Local athletes to watch

Katie Ledecky (above) is among the athletes

with Bay Area ties hunting for gold.

Monica Abbott

Sport: Softball

Local connection:

Born in Santa Cruz, raised in Salinas

Olympic experience:

Twotime Olympian. Silver medalist in 2008.

Circle it: July 27, goldmedal game, 4 a.m.

Abbott and fellow pitcher Cat Osterman are the lone holdovers from the last time softball was in the Olympics in 2008. They remember the heartbreak of losing the gold to rival Japan. For the past 13 years, the sport has worked to be back on the Olympic stage. For Abbott, this will be familiar territory: She has played professionally in Japan for more than a decade.

Social media: Twitter: @monicaabbott Insta: monicaabbott

Kate Courtney

Sport: Mountain

biking

Local connection:

Kentfield (Branson School), Stanford

Olympic experience:

Firsttime Olympian.

Circle it: July 26, cross country medal race, 11 p.m.

Courtney, raised at the foot of Mount Tam — where her sport was born — is considered a contender for gold. In 2018, she won a world championship, and in 2019 she won the overall World Cup title. She qualified for the Olympics by finishing fifth at the 2019 world championships.

Social media: Twitter: @sparkleaddict Insta: kateplusfate

Draymond Green

Sport: Basketball

Local connection:

Golden State Warriors

Olympic experience:

Twotime Olympian. Gold medalist in 2016.

Circle it: Aug. 6, goldmedal game, 7:30 p.m.

Green is the lone Warriors player on the roster, with Stephen Curry declining an invite and Klay Thompson recovering from injury. He will be reunited with former teammate Kevin Durant, with whom he first played on the Rio team the summer before Durant became a Warrior. Green didn’t get much playing time in 2016 but is expected to shoulder a greater load in 2021 and provide leadership.

Social media: Twitter: @money23green Insta: money23green

Nyjah Huston

Sport: Skateboarding

Local connection:

Raised in Davis

Olympic experience:

Firsttime Olympian

Circle it: July 24, men’s street final, 5 p.m.

Already a superstar in his sport, Huston will be one of the faces that brings skateboarding to the mainstream Olympic audience. A star since he was 7, he learned to skate at a Davis skate park his parents bought. Now the 26yearold has millions of both social media followers and dollars in the bank. The king of streetskating at the X Games, he is a heavy favorite to win gold in his sport’s debut.

Social media: Twitter: @nyjah Insta: nyjah

Katie Ledecky

Sport: Swimming

Local connection:

Stanford

Olympic experience:

Threetime Olympian. Gold medalist in 2012. Four golds and one silver in 2016.

Circle it: July 27, women’s 200 and 1,500 freestyle finals, 6:30 p.m.

With Michael Phelps retired and not on Team USA for the first time since Atlanta, Ledecky is projected to be the big star in the pool. But a slightly slower than expected time in the 400 in the trials has led to anticipation of a duel with Australian Ariarne Titmus. Ledecky, the only U.S. swimmer to qualify for four individual events, is in for a big day when she is expected to compete in both the 200 and 1,500 free. This is the first year the women’s 1,500 has been an Olympic event.

Social media: Twitter: @KatieLedecky Insta: katieledecky

Brody Malone

Sport: Gymnastics

Local connection: Stan

ford

Olympic experience:

Firsttime Olympian.

Circle it: July 28, men’s allaround final, 3:15 a.m.

The softspoken former rodeo competitor from Georgia will be the headliner of the men’s team. Malone led Stanford to consecutive national championships in gymnastics and was a twotime allaround NCAA champion. He burst on the national scene in June, winning both the national allaround title and, a few weeks later, the allaround title at the Olympic trials.

Social media: Twitter: @brody1700 Insta: brody1700

Simone Manuel

Sport: Swimming

Local connection: Stan

ford

Olympic experience:

Twotime Olympian. Two golds and two silvers in 2016.

Circle it: July 31, women’s 50 freestyle final, 6:30 p.m.

A 2019 graduate of Stanford, where she won awards as the nation’s best female swimmer and best overall female athlete, Manuel made history in Rio. With her win in the 100 free she became the first Black woman to win an individual gold in swimming. Manuel missed making this year’s team in the 100 free by 0.02 of a second but qualified in dramatic fashion in the 50 free. She has been named one of the four swim team captains for Tokyo.

Social media: Twitter: @swimone Insta: swimone

Alexander Massialas

Sport: Fencing

Local connection: San Francisco, Stanford

Olympic experience:

Threetime Olympian. Silver medalist and team bronze in 2016.

Circle it: July 26, foil fencing final, 2 a.m.

Massialas grew up fencing in the outer Sunset, at his father Greg’s studio. Greg, who was an Olympic fencer in 1984 and 1988, is now a coach for the U.S. team. In Rio, Massialas became the first American male foil fencer to win a silver medal since 1932. Massialas was instrumental in forming “36 Sports Strong” at Stanford, the effort to reinstate 11 eliminated sports, including fencing.

Social media: Twitter: @AMassialas Insta: amassialas

Alex Morgan

Sport: Soccer

Local connection: Cal Olympic experience:

Threetime Olympian. Gold medalist in 2012.

Circle it: Aug. 5, women’s goldmedal game, 7 p.m.

Morgan is one of eight players on the U.S. national team roster with ties to the Bay Area. Now 32, the 2010 Cal graduate is hoping to help lead the team to the first World CupOlympic gold backtoback in history. She gave birth to daughter Charlie in May 2020 and will be one of many Olympic mothers missing their young children.

Social media: Twitter: @alexmorgan13 Insta: alexmorgan13

Maggie Steffens

Sport: Water polo

Local connection: Danville (Monte Vista High), Stanford

Olympic experience:

Threetime Olympian. Gold in 2012 and 2016

Circle it: Aug. 7, women’s goldmedal match, 12:30 a.m.

Once the little sister to the team — she played with older sister Jessica in 2012 — Steffens is now the 28yearold captain of the team that some are calling the greatest of all time. She is trying to keep the team’s dominance alive, having won two gold medals and three straight world championships.

Social media: Twitter: @maggiesteffens Insta: maggie.steffens

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2020 In Rio, Alexander Massialas became the first U.S. male foil fencer to win a silver medal since 1932.

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images A recent Stanford graduate, Katie Ledecky is the biggest star on the U.S. swim team in Tokyo.

Jeff Roberson / Associated Press Stanford student and twotime NCAA champion Brody Malone has had a fast rise to the top.

Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Maggie Steffens is the captain of what might be the most impressive U.S. women’s water polo team yet.

Elsa / Getty Images Cal alum Alex Morgan is looking for her second Olympic gold medal in her third Olympics.

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images Stanford alum Simone Manuel made history in Rio and returns as a cocaptain of the team in Tokyo.

Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press Monica Abbott remembers the heartbreak of losing the gold to rival Japan in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Dustin Satloff / Getty Images 2019 Kate Courtney qualified for the Olympics by finishing fifth at the 2019 world championships.

Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press Nyjah Huston, a superstar in his sport, is a heavy favorite to win gold in skateboarding’s debut.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images The Warriors’ Draymond Green won gold with the U.S. in 2016, and could have a bigger role in Tokyo.