Gunning for the gold! The Tokyo Olympics faced delays amid the coronavirus pandemic, but Team USA athletes are ready to take home big wins this summer.
The summer Olympic games were originally set to kick off in Japan in July 2020, but organizers were forced to reschedule as the COVID-19 crisis continued to spread around the globe. Now, the international sports event is slated to begin on July 23, 2021, with hundreds of hopeful athletes competing for gold medal glory.
Simone Biles, who previously stunned audiences at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, opened up about the unconventional 2021 games during a candid interview with the Today show.
“We are in a pandemic, so we’re kind of ready for whatever life throws us at this point,” the 23-year-old gymnast said on Friday, January 22, amid rumors that the Tokyo Olympics would be canceled completely. “We’re training as if, and whatever happens, happens. We have to do what’s safe for the rest of the world, for ourselves to make sure everyone’s healthy, but hopefully the Olympics can still be put on, even if it means we’re in a bubble.”
Biles admitted that she would “basically do anything” to be able to compete on the world stage once again after her impressive victories in Brazil four years ago. “Whatever they say they want us to do, I’m in 100%, because I’ve been training so hard, and I’ve just been so ready,” she said on Friday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) shut down rumors that the Japanese government was refusing to host the sports showcase, affirming in a statement on Friday that the Olympics were still in sight.
“Together with its Japanese partners and friends, the IOC is fully concentrated on and committed to the successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this year,” the statement read, acknowledging that “all possible countermeasures against COVID-19” would be taken into account to keep athletes and fans safe.
Along with fan-favorites such as swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball, the Tokyo Olympics will introduce a handful of new events. Karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding will make their Olympic debuts, and baseball and softball will be played in the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
To learn more about all the Olympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics this summer on NBC.
Scroll down to meet some of the Olympic hopefuls competing for Team USA this summer!
The University of South Carolina alum, 24, currently plays for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces after playing overseas for China’s Shaanxi Red Wolves. In 2020, she was named MVP of the WNBA.
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Ross, 38, previously competed at the 2012 London Olympics, where she earned a silver medal with partner Jennifer Kessy. Four years later, she teamed up with Kerri Walsh Jennings in the Rio Olympic games and took home the bronze medal. Ross is married to fellow beach volleyball pro Brad Keenan, whom she wed in 2010.
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In 2016, the diver was selected to represent Team USA in Rio but didn’t advance beyond the semifinals. The Florida State University alum, 29, comes from an Olympic family: her grandmother, Elaine Silburn, competed in the 1948 Olympics in London for Canada’s track and field team.
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The 19-year-old gymnast was named world all-around champion in 2017 and is a four-time USA Gymnastics National Championships medalist. Hurd is known for wearing her glasses during competitions — and is ready to take on the world in her first Olympic games.
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The Connecticut native has been a member of the United States women’s national gymnastics team since 2016 but has yet to shine on the Olympic stage. In November 2019, the 19-year-old committed to the University of Florida as a member of their gymnastics team beginning in 2021.
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The softball star previously competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics, taking home a gold medal, and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, earning a silver medal. Though she retired after the 2008 games, Osterman, 37, is ready to make her triumphant return to Team USA in Tokyo. Off the field, she previously worked as an assistant coach for Texas State University’s softball team.
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The 21-year-old BMX cycling pro won his first World Championship in 2018 and took home the bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.
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An alternate for the 2016 Rio Olympic games, the 24-year-old gymnast is a two-time NCAA gold medalist with the University of Utah. She was invited to train with the women’s national team in June 2019 and is determined to make a name for herself on the Olympic stage in Tokyo, despite coronavirus delays.
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The Ohio native, 23, is the most-decorated American gymnast in history with a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals. Biles earned five individual medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and contributed to the Team USA victory. In February 2020, the superstar athlete was selected to represent Team USA once again in the Tokyo World Cup before the Olympic games were put on hold.
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Before taking up rugby in 2012, Isles participated in football and track at Ashland University in Ohio. He represented the U.S. at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which was the first time rugby sevens was played at a summer Olympics. Carlin and his twin sister, Tambra, both 31, grew up in foster care before being adopted by parents Starlett and Charles Isles.
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Skateboarding will make its Olympic debut at the Tokyo games — and Huston is a perfect fit on Team USA. The California native, 26, is a highly-decorated athlete with overall wins at competitions in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019.
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As of March 2020, Reynolds is the highest-ranked male park skateboarder in the world. The 22-year-old is one of several lucky athletes to compete in skateboarding’s first Olympic competitions in Tokyo.
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The Colorado native, 19, attends the University of San Diego full-time but school hasn’t slowed down her training. Raboutou qualified for Team USA after she finished in ninth place at the 2019 Climbing World Championships. Her parents, Didier Raboutou and Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, are both former world champion rock climbers.
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Surfing will appear in the Olympics for the first time this summer — and this Surfers’ Hall of Fame inductee is ready to compete. Moore, 28, is a four-time Women’s World Tour Champ and was named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year in 2013.
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Another first-time Olympic hopeful, the California native has been surfing for over 15 years. Andino, 26, holds the record for the most National Scholastic Surfing Association championships won by a male athlete with nine titles to his name.
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The Texas native, 24, won two gold and two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming. She graduated from Stanford University, where she helped win two NCAA team championships in women’s swimming and diving, in 2018.
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Norman, now 23, first gained international attention in sprinting in 2016 when he defeated reigning USA champion Justin Gatlin at the Olympic trials. However, he failed to qualify for the Rio games. The California native is a four-time NCAA champion in track and field with the University of Southern California Trojans.
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The sprinter previously earned a gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. Now 23, Lyles is ready to make his official Olympic debut in Tokyo after missing the qualifications for 2016’s Rio games.
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The wrestler, 32, is a four-time World Champion, six-time World Cup champion, three-time Pan American Games Gold medalist and four-time Pan American champion. He previously took home the gold medal for Team USA in 74-kg freestyle wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics.
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