72 TIME July 19/July 26, 2021
Carissa MooreSURFING, U.S.
These are heady times in competitive
surfi ng. Long considered an outsider’s
sport, it requires intense athleticism
and highly technical skills that will
be on display for the whole world
when surfi ng makes its Olympic
debut in Tokyo. Carissa Moore, a
native Hawaiian and four-time World
Surf League (WSL) champion, is the
favorite to take home that fi rst gold.
That’s because Moore’s arsenal
of highlight- reel aerials—twists,
grabs, turns and other maneuvers
performed above the cresting wave—
is unparalleled. During an event in
Australia in April, Moore completed
the biggest one of her dominant
career: her board rose over the wave
as she twisted it and grabbed it with
her left hand before landing cleanly in
the water. The air reverse earned her a
score of 9.9 out of 10. She clutched her
head, with both hands, in disbelief. “It
was so rad because I didn’t think about
it,” Moore says. “It just happened.”
“She’s someone who’s broken the
barriers of what is possible to do on a
wave,” says Jessi Miley-Dyer, a former
pro surfer who now oversees competi-
tion for the WSL. “That’s the bench-
mark right now for modern surfi ng.
It’s so important.”The sport has also been a leader
in equal pay for women and men,
an elusive goal for so many Olympic
athletes. In September 2018, the WSL
announced it would off er the same prize
money to women and men on tour.
That’s a big jump from Moore’s rookie
year, in 2010, when the men’s world
champion earned a $100,000 bonus
and the women’s champ took home
$30,000. Both the men’s and women’s
winners of the 2021 WSL fi nals will
receive $200,000. “For me, the fi ght
was in the water,” Moore tells TIME.
“I was trying to prove that we deserved
to be on that level.”
After the WSL canceled its 2020
season because of the COVID-19
pandemic, Moore, 28, has returned to
the top of the rankings this year, thanks
to four strong performances at events
in Australia in April and May. “The
best way to warm up for the Olympics,”
she says, “is to make sure all the
competitive juices are fl owing.”
In Tokyo, rivals like Australia’s
Stephanie Gilmore, a seven-time WSL
champ, and 19-year-old American
upstart Caroline Marks will challenge
Moore for the sport’s fi rst gold in Chiba,
Japan, site of the Olympic surfi ng beach.
“I know we’re going to bring our best
and really put on a good show,” says
Moore. “I hope for all those little girls
that are watching and dreaming,
it really inspires them to go big.”
—Sean GregoryMasahiro
TanakaBASEBALL, JAPAN
The host country’s baseball dreams
may hinge on ace pitcher Masahiro
Tanaka, who returned to Japan’s Pacifi c
League this season after a seven-year
stint with the New York Yankees. Tanaka
will be among the top stars in Tokyo
since Major League Baseball would not
let active players compete. The last
time baseball was in the Olympics, in
2008, Tanaka also represented Japan;
that team lost to the U.S. in the bronze-
medal game. “I had a bitter feeling
when I played in the Beijing Olympics,”
Tanaka said. “This time I want to win
a gold medal.” These Games will be
particularly meaningful to the home
team, which has a rich baseball history.
On July 28, Japan will play in Fukushima,
site of the 2011 nuclear accident that
followed the earthquake and tsunami
that killed some 20,000 people. ÑS.G.
Katie
LedeckySWIMMING, U.S.
Few swimmers will be busier in the
Tokyo pool than Katie Ledecky, who
is scheduled to swim four freestyle
events, including the 1,500 m, which is
new to the women’s Olympic program
and, even at Ledecky’s breakneck
pace, takes around 15 minutes to
complete. On day fi ve of the swimming
competition in Tokyo, the 24-year-
old will swim both the 200-m and
1,500-m freestyle fi nals in the same
two-and-a-half-hour session. “I would
point out that men do not have that
double,” she has said. Will it faze her?
Probably not. Ledecky—who missed
her graduation from Stanford Univer-
sity because she was competing at
the Olympic trials in June, holds three
world records and has won fi ve Olym-
pic golds since her debut in London in
2012—has a habit of putting herself
half a body length or more ahead of
her nearest rivals. ÑAlice Park