty NBA floor general leads two up-and-coming teams - the Oklahoma City Thunder and Canada - eager to actualize their huge potential. Should Canada medal at the Olympics, it would be a first for the men's program since 1936. Several Canadians can shoot, slash, and defend, but everything flows through Gilgeous-Alexander, an All-NBA first-team fixture. Canada will count on him to get or create buckets if any game in the knockout round, beginning with Tuesday's quarterfinal against France, is close in crunch time.

A'ja Wilson, basketball: The inevitability of the U.S. women clinching an eighth straight hoops title - their last Olympic loss was in the 1992 semifinals - shifts the focus to other questions, like who'll be the MVP. Wilson, the do-it-all Las Vegas Aces center, led the Americans in scoring and blocks at the Tokyo Games but was one-upped for the award by friendly combatant Breanna Stewart. Both bigs bullied Japan and Belgium in decisive wins last week. Wilson and Stewart play major minutes, rarely sitting before garbage time, because no nation can match the U.S.'s interior dominance.

Trinity Rodman, soccer: Illicit drone use and breathtaking late goals amped up the entertainment in the women's tournament. Forced to win every match to get to knockout play, beleaguered Canada overcame a six-point sanction but ran out of gas as Germany became the USWNT's semifinal opponent. Rodman's effort could dictate who triumphs Tuesday. The young American forward scored first against Zambia, Australia, and Japan in extra time with pinpoint, occasionally spectacular finishes. The Germans can't give her open lanes to shoot.

Lydia Ko, golf: She didn't grab gold at either tournament, but scores of 11-under in Rio and 16-under in Tokyo catapulted Ko to consecutive Olympic podiums. The New Zealander became a 20-time LPGA Tour winner in the 2024 season opener. Uneven results in recent months lessened viewers' confidence in Ko, who slipped to No. 21 in the world rankings ahead of Wednesday's first round at Le Golf National. Still, no challenger to Tokyo champion Nelly Korda's supremacy is as decorated or proven on the Olympic stage.

Rai Benjamin, 400m hurdles: Benjamin and two fierce rivals (Norway's Karsten Warholm and Brazil's Alison dos Santos) submitted 19 of this race's 20 all-time fastest runs over the past few years. Proving iron sharpens iron, the U.S. hurdler and Warholm destroyed the previous world record during the turbocharged Tokyo Olympic final, which Warholm won in 45.94 seconds. Dos Santos and Warholm split the '22 and '23 world titles. If Benjamin beats them for gold Friday, the triumph would be monumental.

Julien Alfred, 200m: Shericka Jackson's withdrawal from a potential 100m duel with Alfred and Sha'Carri Richardson seemed like it would free the Jamaican sprinter, who owns five of the eight fastest times in 200m history, to concentrate on her main event. Then Jackson quit the 200m, too. Alfred, the newly crowned Saint Lucian sprint queen, coasted to 100m glory in 10.72 seconds and won her 200m opening heat the next morning on minimal sleep. Reigning world runner-up Gabby Thomas will probably be favored in Tuesday's final, but Alfred's confidence should be sky-high.

Dominika Banevic, breaking: Banevic is a 17-year-old Lithuanian and the budding breakout star of the newest Olympic sport. At the Place de la Concorde urban park Friday, 16 B-Girls will dance in a series of head-to-head battles as judges rate their artistry, originality, musicality (timing moves to the DJ's beat), and technique. Known in breaking circles as "B-Girl Nicka," Banevic is the reigning world and European gold medalist. She'll try to become her country's first Olympic champion in any discipline since 2012.

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.