Emma McKeon, Madeline Hills, Rebecca Henderson among Aussies who could leave Olympic impression

THEY may be a little obscure at the moment but by the end of the Rio Olympics the names of these top Aussie female athletes could well be on the tip of your tongue.

Carmen and Caroline Marton — taekwondo

The sisters are one of six sets of siblings on the Aussie Olympic squad. Caroline, who is 31, will be competing in the 57kg division in her first Olympics. But it’s 29-year-old Carmen where the main medal hopes lie. Rio will be her third Olympics. After being beaten in the quarter-finals of the heavyweight division in Beijing, she reached the semifinals in London before losing to eventual silver medallist Nur Tatar from Turkey. She then lost in a repechage for the bronze medal. She was the world champion in 2013 in the 62kg class and impressively won the Oceania qualification tournament recently.

Kathryn Mitchell — javelin

Look out for Australia’s Special Ks in Rio! Kim Mickle may be the most well-known of trio — and best performed — but there is also the recuperating Kelsey-Lee Roberts and Mitchell, who can certainly throw herself into the medal mix based on current form. The 33-year-old, who was ninth in the 2012 London Olympic final, has improved steadily in recent times and owns three of the top seven longest throws so far this year. Her performance to finish second behind South Africa’s gold medal favourite Sunette Viljoen in Doha last week was particularly noteworthy. She was also one of the stars of the recent Australian domestic season, throwing an impressive 64.37 in Melbourne.

Lisa Darmanin — Nacra 17 mixed multihull

The reigning Australian female sailor of the year will team with her cousin, Jason Waterhouse, in the Olympic debut of a new sailing discipline. The duo have been competing together since 2008 and started to attract some serious attention last year as the race to Rio really ramped up. They won the Rio Test event and also finished second at the World Championships. The pair finished fifth in the recent Hyeres regatta in France. “As it turns out we have actually been together sailing longer than just about anyone, which is a real advantage,” she said recently. “We know each other so well. We know what the other is feeling without having to ask so sometimes we don’t really even say that much on the boat.”

Kim Brennan — rowing

The recently crowned Australian female rower of the year is returning to compete at her third Olympics — and looms as a warm favourite to take single sculls gold. The 30-year-old was one of the Aussie stars in London four years ago when — racing as Kim Crow — she took silver in the double sculls, with Brooke Pratley, and bronze in the single sculls in London. She followed that with two world championship single sculls gold medals in 2013 and 2015 to add to the gold she won as a member of Aussie eights in 2006. Last year was a particular momentous 12 months for Brennan as she won every international race.

Emma McKeon — 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle

She may be the ninth fastest of all time but she won’t be swimming the event at Rio such was the dominance of the Campbell sisters. Still, she can console herself with swims in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle, where she has a big chance for medals. The 21-year-old burst onto the scene at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, claiming six medals from six races, including four gold. Almost two years on — and after an excellent showing at the world championships last year — she looks ready to face up to the likes of freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky and butterfly world record holder Sarah Sjostrom. McKeon claimed the 100m butterfly national title in 56.89 last month, which was the third fastest time of the year. She also swam 1:54:83 in the 200m freestyle at the national titles, which is just slower than Ledecky’s personal best of 1:54:43 but almost behind the world record set by Federica Pellegrini in 2009.

Madeline Hills — 3000m steeplechase

Somewhat of a late bloomer, Hills has been a revelation since breaking onto the international scene at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. After spending the best part of eight years out of athletics, Hills returned with a vengeance, finishing fourth in Glasgow before barely missing the final at last year’s world championships. She ran the 13th fastest time of 2015 — a 9:21:56 in Rome, which is her personal best, and won the national titles in March by just over 10 seconds. She forms part of a three-pronged Aussie attack on the race with Genevieve LaCaze and Victoria Mitchell.

Lisa Weightman — marathon

Just 13 months after giving birth to her first child — and two days after turning 37 — Weightman finished second in the Houston Marathon to qualify for Rio. Her time of 2:27:35 was the same time run by Ethiopia’s Mare Debara in winning last year’s world championship. The two-time Olympian finished 33rd in Beijing and 17th in London so on that reckoning a gold medal is the offering. Her best run is 2:26:05 in Melbourne in 2013. Jess Trengove and Milly Jane Clark give Australia a real big medal chance in the race.

Rebecca Henderson — mountain biker

It’s more than likely you haven’t heard or even read her name before unless you are an avid mountain biking fan. But that could be about to change in Rio. Henderson, who finished 25th at the London Olympics, has showed exceptional form in the cross country in recent months. The 24-year-old, who raced with undiagnosed glandular fever for months last year, rode onto the podium for the first time at the recent Cairns World Cup in a major show of strength and is currently ranked 15th in the world. She is engaged to her coach and fellow rider Dan McConnell.

Jessica Ashwood — 400m and 800m freestyle

How is anyone going to beat American super swimmer Katie Ledecky? Ashwood will be one of the few swimmers capable of finding any chinks in her armour, particularly in the 800m freestyle. The further the race the harder Ashwood will be to beat. She may have to find 10 seconds or so — or get the American on a bad day — to pull off gold. Ashwood finished 20th in the London Olympics in the 800m freestyle in 8:37:21. She has found 19 seconds in four years after winning the recent national title in 8:18:42, which is the second fastest time in the world this year. Her winning time in the 400m freestyle at the national titles was 4:03:71.

Madeline Groves — 100m and 200m butterfly

Susie O’Neill, Petria Thomas, Jessicah Schipper, Alicia Coutts ... 20-year-old Groves will be out to continue Australia’s great tradition in women’s Olympic butterfly. By her own admission, Groves has had some great swims but not much consistency. She hopes Rio can put that right. Groves finished second behind Emma McKeon in the 100m butterfly in 57.08 at the national titles in March but really came into her own when stepping up to the 200m butterfly. She won in 2:05:47, which would have been enough for her to win the world championship final last year. It leads the 2016 world rankings but she still has a ways to go to break the world record (2:01:81) and Schipper’s Australian record (2:03:41).