The Tokyo Olympics are set to open July 23rd, nearly one year to the date after they were originally scheduled to begin before being postponed due to COVID. 

Over 11,000 athletes are expected to compete in 339 events during the course of the Olympics, which, despite being postponed, are still being branded as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

As the opening ceremony nears, here’s everything you need to know about the Tokyo Olympics. 

What are the dates? 

The Tokyo Olympics commence with the June 23 opening ceremony and will conclude with the closing ceremony on Sunday, August 8. The opening ceremony will be held on the evening of June 23 in Tokyo and will air at 7 a.m. EST in the United States.

How do I watch? 

NBC will provide primetime coverage for the games with additional streaming options available on NBCOlympics.com, NBC Sports, and Peacock.

Will fans be allowed at the Tokyo Olympics? 

The Olympics will allow a limited number of local fans. International fans have already been barred from traveling to Japan for this summer’s Games because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Organizers say that nearly 3.7 million tickets have been sold to Japanese residents. Venues will allow up to 50% capacity but will be capped at a maximum of 10,000 spectators. Fans will not be allowed to cheer, must wear masks, and are being told to go straight home after each event. 

What is the COVID situation in Tokyo like? 

Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the region. The state of emergency is set to expire on July 12 despite scrutiny regarding the decision to hold the games. A month out from the Tokyo Olympics, only eight percent of the Japanese public is fully vaccinated, adding to public health concerns.  

When is Gymnastics? 

The women’s team final begins at 6:45 a.m. EST on July 27 and the all-around final will air at 6:50 a.m. EST on July 29. Individual events are scheduled for July 30, 31 and August 1. 

When is Swimming? 

Swimming events begin on the first day of athletic competition, July 24, and run through July 31.

When is Track and Field? 

The 100m finals will be July 31. The 200m, 400m, relays and more will begin August 2 and run through the end of the week.

When are the women’s basketball finals? 

The gold-medal game will air on August 7 at 10:30 p.m. EST. 

When are the women’s soccer finals? 

The USWNT will begin group stage play against Sweden on July 21 at 4:30 a.m. EST. The soccer tournament will culminate with the final, which airs on August 5 at 10 p.m. EST.

What sports have been added? 

The Tokyo Olympics will see the introduction of several new sports, including 3×3 basketball, freestyle BMX and madison cycling. Host organizing committees are also allowed to add new sports to the Olympic program. In Tokyo, these sports include karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding, all making their Olympic debuts, while softball and baseball have also returned for the first time since 2008. 

The must-see athletes:

The Tokyo Olympics will feature both already-legendary female athletes competing for further Olympics glory, as well as several notable first-time competitors looking to break onto the global stage.

Simone Biles, gymnastics: 

Simone Biles is, by all accounts, the greatest gymnast of all time. With four elements bearing her name, Biles is truly in a league of her own. During the Tokyo Olympics the American icon will look to add to her five medals, including a second-consecutive all-around gold. 

Katie Ledecky, swimming:

At just 24 years old, Ledecky has dominated swimming for nearly a decade. In Tokyo, the two-time Olympian will look to add to her six medals, competing in the 200m free, 400m free, 800m free and 1500m free. 

Allyson Felix, track and field: 

Allyson Felix is on the precipice of an unprecedented comeback. The 35-year-old is set to race in her fifth Olympic games, only two years after giving birth to her first child. Felix will compete in the 400m in Tokyo, hoping to add to her nine medals and defy expectations for sprinters’ longevity.

Storylines to track: 

Volleyball: Can April Ross finally win that elusive gold? In 2016, Ross and beach volleyball partner Kerri Walsh-Jennings fell short in the semifinals, going on to win bronze in the third-place match. In 2012, Ross lost to Walsh-Jennings in the gold medal match, in what was the final competition for Walsh-Jennings and Misty May-Treanor. Now, Ross and her partner Alix Klineman enter the Olympics as the favorite to win. It could be Ross’ best and last chance to finally claim that elusive gold. 

Skateboarding: The sport’s Olympics debut brings with it a generation of up-and-coming skaters ready to announce themselves to the world. Can 14-year-old Misugo Okamoto, 13-year-old Rayssa Leal or 12-year-old Sky Brown make themselves the face of the sport with a podium finish?

Gymnastics: The US Gymnastics team will once again be favorites. You already know Simone Biles. Now meet the rest of Team USA: Sunisa “Suni” Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, Jade Carey, and McKayla Skinner. Biles, Lee, Chiles and McCallum will compete in the team competition, where they’ll be heavy favorites to the US’ third straight team gold. Carey and Skinner, meanwhile, both earned individual spots. 

Soccer: The USWNT will try to become the first team to ever win the World Cup and Olympics back-to-back. In his first major tournament at the helm, coach Vlatko Andonovski picked a veteran roster — 17 of the 18 players were on the 2019 World Cup team.  

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.