has won double gold (plus a minor
medal) at the Winter Youth
Olympics, Winter X Games and
senior World Championships.
Until June 2019, the San Francisco-
born Gu had competed for the US.
With this year’s Olympics taking place
in Beijing, the fluent Mandarin speaker
wanted to represent the nation of her
mother’s birth and she has become an
inspiration for Chinese skiing
(she was the first X Games
champion for the country). “In
the US, I grew up with all these
idols,” Gu said. “Looking over to
China, I just realised I wanted to
be that for somebody else.”
She will enrol at
Stanford University
after the Games and
has featured in Elle
and Vogue.carlos alcaraz
(spanish tennis
player, 18)
Could light up... the
Australian Open
By Stuart Fraser
The remarkable exploits of
Emma Raducanu at the
2021 US Open took away
much of the limelight from
another notable
achievement by a fellow
teenager. Alcaraz has long
been talked about in tennis
circles as one of the sport’s
most promising prospects
and he lived up to this100m from the stadium and her mum
worked for England rugby. But Cowell
was a talented gymnast and, when
faced with no longer being able to play
rugby alongside her brothers, decided
to focus on that — becoming junior
world champion in 2013.
She rediscovered her love for rugby
at university and soon joined Quins,
scoring on her debut against Wasps to
start a pattern of strong debuts — she
also scored on her England Sevens
debut in September 2021 and again
in her XVs debut against Canada
two months later.
The speedy wing, who works
part-time as an accountant,
faces tough opposition for
her England jersey but has
the agility and skill to be
one of the most
exciting players
at the autumn
World Cup.eileen gu
(Chinese freestyle
skier, 18)
Could light up... the Winter
Olympics
By Elgan Alderman
Kirsty Muir and Zoe
Atkin are two of
Britain’s brightest
skiing prospects but
Gu is a considerable
obstacle to their
success.
In the past
24 months, shebob macintyre
(scottish golfer, 25)
Could light up... the Masters
By Rick Broadbent
Make no mistake, the golfing year will
be dominated by the return of the
comeback. If Tiger Woods so much as
puts the bins out there will be a Golf
Channel film crew to record how he
does it. And if he takes his golfing
prodigy son, Charlie, with him then
they will clear the schedules as they
contemplate whether the 46-year-
old’s handling of the recycling offers
any hints as to his ability to win a
tournament in 2022. Underneath the
radar, though, I am looking forward
to seeing Bob MacIntyre return to
Augusta National. In 2021 this shinty-
playing Scot finished in a tie for 12th
in his first Masters and backed it up
with his eighth place at the Open.
The question is whether he can push
on from the bottom end of the world’s
top 50 and establish himself at what
he calls the top, top table. The left-
hander will need to become more
consistent after a year of ebb and
flow, but he had a strong end to 2021
when finishing in a share of fourth at
the DP World Tour Championship.
alfie barbeary
(england rugby union player, 21)
Could light up... the Six Nations
By Alex Lowe
A run of injuries was all that
prevented 2021 from being Barbeary’s
breakthrough year on the
international stage. The uncapped
Wasps loose forward has already
made a sizeable imprint on the
Gallagher Premiership with his
destructive, dynamic ball-carrying
and intelligent offloading. Barbeary
was a hooker for England Under-20
and Eddie Jones first picked him in
the autumn of 2020 with the No 2
jersey in mind, even though all of his
club rugby had been in the back row.
Barbeary, Wasps and England now
agree the way forward is for him to
leave behind the set-piece
requirements of being a hooker and
focus on his development as a loose
forward.
maia bouchier
(england cricketer, 23)
Could light up... the Ashes
By Elizabeth Ammon
The all-rounder made her T20 debut
for England in 2021 and has been
called up for the Women’s Ashes,
which starts this month. It is
Bouchier’s powerful and fearless
batting that has caught the attention.
