Olympic dreams

The countdown is well and truly on for Kent athletes hoping to book their place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer.

It’s less than six months until the Opening Ceremony in the newly-built National Olympic Stadium on the evening of Friday, July 24.

This will be the second time Tokyo has hosted the Olympics, the first time was in 1964 when Great Britain won four gold medals, 12 silvers and two bronzes. There are 339 gold medals up for grabs with more than 11,000 athletes and 206 nations expected to take part. Russia will need to get its IOC suspension lifted to take part in the games. Although the games officially get under way on July 24, preliminary softball and football matches are due to start two days earlier.

There are four new sports in the games this year with skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate all among the 33 disciplines on display. Baseball and softball return for the first time since 2008.

Tokyo also hosts the Paralympics, which will run from August 25 until September 6.