Who to Watch at the Tokyo Olympics

The 2021 Summer Olympics are set to kick off this month. Initially, the IOC delayed the games due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year, but like everything else in life right now the show will go on. Even though spectators will not be allowed at the events, fans will still be cheering around the world. Team USA is comprised of some household names and some names that are about to become household names.

Unfortunately some bad news for Team USA involving one of the fastest women alive, Sha’Carri Richardson. She tested positive for cannabis on a drug test during the Olympic trials. The IOC still considers marijuana a substance of abuse. There’s so much wrong with this situation that needs its own article. Regrettably, she was not chosen to compete in the 4x100m relay either despite being eligible so we will have to wait three more years to see her get a gold medal.

While we must wait to cheer on Richardson, here are some other athletes you should be tuning in for at the games.

Athing Mu

New Jersey native Athing Mu has been setting and breaking world records for a few years. At just sixteen years old, Mu set an American record in the 600m event at the 2019 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. That same year she was named the USA Track & Field Youth Athlete of the Year Award. Now a professional athlete signed to Nike, Mu can add a gold medal to her resume. Only one American woman, Madeline Mims, has won gold in the 800m event.

At the Olympic Trials, Mu was tripped by a fellow runner but was still able to post the second-fastest time in the 800m event by an American ever.

Simone Biles

We’ve run out of adjectives to describe Simone Biles’ gymnastics performances. How can you put into words the seven-time World Champion, most decorated gymnast, greatest Olympian of all time completing a move named after her because she’s the only one to EVER complete it?

Just grab the popcorn and get ready for the show. I cannot wait to see what Biles as well as, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Grace McCallum, the other members of the US Gymnastics Team, have in store for us in Tokyo.

Allyson Felix

As she gets ready for her FIFTH Olympics, things are different for Allyson Felix this time. The most decorated athlete in World Championships history has nothing left to prove, but yet still so much to prove. This is Felix’s first time competing in the games as a mom.

After suffering from complications after giving birth in late 2018, Felix left Nike. While negotiating a new deal while pregnant, the brand failed to provide her maternity protections as well as ask her to take a 70 percent pay cut. This country’s most decorated track and field athlete decided to create her own shoe brand, Saysh. The new women’s lifestyle brand already has its first shoe available for pre-order. Felix will be wearing Saysh in Tokyo. She has been an advocate for working mothers and fighting health care inequities that exist, specifically regarding giving birth.

Gabby Thomas

She beat her idol, Allyson Felix, in the 200m event at the track and field trials. Felix won a gold medal in 2012 for the 200m event just for reference. There’s only one athlete with a faster time in the 200m event and it belongs to the track queen, FloJo.

As insane as that is, Thomas almost missed the trials altogether. After complaining of hamstring pain, Thomas discovered that she had a benign tumor in her liver. The Harvard graduate is also working on her Master’s degree in epidemiology and health care management.

We also want to give an honorable mention to Team USA women’s basketball team. The team has won eight of the ten Olympic tournaments it has participated in. The team could win its seventh consecutive gold medal in Tokyo. The 2021 Olympic games kick off on July 23.