Everyone wants to be ahead of the curve—literally, when it comes to indoor track tactics. More importantly though, we all want to be early on the Next Big Thing, whether it’s a former college runner with the ink still drying on their pro contract or a national star on the precipice of international fame.

Last week, we waxed lyrical on the upside potential of World XC junior champ Marta Alemayo, but she’s just one of a few rising stars we’ve got our eyes on. “Rising,” is of course, all relative—the athletes on this list range from 17 to 29 years old—but there’s one thing they all share: flashes of greatness that showed up in 2025 that could portend even better things to come.

The statistical deep dives can help tell us where we are currently as a sport, but just as important is a peek into where we’re going. So we’re going to call a few shots as to who may step into the limelight and shine brightly in the coming year in track and field, and hopefully they live up to the expectations we’ve foisted upon them.

Maggi Congdon: The Northern Arizona grad came out of her final collegiate season with a pair of third place finishes at NCAAs in the mile indoors and 1500m outdoors… and immediately outdid herself at the very start of her pro journey with a runner-up finish in the 800m at USAs. She made it to the semis in Tokyo but hasn’t really made a true splash yet on the pro scene. Congdon could be a real threat in the 800m, 1500m, or both—as she proved this past weekend at the UW Preview, setting meet records in both the mile (4:27.77) and 800m (2:00.93). It’ll be hard to break into the top echelon of the 1500m with the historic level of U.S. depth in the event… but you could practically say the same thing about her shorter event these days, and she already did that.

Mercy Chepngeno: The 18-year-old prep school standout is probably a total unknown to most of our readership right now… but the team caught this interesting feature in Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper. Chepngeno is the African U20 champ over 3000m, but her real passion is the steeplechase, where she cites 21-year-old World champ Faith Cherotich as an inspiration. She has big shoes to fill as Cherotich had already run 9:06 at her age and Chepngeno’s current PB is 10:05.49… but improvement comes in leaps and bounds in the steeplechase, so who knows?

Yan Ziyi: Throws fans will probably throw their phones across the room and complain that we’re referring to Yan Ziyi, the world junior record holder in the javelin, as an up-and-comer. That’s because she tossed the third farthest mark in the world last year at 65.89m… but she wasn’t eligible to compete at the World Championships as she’s still only 17 years old and the throws events are subject to age limits. Ziyi only competed outside her home nation of China twice in 2025, both in the Czech Republic, so hopefully she spends a little more time on the international circuit this year.

George Couttie: Our most recent look at Virginia Tech junior George Couttie was in a British national uniform, as the Yorkshire native led off the mixed relay for his home country at World XC in Tallahassee. Couttie is a versatile runner who’s been bubbling under the A-tier of collegiate competition for two years now, finishing 14th and 10th at the last two NCAA XC championships but cutting his teeth on the track more as a mile/3000m guy. He only finished 13th in the 3000m at indoor NCAAs last year, but coming off a 7:36.74 PB at BU in December, good for NCAA #9 all-time, he’s due for a breakout championship performance.

Sydney Sutton: Anyone who followed New Balance Nationals in the last year or two knows the name Sydney Sutton… but if your track fandom begins on the collegiate level, you’re about to get to know her in a big way as the Florida freshman comes into college with 400m/400H PBs of 51.23 and 56.04. Sutton ran a 37.19 300m to open up her collegiate career behind two of her teammates, including, notably, fellow freshman Tyra Cox. Is Florida the new 400U? If so, it’ll be in part because Sutton follows up her historic high school career with a similarly legendary run through the collegiate ranks.

Shure Demise: The 29-year-old Ethiopian marathoner was first a name to watch 11 years ago, when she set the world junior record of 2:20:59 in her debut at the 2015 Dubai Marathon, a time that’s still her lifetime best to this day. So why are we re-upping on her now? Because she had a downright Lazarus-like return to the marathon in 2025 after three years away from the distance, going two-for-two with wins in Milan and Toronto, the latter of which was just four seconds off that epic 2015 run. She kicked off 2026 with a 12th-place finish at World XC, and it seems clear that the rumors of her “Demise” have been greatly exaggerated.

There’s no more exciting moment in any sport’s cycle than the humming potential of a new season. The podiums are all empty and a lot of medals are up for grabs: anything is possible! And until the results start to trickle in, the biggest source of our collective excitement is the prospect that the next generation-defining talent may be emerging any day now. No pressure, but we’ve got high hopes.

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