In the three years since the last Olympics, exciting new faces have emerged on the skateboarding circuit, but many of the sport's heavy hitters from Tokyo are set to return. With so many athletes having legitimate medal ambitions, several exciting showdowns could be in store for Paris this summer.

Below are some of the biggest storylines from the world of skateboarding that will have an impact on the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games.

After a dominant performance at Tokyo 2020 (three of four gold medals, five of 12 total medals), Japan is set for another strong showing in Paris. But if winning an Olympic medal is hard, for some Japanese skaters, making the Olympic team might be even harder thanks to the country's depth in the street events.

Japan has five of the top-10 skaters in men's street and six of the top-10 skaters in women's street, per the world rankings maintained by World Skate that are used for Olympic qualification. Each country can only have a maximum of three skaters per gender in each event.

Yuto Horigome, the reigning Olympic and X Games champion in men's street, was one rider on the bubble throughout qualifying despite his success. The 25-year-old was part of a Japanese podium sweep at the 2023 World Championships, placing third behind countrymen Sora Shirai and Kairi Netsuke. Horigome and Shirai ultimately made the cut for Paris, while Netsuke did not. They'll be joined on the Olympic team by world No. 1 Ginwoo Onodera, a 14-year-old prodigy who broke onto the scene with a third-place finish at 2022 Worlds and a win at X Games Japan last year.

As for women's street, reigning Olympic gold medalist Momiji Nishiya, 16, finished fifth among Japanese skaters and will miss the chance to defend her title. Reigning world champion Yumeka Oda, 17, will also miss out despite being ranked No. 5 in the world. World No. 1 Coco Yoshizawa (14 years old), 2023 X Games silver medalist Liz Akama (15 years old), and Olympic bronze medalist Funa Nakayama (19 years old) landed the three spots in Paris.

Women's park is another event in which Japan will have strong medal odds. The nation has four of the top six skaters in the world rankings, led by 15-year-old Cocona Hiraki. At the Tokyo Games, Hiraki earned silver and became the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936. In the years since, she has remained a consistent podium presence and won the most recent world title in October 2023.

At the last Olympics, the average age of the women's skateboarding medalists was just over 14 years old. Those skaters are nearly three years older now, but all except one — park gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi — are still teenagers. Cocona Hiraki (15, JPN) and Sky Brown (turning 16 this year, GBR) remain particularly strong medal favorites in women's park, while the same can be said of Rayssa Leal (16, BRA) in women's street.

Meanwhile, a new contingent is already emerging behind them. Last year's X Games may have offered a glimpse into the future as a pair of 13-year-old Australians stormed the stage to win gold medals: Arisa Trew in women's park and Chloe Covell in women's street. Both skaters will be 14 during the Paris Games and are among the new faces who could challenge for spots on the Olympic podium.

Other young skaters making waves right now are Americans Gavin Bottger and Tate Carew.

Bottger, 17, is the reigning world champion in men's park, won Dew Tour in 2022, and has been on multiple X Games podiums in recent years. Carew, 19, placed third at the 2023 World Championships and won the Olympic Qualifier Series contest that took place in May.

With three athletes in the top four of the men's park world rankings — Carew (No. 1), Bottger (No. 3) and Tom Schaar (No. 4) — the U.S. will have strong medal hopes in men's park, and a sweep isn't out of the question.

After earning a bronze medal in men's street at the last Olympics — with a broken ankle, no less — Eaton continued his success in that discipline by winning the 2021 Street League Super Crown Championship a few months later. On the park side, he won his first world title in 2023 and has nabbed a pair of X Games gold medals in recent years.

Eaton's success in both disciplines confirmed his status as one of the most versatile skaters in the world and had him uniquely positioned to become the first skater to qualify in park and street at the same Olympics. At the final qualifying event, however, Tom Schaar was able to usurp Eaton for Team USA's third and final Olympic spot in men's park with a second-place finish. Eaton, therefore, will only compete in the street contest in Paris.

As one of the most successful professional skateboarders of all time, Nyjah Huston's seventh-place finish at the last Olympics was a mild surprise but, ultimately, just a blip on the radar.

Since the Tokyo Games, however, Huston has had to deal with the most significant injury of his storied career. In August 2022, he tore the ACL in his right knee while filming a video part. Huston returned to competition seven months later and ended up winning a pair of World Skate events in 2023, proving that — despite the injury — the U.S. star is still one of the favorites for Olympic gold in men's street.

With over 2 million followers on TikTok and 1 million followers on Instagram, Sky Brown is one of the most popular skateboarders in the world. At the Tokyo Olympics, she lived up to the hype by capturing a bronze medal in women's park as a 13-year-old. She then won her first park world title in February 2023.

Brown, who spends much of her time in California but competes for Great Britain, had an ambitious plan for Paris 2024: to qualify for two different sports. She started competing on the surfing circuit in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics in both skateboarding and surfing, but her surfing bid ultimately came to an end in March. She plans to try again for LA 2028, but for Paris, her sole focus will be on the women's park competition, where she will once again be a gold medal threat despite a recent MCL injury.