U.S. athletes who emerged at Rio now look at Tokyo

Workers install Olympic rings with the ocean as a backdrop Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, during a training session at Copacabana beach volleyball arena at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Workers install Olympic rings with the ocean as a backdrop Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, during a training session at Copacabana beach volleyball arena at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It happened to Michael Phelps and Allyson Felix. Also to Simone Biles.

The stars of the U.S. team at these Summer Olympics had barely stepped off the medals podium when they were asked about coming back for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

As Biles said: "Tokyo is a long way away."

While the five-time medalist is still a teenager, other athletes who contributed to the Americans' 121 medals in Rio de Janeiro were veterans whose careers may or may not last much longer.

In four years' time, the U.S. could be anchored by some new faces who had breakout performances here.

Sixteen-year-old Laurie Hernandez, the youngest member of the women's gymnastics squad, won gold with her teammates and added an individual silver in the beam.

Hernandez sounded as if she wanted more of the Olympics.

"These are all new and great experiences for me," she said. "It's all very cool and I'm just kind of embracing this new part of my life."

Swimming phenom Katie Ledecky has already talked about coming back, and she could bring along another medal winner who will be her teammate at Stanford this fall.

Simone Manuel made headlines as the first African American swimmer to earn individual gold. The 20-year-old, who finished the Games with two golds and two silvers, is competing for something more than personal achievement.

"I am super glad with the fact I can be an inspiration to others and hopefully diversify the sport," she said after winning the 100-meter freestyle. "But at the same time, I would like there to be a day when there are more of us and it's not, 'Simone, the black swimmer.' "

Rio marked the sixth consecutive time the U.S. led in the overall medal count and only the seventh time in Olympic history that a nation topped each of the categories-gold, silver and bronze.

The total of 121 was the country's highest ever, not counting the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games and the 1904 St. Louis Games, when only 15 teams competed.

Alan Ashley, chief of sport performance for the U.S. Olympic Committee, sounded optimistic about the future.

"There have been so many first-time performances by so many athletes in different sports," he said.

That includes swimmer Ryan Murphy, who walked away 

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