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The Summer Olympics are here! After a year-long postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, the games are set to kick off in Tokyo on July 23 and will run until August 8, despite the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and lingering concerns in Japan. Though the Olympics will be taking place in 2021 due to the postponement, they will continue to be officially branded as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Tokyo games will have the most disciplines of any Olympics ever, with 33 different sports competing (now including skateboarding and surfing) for 339 gold medals overall. You can check out the entire list of sports and the events included here. Read on for our team’s predictions!
Becca Zhu
Instead of rooting for a particular country this year, I will be cheering on the 66 Olympic athletes who hail from USC. Representing over thirty countries, they will compete in everything from beach volleyball, to golf, to rowing (no, Olivia Jade did not make the team). I’m predicting another year where USC brings back the most gold medals of any university.
Jillian Hegedus
Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Grace McCallum will take the gold in the team event for Women’s Gymnastics and it’s truly the only part of the Olympics I care to watch this year. Honestly, I’d watch Simone Biles do just about anything...we don’t deserve her or her greatness. I’m also really interested in seeing SKATEBOARDING which is an Olympic Sport
John Garside
Another third place showing for the USA Men’s Basketball Team. Naomi Osaka crushes it and silences the conservative outrage machine. A lot of broken cardboard beds.
John Sallee
I still can't believe the Olympics are happening this year. It feels kinda weird to celebrate the world's greatest athletes while the world is still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also doesn’t help that countries and sponsors have begun to pull out (looking at you Guinea and Toyota). I feel like the games should be postponed one more year, where Olympic fans are able to actually attend and fill the stadium seats. I predict that next year, the pandemic will be better handled to the point where the world will become maskless again. What better way to ring in the end of a pandemic than the Olympic games?
Laura Rosenthal
I will be watching women’s gymnastics - go Simone!! Are the men even competing this year? :) Women’s soccer, skateboarding (should be some exciting tricks!), track and field (even without the magnificent Sha’Carri) and, yes, baseball. Can’t get away from baseball and softball. Still angry about some of the women’s uniform requirements (bikinis, really???) but I want to support our amazing athletes so I will watch more TV than I usually do. And cheer on swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky from Malibu!
Mariana Garcia Medina
So many amazing women athletes I am excited to cheer on! First of all, my fellow Sol Price of Public Policy MPP classmate, Anna Crockell, will be competing for the USA team in the 400 meter hurdle and am so excited to see her compete! I am also looking forward to watching Naomi Osaka (Japan) in Women’s Tennis, Simone Biles (USA) and Alexa Moreno (Mexico) in the Gymnastics, and the USA Women’s soccer team that has many Portland Thorns players. Lastly, but not least, I will be cheering on Mexico’s men's soccer team alongside my grandpa. We are willing to wake up in the early AM and disrupt our sleep just to see them play.
Mirian Fuentes
Surfing! I am by no means a surfer (I can’t even swim) but I love that surfing was added to the line up of Olympic sports. While I’m not familiar with all surfing all-stars, I’ve heard great things about four-time World Champion and Team USA surfer Carissa Moore!
Melody Forsythe
Will anyone break Usain Bolt’s Men's World Record of 9.58sec in the 100 meter sprint? Having spent seven years competing in track and field my eyes are on the athletes of this thrilling sport. Will anyone beat Sydney McLaughlin’s New World Record in the Women’s 400-meter hurdles (51.90sec)? Sha'Carri Richardson, you are an Olympian. Absolutely the Men’s and the Women's Gymnastics is a must watch! Who can say US Gymnastics without thinking of Simone Biles?! The Opening Ceremony is at the top of my list for the captivating show, diversity of nations, and fashion. Yes, fashion (RIP FloJo). The whole world will be on the stage and we are all watching Tokyo. Go forth and conquer Olympians!
Yesenia Vargas
Am I furious that Sha’Carri Richardson isn’t running? Yes. To the point of boycotting the games in protest? Also yes. Will I hypocritically break said boycott to watch the soccer portions? Absolutely. My money is on the USWNT for the gold, but I’d like Chile to get the silver. And as for the men’s soccer competition, you know I’m cheering Mexico on. Guillermo Ochoa is my pride and joy.