Tokyo Olympics: A Games in a pandemic, new sports, British medal hopes and global stars to watch

The Olympics are over. The Greatest Show On Earth has ended. The last athletes have landed. In the weight room, they’ll be training—and so will you. All those hours you spent watching the games, wondering how the Spice Girls would perform against the Chinese gymnastics team, are over. Now it’s time to get back to work.

The Olympic Games have been taking place since the 776 B.C. in Olympia, Greece, but the 2024 Olympics have grown in stature. Just like the Paralympics and the Special Olympics, the Olympics are expanding their reach to include more countries and more sports. Athletes from over 200 countries have been competing in the Olympics since 1896, and the Games will feature 3,000 athletes from 200 cities in just 40 sports.

The Rio Olympics are just over a week away and the world is buzzing with anticipation and excitement. The Olympics can be like a circus filled with amazing performers and some of the world’s most talented athletes. This year, Rio’s Olympic Games will take place in a city that is struggling with a very serious disease: Zika.

On Friday, the Olympic Stadium hosts the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony (12:00 BST)

The Tokyo Olympic Games are just around the corner. They don’t look or feel like any previous Games from the past, but they’re here. Finally.

With an extra year of training under their belts, more than 11,300 competitors from 207 nations will compete over the next few weeks, all hoping for the medal they’ve been working so hard for.

The Olympic torch “may become the light at the end of the tunnel,” organizers stated when the Games were postponed in March 2020. That figurative tunnel is still being crossed, with the Covid-19 epidemic still raging across the globe, but Friday’s inauguration ceremony provides a glimpse of hope.

“I believe it will be a time of pleasure and relief when the athletes enter the stadium, a moment of delight in especially for the athletes because I know how much they have awaited this moment,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

“Then they’ll be able to finally be there, and they’ll be able to experience this moment under really unique conditions.”

In the midst of a pandemic, an Olympics is held.

Masks, quarantine, and saliva testing are all on the table. Make no mistake: they are unlike any previous Olympics.

With Tokyo under a state of emergency for the duration of the Olympics due to a rise in Covid-19 infections, the Games have been widely panned by the Japanese people, with the majority requesting that the Games be cancelled or postponed again.

However, the organisers place a high priority on safety and have taken many measures, including hosting the Games behind closed doors with no spectators from Japan or elsewhere allowed inside venues.

Athletes, on the other hand, are bound by tight rules. They must wear a face mask at all times except while eating, drinking, exercising, competing, or sleeping, and they must limit physical contact with others. They are also tested for Covid-19 on a daily basis.

Adam Peaty of Team GB is attempting to defend his Olympic gold medal in the 100m breaststroke.

Unfortunately, the virus has already infected the Games, even before they have officially begun.

Twelve additional instances of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday, increasing the total number of cases linked to Games workers to 87. A total of eight positive cases have been reported among sportsmen.

After being identified as close connections of someone on their trip who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, six Team GB athletes were forced to segregate in their rooms.

Coco Gauff, a US tennis player, had to withdraw from her first Games after testing positive before coming in Tokyo, as did Team GB’s Dan Evans and Johanna Konta, as well as world number one shooter Amber Hill.

What’s new this time?

There will be a total of 339 medal events spread over 33 sports, with the IOC adding five new sports and 34 additional events to the Tokyo 2020 schedule. Women make up 48.8% of athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics, which is a new high.

Karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, baseball/softball, and surfing are the five new sports. Baseball and softball aren’t strictly “new” Olympic sports, although they haven’t been played at a Games since Beijing 2008.

New mixed-gender events, such as a 4x100m mixed medley relay in swimming and a mixed relay in triathlon, have been added to the boxing, canoe slalom, canoe sprint, cycling, rowing, and swimming programs.

These sports have been developed in order to appeal to a younger audience and to reflect “sport’s urbanisation tendency.”

President Bach of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said: “We aim to introduce youngsters to sports. We can no longer expect young people to come to us naturally because they have so many choices. We must visit them.”

This year’s Games are also promoting environmental awareness. The Olympic torch was made from aluminum waste from temporary housing built in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The medals are made from recycled mobile phones, while the Olympic torch is made from aluminum waste from temporary housing built in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Only eight new competition sites have been constructed from the ground up, and most of the energy used to run Tokyo 2020 is renewable.

The Games will cost £11.5 billion in total, up 22% due to the one-year delay.

Medal hopes in the United Kingdom

For the first time in 125 years, Team GB has picked more female athletes than male competitors to participate in the Olympics, with 201 of the 376 participants chosen being female. In Tokyo, British athletes will compete in 26 of the 33 Olympic sports.

At London 2012, Team GB earned 65 medals, which increased to 67 in Rio four years later. UK Sport expects between 45 and 70 medals to be won in Tokyo.

Taking into consideration the “exceptional conditions” given to athletes and personnel in the lead-up to the Games, this has been lowered from the goal of 54 to 92 medals established in 2018.

But who will take home the gold?

Swimmer Adam Peaty (100m breaststroke), gymnast Max Whitlock (pommel horse), and taekwondo star Jade Jones are all expected to defend their Rio gold medals, with Jones – the 57kg champion in both London and Rio – aiming to become the first British female athlete to win gold at three consecutive Olympic Games.

Jason and Laura Kenny, both track cyclists, have a chance to become Great Britain’s most successful Olympians. Jason is presently tied with Sir Chris Hoy for the most golds with six, while Laura is already Britain’s most successful female Olympian with four golds.

Dina Asher-Smith, Team GB’s face of the Games, is a medal possibility in the 100m and 200m sprints, while skateboarder Sky Brown, the country’s youngest Olympian at the age of 13, is a medal contender in the women’s park event.

Team GB will be led into Friday’s opening ceremony by sailor Hannah Mills and rower Mohamed Sbihi, with Tokyo being the first Olympics to allow countries to choose two flag bearers in an effort to promote gender equality.

Global celebrities to keep an eye on

Simone Biles, a 24-year-old American gymnast, has won five Olympic medals, including four gold.

Simone Biles, an American gymnast, was one of the brightest lights in Rio five years ago.

At her first Games, the 24-year-old earned four golds and one bronze medal, and she plans to participate in all five events again. She would be the first Olympic gymnast to defend her all-around championship since 1968 if she did so.

In the pool, two more Americans are anticipated to dominate. Caeleb Dressel has ‘just’ two Olympic gold medals to his name, but the 24-year-old is likely to participate in up to six events in Tokyo, while Katie Ledecky, who won four gold medals in Rio to go along with her one from London 2012, is expected to compete in up to six events.

Look for Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has won six Olympic medals, and Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis at the Olympic Stadium.

Novak Djokovic, the world number one in tennis, continues his quest for a Golden Grand Slam, having won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon this year and still needing the Olympic and US Open crowns.

Laurel Hubbard, a 43-year-old transgender weightlifter, will provide one of the most anticipated performances of the Tokyo Olympics.

Hubbard of New Zealand, who set male national records as a juvenile, will be the first trans athlete to participate in an individual event at the Olympics, the women’s 87kg division.

The Tokyo Olympics are all set to start in a few days. It is one of the most important sporting events in the world. The Games will be held in the most populous city in Japan, in the center of the country, and across all of Japan. The Olympic games have a huge and worldwide following and this is evident from the fact that the games are watched by millions around the world in more than 100 countries.. Read more about tokyo olympics 2021 schedule and let us know what you think.

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