She had the highest strike rate for
Southern Brave in the inaugural
edition of the Hundred, at 143.75, and
subsequently earned herself a
contract with Melbourne Stars in the
Women’s Big Bash League. Bouchier’s
technique and style should be well
suited to Australian conditions and
she could provide some explosive
hitting in the six limited-overs
matches that form part of the
Women’s Ashes. With the World Cup
immediately afterwards, 2022 is set to
be a big year for her.
jude bellingham
(english footballer, 18)
Could light up... the World Cup
By Paul Joyce
Gareth Southgate emerged from the
disappointment of England’s Euro
2020 final defeat by Italy with the
realisation that midfield was an area in
need of improvement. The temptation
he must have to involve Bellingham
more regularly is clear. The Borussia
Dortmund player is mature beyond his
years. He breaks up play, creates goals
and scores them. Little wonder
Dortmund have placed a £100 million
price tag on him.
Bellingham has made only ten
appearances for his country so far.
This is partly because he asked not to
be chosen in October in order to rest
his body. It is rare for someone so
young to have such a clear vision of
how his career should progress, but
that single-mindedness was the reason
he opted to move to Germany when
leaving boyhood club, Birmingham
City, in 2020. Bellingham’s
performances in the Champions
League show him to be a coming force
and Southgate must decide how
quickly he harnesses that talent.heather cowell
(english rugby union player, 25)
Could light up... women’s World Cup
By Jessica Hayden
Cowell’s England debut last autumn
could almost have been predicted from
birth. The Harlequins wing was born in
Twickenham, went to school less thanSport
Special talents ready to soar in 2022
billing by becoming the youngest
player in the 53-year-long Open Era
to reach the quarter-finals in New
York.
This was a breakthrough season for
the man hailed in Spain as “the new
Rafael Nadal” — though his attacking
style of play is more similar to Roger
Federer’s. Ranked No 141 last January,
Alcaraz won his first ATP title at the
Croatian Open in July and claimed
three victories against top-ten players
to end the year at No 32.
Guaranteed a seeding at this
month’s Australian Open, he is well
positioned to continue his rise up the
rankings. “I think he will be the
world No 1,” Andy Murray, who lost to
Alcaraz at the Vienna Open in
October, said.florian wirtz
(german footballer, 18)
Could light up... the World Cup
By James Gheerbrant
The signs are that a talented new
generation of Germans is beginning
to emerge, with players such as
Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and
the brilliant Wirtz coming over the
hill to join peak-age performers
such as Joshua Kimmich and Serge
Gnabry.
Still only 18, Wirtz may yet be the
best of the lot. In Europe’s major
leagues, only Thomas Müller, Kylian
Mbappé and Mohamed Salah have
assisted more than his eight goals this
season. He’s also scored five, and
added three of each in five Europa
League games. Wirtz is a mobile
No 10 with Müller’s devastating knack
of drifting into pockets of space.
He has rapidly made himself
unignorable to Germany’s new
manager, Hansi Flick, playing four of
their five games in September and
October, picking up two assists in
only 77 minutes. With another year of
development under his belt, he could
be Germany’s best player by the time
the World Cup rolls around.micah parsons
(american footballer, 22)
Could light up... the NFL play-offs
By Matt Tench
For someone who didn’t even get on
the pitch in 2020, 2021 went rather
well for Parsons.
Some felt that the 6ft 3in, 17st
linebacker’s decision to forego his
third season at Penn State because of
Covid would jeopardise his status in
the draft, but the Dallas Cowboys had
seen enough to take him with their
first-round pick, the 11th overall.
Their gamble has paid off
spectacularly because in just over
three months Parsons has established
himself as not only the best defensive
player from within that draft but
among the very best defensive players
in the game.
As a linebacker, Parsons’ first
priority is to get into the backfield as
quickly as possible, disrupt the play
and ideally sack the quarterback. But
he must also be quick and athletic
enough to drop into coverage and
break up passes.
All this he has achieved with
apparent ease, but just as impressive
has been how effortlessly he has
adapted to the different role of
defensive end, which Dallas have
required of him on occasion.
Parsons has taken to the big stage
like a natural. “Some people are born
for it,” he said. “I believe I was born
for it and I just got to play like that.”From golf to NFL via
the Winter Olympics,
Times writers predict
who could set their
sports alight this year
Carlos AlcarazBob MacIntyreEileen GuAlfie Barbearythe times | Monday January 3 2022 47