7 Canadians who could emerge as superstars at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

The beauty of the Olympics often comes in the form of the unexpected.

Three years ago, after the Tokyo Olympics ended, it would have been hard to predict that Canada would go on to win gold medals in judo, hammer throw and breaking at Paris 2024 — yet that's exactly what happened.

In the four years ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics, then, new star athletes will surely emerge for Canada.

In the meantime, here's a few Canadians that already appear on track to stardom in Hollywood:

Barring disaster, McIntosh appears in line to smash Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse's shared national mark of seven career Olympic medals, but given her prolificness across multiple events in the pool — and with American legend Katie Ledecky having possibly swam in her final Olympics — it is not out of the question that McIntosh could earn that many medals in Los Angeles alone.

Could McIntosh add the 200- or 800-metre freestyle races to her schedule in L.A.? What if she improves in the sprint distances? 

In Paris, we witnessed the birth of Canada's next Olympic superstar. Her peak, though, is still ahead.

WATCH | Relive McIntosh's medal moments:

Neither Canadian sprinter reached an individual final in Paris — it would be a major surprise if that were still true in L.A.

Morales Williams, the 400-metre specialist, burst onto the scene during the NCAA season, running multiple world-leading times and qualifying for the Olympics almost out of nowhere.

But it's tough for track athletes to peak multiple times over just a few months, and after the 20-year-old Maple, Ont., native won the NCAA title in June, he could not maintain the speed in Paris.

Similarly, the 25-year-old Leduc emerged as a potentially great sprinter after setting multiple