Once every four years, the Summer Olympics burst onto our television screens, showcasing thousands of athletes vying for their golden moment. But the work to get into the pool, track, gym or any other venue begins long before the cameras introduce them to us.

As part of our increased women’s sports coverage, supported by Michelob ULTRA, we’re excited to bring you “Origin Stories,” a deep-dive feature series on the rising women’s stars competing in swimming, track and field, gymnastics and other sports as they prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Between now and next July, when the Paris Games begin, we’ll profile several notable women’s Olympians or Olympic hopefuls, with an emphasis on where they came from and how they worked their way to becoming one of the best athletes in their sport.

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We’ll visit the gym, where the U.S. women are coming off a team all-around silver and hoping that the return of Simone Biles — who withdrew during the team event at the Tokyo Olympics — will help spark a return to the gold status the team enjoyed in the 2012 and 2016 Games.

We’ll visit the pool, where a slew of American women’s swimmers expect to have medal hopes and an incredible rivalry continues to brew between Katie Ledecky and Australian Ariarne Titmus.

We’ll visit the track, where American women won 15 medals, including five golds, in Tokyo — and that was without Sha’Carri Richardson, a 100-meter favorite who is looking to get back to the Olympics in Paris.

And that’s not all. In total, we’ll feature 20 athletes ahead of the Olympics, giving readers a deep understanding of some of the most notable Olympians as they set foot in Paris.

You can follow along with all the great projects and coverage at The Athletic website or on The Athletic app.

The series are part of a partnership with Michelob ULTRA. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Illustration: Ray Orr / The Athletic; photos: Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Clive Rose / Getty Images;  Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)