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Olympics 2021: Top storylines to follow heading into the Tokyo Games

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From Simone Biles to Katie Ledecky, Team USA soccer to men's basketball, and all the new sports in Tokyo, here's a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about the 2021 Olympics.

The Olympics are the most watched sporting event on the planet, with more media coverage than any other organised event. The Games of the XXXII Olympiad will be held in Tokyo this week. After the 2020 Games were postponed for a year owing to the ongoing global epidemic of COVID-19, it was decided that the Olympics would not be postponed any longer.

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There will be 339 events in 33 sports during the Games. The storylines are plenty, as they are with every Olympics. We're here to give you a heads-up on what you should know before Friday's opening ceremony.

Here are 10 plot points to follow for what will be a highly publicized, and inevitably debatable, Games. 

1. COVID-19 hovers over everything



As if any narrative could be more important than the world's most serious crisis in decades. COVID-19 instances in Japan are at their highest level in six months, and athletes have been affected. Coco Gauff, a tennis player from the United States, said on Sunday that she had tested positive for the drug and would be unable to compete. An alternative on the women's gymnastics team has tested positive, while another has been placed on contact-tracing protocols. A worker at the Olympic Village tested positive as well.

This situation may get worse, and there's no telling who could have their eligibility compromised. There are huge public health questions, scrutiny over vaccinations, potential forfeitures of competition by athletes. We already know of one high-profile athlete -- American swimmer Michael Andrew -- who is not vaccinated and is therefore increasing his risk of disqualification. The same goes for American track athlete Cole Hocker.


With no fans in attendance, the 2021 Games are being put on purely as a TV show (which is mostly what the Olympics has evolved into over the past 20 years). The coronavirus pandemic will hover over every element, every day, and nearly every moment of the Games due to the state-of-emergency circumstances in Japan. You won't see fans in the stands, and it's all too easy, unfortunately, to envision a scenario in which athletes wind up being disqualified due to positive tests. Even the medal ceremonies will be different this time around: instead of the tradition of a medalist bending down to be wreathed with their prize, the gold, silver and bronze winners will be grabbing their medals themselves and putting them on. 

While significant events in American sports have been successfully staged in controlled environments, such as the NBA Finals in a bubble, the Super Bowl in the dead of winter, and multi-week men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, the Olympics dwarfs all of them. Given Japan's vaccination rate and state-of-emergency proclamation, the number of people working and competing in the Games, and the contagiousness of the Delta strain, the Olympic Games are the world's largest sporting event during COVID-19.

A majority of Japanese citizens do not even want the Games to go on, but with billions of dollars at stake, Olympics officials have decided the show will go on. 

2. The Simon Biles show




Biles is the biggest deal among American Olympians in 2021, the most famous athlete, the most dominant competitor, and, at the age of 24, already one of the greatest athletes on the planet. She's one of the most decorated athletes in American and Olympic history, with four gold medals and a bronze in 2016.

In every event she competes in, she will be must-see television. These are the occurrences that are most likely to occur:

  • Team competition
  • Individual all-around
  • Vault
  • Floor exercise
  • Balance beam

If Biles medals in four more events, she's the most decorated gymnast in Olympic history. Biles is generational not only in accomplishments and greatness, but her ability to transcend her sport and the Olympics and symbolize American exceptionalism. 

She has no peer.

Biles has essentially changed the way physics is interpreted in her sport. Her leotard is emblazoned with the word "GOAT," and for good cause. Biles is a rare athlete who is already considered as an all-time great, if not the greatest, in their prime. These Olympics have the potential to reaffirm that. It speaks something about an athlete's greatness when you consider that not winning any of the events in which they compete would be the biggest surprise of all. This is the reality for Biles.

3. Katie Ledecky's inevitable dominance

Katie Ledecky, as captivating as Simone Biles is, may be the more dominant competitor in her sport owing to her ability to physically separate herself from the competition. Over the next two weeks, Ledecky will unquestionably take over as the face of American swimming from Michael Phelps.

Like Biles, Ledecky is 24. She's competing in her third Games and is expected to win gold in the:

  • 200 meter freestyle
  • 400 meter freestyle
  • 800 meter freestyle
  • 1,500 meter freestyle

Her best event, the 1,500 meter freestyle, is new to the Games this year. She'll also swim in the 4 × 200 freestyle relay and, potentially, the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. 

The question isn't whether she'll win, it's whether she'll beat all her competitors by at least a pool-length. Swimming can so often be a sport of inches and half-seconds, but Ledecky has turned the tide entirely. She's made swimming a spectacle of gawk due to her dominance

On the whole, no female swimmer has ever been faster than her in the events she competes in. These Games are essentially the last chance for Ledecky to solidify her legacy as an Olympic superstar.

4. Will Team USA men's hoops team falter?



Pretty much the only thing that could gin up additional interest in the United States men's team in advance of the Olympics happened. Team USA lost back-to-back games against Nigeria and Australia earlier in July. It doesn't matter that both countries have NBA players on their rosters. It's a basketball game. It's the United States of America.

It's not intended to happen, yet it does.

In actuality, from 1992 to June 2021, the United States suffered two losses in international competition. The team then went on to lose two games in less than a week.

Team USA, led by Kevin Durant, is clearly the strong favourite to win gold in Tokyo. However, there have been setbacks along the road. Bradley Beal and Kevin Love have been replaced on the roster by... umm... says here... Keldon Johnson and JaVale McGee? No, Zion Williamson isn't a member of the squad. Other notable players include Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green, Devin Booker, and Khris Middleton, in addition to Durant.

In any case, losing twice in the run-up to the Olympics will provide drama and a cause to watch. The women's national team should win a gold medal once more. That will be entertaining. But, on the men's side, the rest of the world hasn't caught up to our best in basketball on the floor. But it's no longer a walk in the park.
In any case, losing twice in the run-up to the Olympics will provide drama and a cause to watch. The women's national team should win a gold medal once more. That will be entertaining. But, on the men's side, the rest of the world hasn't caught up to our best in basketball on the floor. But it's no longer a walk in the park.

5. USA Swimming is stacked ... again


Swimming had long been a spectator sport at the Summer Olympics, but Michael Phelps helped make it a must-see event for American viewers. The United States is projected to do well in Tokyo, winning more gold medals and overall medals, as it has done in every Summer Olympics since 1992. Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time, and Ryan Lochte, his partner, is comfortably in the top ten.

However, their time has come to an end. Aside from the aforementioned Ledecky, here are several names to remember:


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