San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Story lines to watch
Simone Biles is the biggest story in Tokyo, but
there are other huge happenings.
Arguably the greatest athlete at the Olympic Games, and one of the most popular, Biles, 24, is likely appearing in her final Olympics. She was the star of Rio, winning four gold medals and a bronze and has only ratcheted up her difficulty level since. In the years since 2016, she has become an outspoken leader for change in USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee, in the wake of the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, in which she was a victim.
Basketball
On the men’s side, the expected coronation of Team USA might not go so smoothly. The team has lost two exhibitions and players to injury or COVID protocol. It leaves for Tokyo with question marks and still waiting for three players involved in the NBA Finals. The men open on July 25 against France, the team that knocked them out of the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals in 2019. On the women’s side, Team USA, considered one of the greatest Olympic teams ever, looks to continue its dominance. If Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike wins her appeal and can play for Nigeria, she would face the U.S. team that spurned her.
U.S. women’s soccer
America’s favorite sports team hits Tokyo with two goals in mind: Olympic redemption, after being knocked out before the medal round in 2016, and becoming the first women’s team to achieve a World Cup championship and an Olympic gold in consecutive tournaments. The faces will be familiar — the average age of the veteranheavy team is almost 31 — and this might be the last major tournament for many fan favorites. The team opens Wednesday against Sweden, the team that eliminated them in Rio.
Old sports return
Softball and baseball are back in the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Kicked out because, among other issues, they had a perceived lack of global popularity, the sports are back for only the Tokyo Games, due to their immense popularity in Japan. But advocates hope that a good showing in Tokyo will lead to reconsideration again for Los Angeles 2028 and beyond. The return is especially meaningful for softball, which — unlike baseball — does send its best players to the Olympics and was boosted globally by Olympic exposure.
New sports debut
A slate of sports will debut in Tokyo: skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing. (There will also be some new events in other sports, such as 3x3 basketball.) The added sports are aimed to attract a younger audience and tap into X Games popularity. Skateboarding is creating a lot of preOlympic buzz, with many wondering how its rebel reputation will hold up in the staid Olympic environment. Interestingly, Japan was the site of the successful debut for skateboarding’s winter cousin, snowboarding, at the Nagano Olympics in 1998.
Missing icons
For the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games, Michael Phelps is not on the roster. (Yes, he was a youngster on the Sydney team in 2000, though he didn’t medal.) The most decorated Olympian of all time — 28 medals — isn’t the only legend missing. Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings is absent after four straight Olympics. (Her former partner April Ross, with whom she won bronze in Rio, is now paired with Stanford grad Alix Klineman.) Usain Bolt, who lit up the track in the past three Olympics, winning eight gold medals, is also retired.
Women’s 4x100 relay
One of the most interesting events on the track will be the 4x100 relay, which American women have won in the past two Olympics. But the team will be without the Olympic trials 100meter champion, Sha’Carri Richardson, who tested positive for marijuana after the trials. Though Richardson could have been included in the relay pool, USA Track and Field decided to leave her off the team.
Could they pay a price for the decision?
Transgender athletes
New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics, ensuring that the hotbutton issue will be part of the conversation in Tokyo. Hubbard, who began transitioning eight years ago, meets the strict criteria set by the International Olympic Committee, which includes requiring proof of lowered testosterone levels after a period of time prior to competition. BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe, a U.S. team alternate, is also transgender. Hubbard competes in the superheavyweight division, the same division as San Francisco’s Kuinini Manumua, who will be competing for Tonga.
Japanese athletes
Perhaps the group who will be most hurt by the lack of spectators in their sportsenthusiastic country, Japanese athletes will still be a major story of the Games. All eyes will be on Naomi Osaka, playing in the Olympics after withdrawing from both the French Open and Wimbledon. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama could win gold in golf. Others to watch are women’s soccer star Saki Kumagai, tennis’ Kei Nishikori, surfing star Igarashi Kanoa and softball veteran Yukiko Ueno. Japan’s biggest current sports star, Shohei Ohtani, will be busy elsewhere.
Pandemic
This is the story line that threatens to swamp all others. The global coronavirus pandemic will result in an Olympics unlike any other. After a yearlong delay, the Games will be held under a state of emergency, with no spectators allowed and strict protocols in place. Even with such precautions, there is fear that the coronavirus will upend the Olympic dreams of athletes, overwhelm medical care and make the IOC’s insistence that the Games go on look dangerously foolish.