82 TIME July 19/July 26, 2021
TOKYO
OLYMPICS
SOFTBALL
The revived Olympic
softball tournament
will see six qualifying
teams—rather than
the eight of previous
Games—face off
against each other in
a preliminary round-
robin series. This
format guarantees a
rematch of the 2008
gold-medal game
between Japan and the
U.S., which Japan won.
Italy, Mexico, Canada
and Australia round out
the fi eld—but don’t be
surprised if the deep
U.S. and Japan teams
meet again for gold.
—Megan McCluskeyLisa
CarringtonCANOEING, NEW ZEALAND
Lisa Carrington is so dominant in sprint
kayaking that she draws comparisons
to Simone Biles. She has won gold in
two successive Games (her 2012 win
was the fi rst for a Maori) and hasn’t
lost in the 200-m sprint in more than
a decade. But she’s taking on her
greatest challenge yet in Tokyo by
competing in four different events.
There’s evidence her gambit may pay
off. At the 2019 world championships,
Carrington blew away the competition
in her individual races, and the last
time she contested all four events, in
2018, she only narrowly lost her team
races. If successful, Carrington will
make yet more history: three more
gold medals would make her New
Zealand’s most decorated Olympian
ever. —Michael ZennieKevin
DurantBASKETBALL, U.S.
Despite his heroic effort in the second
round of this year’s NBA playoffs—he
scored 48 points and played all 53
minutes in a Game 7 overtime loss
to the Milwaukee Bucks—Kevin
Durant couldn’t carry his star- studded
Brooklyn Nets to a championship.
But he should still collect some
hardware this summer. Durant chose
to play in Tokyo despite missing 37
games last season because of injuries
and COVID-19 issues, and the entire
2019–20 season with an Achilles
injury. But the allure of a third straight
gold—Durant was Team USA’s leading
scorer in both London and Rio—
is strong. He’ll also reunite with his
former Golden State Warriors coach
Steve Kerr, who will serve as assistant
coach at the Olympics, and former
teammate Draymond Green. Many of
the NBA’s biggest names are sitting
out Tokyo, but Durant will anchor a U.S.
squad that’s still the heavy favorite to
win it all. —Sean GregoryEmily SeebohmSWIMMING, AUSTRALIA
The fi ve-time Olympic medalist heads to her
fourth Games with a newfound purpose outside
the pool. In January, Emily Seebohm, 29,
revealed she had battled an eating disorder for
two years, saying on social media that binge-
ing, purging and continually weighing herself
resulted in part from pressure she felt that
“the only way I can swim faster is by losing
weight.” Seebohm vowed in her post to “give
my body the love it deserves,” and in June she
snagged the second spot in the 100-m back-
stroke at Australia’s Olympic trials. Seebohm
wasn’t specifi c about what was behind her own
eating disorder, but ahead of those national tri-
als, Swimming Australia was hit by allegations of
a toxic culture, particularly for women. Butterfl y
specialist Madeline Groves pulled out of the
event, citing “misogynistic perverts” who “body
shame or medically gaslight [young women and
girls].” Australian swimming offi cials said they
were investigating Groves’ claims. —A.P.Kristof
MilakSWIMMING, HUNGARY
Kristof Milak broke Michael Phelps’ 200-m
butterfl y world record at the 2019 world
championships, making the 21-year-old from
Hungary the man to beat in that event in Tokyo.
Milak continued that momentum in the “lost”
year after the Tokyo Games were postponed—
until the fall of 2020, when he contracted
COVID-19. Milak battled the aftereffects for
months. But he recovered to prove at the
European championships in May that he has
a chance to win the fi rst Olympic gold in the
200-m butterfl y of the post-Phelps era. Milak
could also qualify for the 100-m butterfl y, where
he could challenge current world-record holder
Caeleb Dressel. —Alice ParkBASEBALL
Ballgames are back
for the fi rst time
since 2008. After
being dropped by
the International
Olympic Committee,
baseball will make
its return at the host
country’s insistence.
Baseball-mad Japan
will be joined by the
U.S., Mexico, Israel,
South Korea and the
Dominican Republic
in the six-team fi eld.
But with active MLB
players sidelined
because of schedul-
ing confl icts, the
world’s best won’t
be in attendance.