The Pan American Games are often looked at as the "mini" Olympics: held the year before the Summer Games, they offer athletes a chance to gain international experience and member nations the opportunity to claim Olympic quota spots.
However, there's nothing small about these Games, which involve more than 6,000 athletes from 41 countries who will be competing in 48 different sports (including non-Olympic sports, such as waterski and roller-figure skating).
Here's a quick cheat sheet of some athletes who should stand out from the crowd:
U.S. women's boxing team
In the inaugural women's Olympic boxing competition at the 2012 London Games, the United States won two of the nine medals offered. Middleweight gold medalist Claressa Shields will lead the charge in Toronto, supported by flyweight bronze medalist Marlen Esparza. Both women also won world championships in their respective weight classes in 2014.
Esparza, the team's most visible member in 2012 who had endorsement deals with Cover Girl and Nike and a magazine profile in Vogue, was supposed to win gold in London. But she lost to China's Ren Cancan to finish third. After briefly considering retirement, Esparza rededicated herself to the sport and is targeting gold in Rio. An April defeat against Ren shows that Esparza is right on track, and Pan Ams are just another chance to prove herself.
Shields has faced more challenges since winning Olympic gold. She has struggled to find endorsements and recently parted ways with her longtime trainer and left her hometown to train in Colorado. Despite the change, Shields has dominated the international boxing circuit, with the only loss on her record registered before the 2012 Olympics.
A smaller pond for Natalie Coughlin
This will be the first Pan Am competition for the 12-time Olympic medalist, who has traditionally skipped the event in order to be fully rested for the world championships later in the summer. She will compete in the 100-meter freestyle and 4x100 relay.
Rio qualification and London redemption
Some of the biggest prizes up for grabs at the Pan Am Games, besides individual medals and acclaim, are Olympic berths and quota spots for the 2016 Summer Games. There are 12 sports in which winning gold guarantees the country a trip to Rio, including team sports like handball, men's water polo and field hockey.
Argentina is a long-standing women's field hockey powerhouse in a sport otherwise dominated by European and Australian teams, medaling in each of the past four Olympics and five of the past six World Cups. Recently, however, the Argentines have had some competition in the Western Hemisphere.
The U.S. women's team defeated Argentina to win its first Pan American gold in 2011 and was one goal short of a medal against the Argentines at the 2014 World Cup in the third-place game. Sandwiched between those two tournaments were the 2012 Olympics, where the U.S. handed Argentina its only loss of the tournament (Argentina went on to win silver, while the Americans finished last). Look for the 2015 edition of this rivalry to be just as intense.
Ashton Eaton steps aside and Canada steps up
The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" is traditionally bestowed to "multis" -- track and field athletes who contest the heptathlon or decathlon, which require athletes to compete in multiple disparate events (think pole vault, javelin and a 1,500-meter run) over a two-day period.
Pan American multis have spent the past several years living in the giant shadow of Ashton Eaton, the reigning Olympic and world champion and world-record holder in the decathlon. Eaton has been a bit banged up this year, however, and is forgoing the Pan Am Games in order to focus on worlds in August, which could open the door for other athletes in Toronto.
Canadian Damian Warner was an unknown when he took fifth in the Olympic decathlon in London after picking up the discipline just two years earlier. Three years later, he has a worlds bronze medal and the respect of Eaton, who described Warner as one of his main challengers whose potential is "off the charts."
The two have trained together on multiple occasions, with Warner picking up physical and mental tips from the more experienced Eaton. Unlike most of his multi competitors, Warner has decided to contest a full decathlon at the Pan Am Games, taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase his sport in front of his home fans prior to the worlds.
