Yahoo News Tokyo Olympics 2021 day-by-day guide: Team GB schedule highlights for Games
The delayed Olympic Games are edging ever closer, a year later than planned due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
There will be no fans present due to Tokyo’s state of emergency, but athletes from across the globe will compete against each other in a variety of different disciplines.
Here’s what to watch and when across two and a half weeks...
Day 1: Friday 23 July
An opening ceremony like no other will get the Games under way at the Olympic Stadium. The first individual British athletes will compete in archery and rowing preliminary rounds.
Day 2: Saturday 24 July
Shooter Seonaid McIntosh could win Britain’s first medal in the women’s 10m air rifle. Double Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover returns in the lightweight double sculls, while the GB women’s football team face hosts Japan in Sapporo. Adam Peaty starts his 100m breaststroke campaign.
Day 3: Sunday 25 July
Taekwondo takes centre-stage with Jade Jones, bidding for her third straight Olympic title, and fellow world champion Bradly Sinden both in action. Peaty is back in his 100m semi-final, while the defending women’s hockey champions kick off their campaign against Germany.
Day 4: Monday, 26 July
Peaty will look to wrap up another 100m breaststroke gold in the pool, while Tom Daley partners Matty Lee in the men’s 10m synchro. Jonny Brownlee will look to emulate his absent brother Ali in the men’s triathlon, while there are also medal chances for Amber Hill (women’s skeet) and Tom Pidcock (mountain biking).
Day 5: Tuesday, 27 July
Reigning world champion Bianca Walkden bids for an elusive Olympic taekwondo gold, while Mahama Cho is also in action. Jess Learmonth leads a three-strong British contingent in the women’s triathlon, while Charlotte Dujardin will target the podium as part of the GB dressage team.
Day 6: Wednesday, 28 July
Rio gold medallist Jack Laugher partners Dan Goodfellow in the men’s 3m synchro, while GB hope to figure as the men’s rugby sevens competition concludes. Dujardin ought to be in the frame for another medal in the individual dressage.
Day 7: Thursday, 29 July
Glover is set to go for her third Olympic gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls. World number one Matt Coward-Holley starts as favourite in the men’s trap. British stars aside, it is set to be the Simone Biles show as the US superstar bids to retain her women’s all-around gymnastics crown.
Day 8: Friday, 30 July
Athletics starts with Dina Asher-Smith in her 100m heats, and a men’s 10,000m shorn of Mo Farah. Women’s rugby reaches the quarter-final stage, while there may also be British involvement in the men’s tennis semi-finals and the women’s trampoline, where Bryony Page bids to go one better than her Rio silver.
Day 9: Saturday, 31 July
Asher-Smith should get her first crack at gold in the women’s 100m final. McIntosh starts favourite in the women’s 3x50m rifle, and Peaty will target a return to the podium as part of the men’s 100m medley relay squad. Meanwhile GB women face Ireland in the women’s hockey.
Day 10: Sunday, 1 August
Usain Bolt may be missing but all eyes will be on the men’s 100m final. British attention will shift to the gymnastics where Max Whitlock bids to retain his pommel title. The tennis programme brings gold medal matches in men’s singles, and women’s and mixed doubles.
Day 11: Monday, 2 August
Sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember challenge in the women’s 100m hurdles. Track cycling commences with the women’s team sprint, while Britain stands strong medal chances in both team and individual eventing. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics, is in action in the women’s 87kg weightlifting.
Day 12: Tuesday, 3 August
‘Super Tuesday’ is on the cards with Asher-Smith set to line up in the women’s 200m final and rising stars Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie in the 800m final. Pat McCormack could be involved in the men’s welterweight boxing final, both Jason and Laura Kenny have the chance to add to their respective medal hauls, while Laugher (diving) and Giles Scott (sailing) are also in the mix.
Day 13: Wednesday, 4 August
Thirteen-year-old Sky Brown is set to steal the show in the women’s skateboard park competition, in which she stands a genuine medal chance. Ben Maher (showjumping) and Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (sailing) also boast outstanding podium hopes. The men’s 800m and 200m finals provide the highlights on the track.
Day 14: Thursday, 5 August
Katarina Johnson-Thompson will hope her injury-hit year does not deny her a medal in the heptathlon. In the velodrome, the women’s keirin and men’s omnium provide the highlights, while GB will hope to figure in the men’s hockey final and perhaps also the football bronze medal match respectively.
Day 15: Friday, 6 August
A busy night on the track brings the women’s 400m and 1500m finals as well as another medal chance for Asher-Smith in the women’s 4x100m relay. Laura Kenny is set to go in the women’s madison, GB will hope to be involved in the women’s hockey and football finals, while Shauna Coxsey bids for Britain’s first Olympic medal in sport-climbing.
Day 16: Saturday, 7 August
More boxing finals ought to yield more British medals, including for reigning world champion Lauren Price. Both high jumps and 4x400m relays provide the highlights in the stadium, while there are also medal hopes for Ethan Hayer in the men’s madison.
Day 17: Sunday, 8 August
The Games conclude with the closing ceremony, prior to which Frazer Clarke will hope to be in a position to emulate Anthony Joshua in the men’s boxing super-heavyweight division, and there are more medal opportunities in the velodrome in the women’s omnium and men’s keirin respectively.
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