THE PHRASE "HOT girl summer" has a new meaning for Houston sports fans, who will be cheering for a flock of strong and powerful H-Town females competing in this year's Tokyo games.

Hometown hero Simone Biles' Olympic journey may come to an epic conclusion this August, while others are just getting started, including Houston Dash forward and team captain Rachel Daly, who will for the first time represent her home county of Great Britain. Flyweight boxer Ginny Fuchs also hails from Houston and will be making her Olympic debut. Native Houstonian Anna van Brummen, who now works as an environmental scientist in Santa Barbara, will represent the United States in fencing.

Daly Rachel for CityBook's 2020 Leaders & Legends portrait series (photo by Gittings for CityBook)

Olympic veterans from H-Town include Cy Springs and UT grad Cat Osterman, who will pitch in her third Olympics this summer, and Sugar Land swim star Simone Manuel, who turns 25 during the Games. –ewb, portrait by gittings photography