Let the Games (finally) begin!

After full-year postponement and plenty of COVID-19 drama, Tokyo Summer Olympics ready to ignite the cauldron

With the opening ceremony upon us, the Tokyo Olympics are about to begin in full force. Several events are already in the midst of competition, most notably the softball and soccer tournaments.

As thousands of athletes gear up to begin the Games, COVID-19 remains an ever-present concern. At least 91 people associated with the Olympics have tested positive, including 10 athletes. Several other athletes, including American tennis phenom Coco Gauff, will not be allowed to compete after receiving a positive test before departing for Japan.

Here are some of the latest updates: Czech team flight being investigated after COVID-19 cluster

The Czech Olympic Committee announced that they are investigating whether lax behavior on a team flight to Tokyo last week might be to blame for the spate of COVID-19 cases within its group. Five members of the Czech delegation – including three athletes – had tested positive and were in isolation as of Thursday.

The investigation will examine “whether all precautions against the spread of COVID19 before, during and after the charter flight have been complied with,” according to a news release. The Czech News Agency reported that not all passengers on the flight wore masks for the duration of the trip and several Czech outlets report that Vlastimil Voráček, an orthopedist with the delegation who is unvaccinated, was the first person who tested positive upon arrival.

Marta makes history

In soccer, Brazilian star Marta became the first soccer player on either the women’s or men’s side to compete in five consecutive Olympics and score in each of those Games. Marta accomplished the feat in Tokyo, scoring two goals during a 5-0 thrashing of China in Brazil’s opening match. The Brazilians next play the Netherlands on Saturday.

Marta’s teammate, Formiga, is the only person to have played in all six previous women’s tournaments at the Olympics.

US volleyball player tests positive, ruled out of competing

American beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb confirmed on social media Thursday that he tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Japan and will miss the Tokyo Olympics.

He is the first U.S. athlete to be ruled out of competing at the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19. Since July 1, 87 coronavirus cases have been tied to the Games, with 52 confirmed among Japanese residents, according to the organizing committee.

Crabb, 29, wrote in an Instagram post that he is fully vaccinated and currently has no symptoms.

“I’ve faced adversity before, and I will face it again, but it doesn’t take the sting out of the situation,” Crabb wrote in the post.

Crabb said Tri Bourne will take his place on Team USA, teaming up with partner Jake Gibb. The duo’s first match is scheduled for Sunday.

‘Nightmare’ for USA Gymnastics after positive test

When athletes test positive for COVID19, it affects their whole team.

It was a “rough 36 hours” for Simone Biles and the US women’s gymnastics team after learning alternate Kara Eaker had tested positive, despite being fully vaccinated.

Even now, Annie Heffernon, the vice president of USA Gymnastics’ women’s program, said she’s anxious until she gets the test results each day.

“I don’t go to sleep until I know,” Heffernon said Thursday after the US women finished podium training. “We’re just continuing with the protocols. More vigilant than ever, making sure that we’re staying to ourselves. It’s very concerning. It’s a nightmare scenario. It was terrible.”

Eaker tested positive Monday following a training camp that included both the alternates and the six-woman Olympic team. She remains in quarantine while Leanne Wong, who trains with her, is in isolation as a close contact. Both are healthy, Heffernon said.

USA Gymnastics had implemented strict protocols during the training camp so there would be a barrier between the alternates and the Olympic team. Alternates roomed with alternates, sat on the opposite side of the room during meals and did not train on the same events at the same time as the Olympians.

Masks were to be worn at all times except when athletes were eating, actively training or in their individual rooms.

These protocols seem to have worked, because Simone Biles and the rest of the team – Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace

McCallum, Jade Carey and McKayla Skinner – have continued to test negative. But the experience has been difficult for the entire team, Heffernon said.

“We’re devastated for [Eaker and Wong], of course. It’s not anything we ever dreamed would happen or wanted to happen,” she said. “But these young ladies and the staff just keep pushing forward. They just keep moving forward, forward, forward. They don’t look backward.

“You saw them,” she added. “They’re doing a pretty good job.”

Osaka gets favorable draw in women’s singles

Naomi Osaka, who is arguably the biggest star for host country Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, will open her quest for a gold medal against China’s Zheng Saisai and has a favorable draw until at least the quarterfinals where she would potentially face 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.

Osaka is seeded No. 2 in the women’s singles tournament behind No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty, who won the Wimbledon title earlier this month. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, has not played a match since withdrawing from the French Open on May 31 citing mental health issues that became public when she said she would not fulfill her media obligations at the tournament.

With Gauff having to withdraw from the Olympics due to a positive test for COVID-19, No. 11 seed Jennifer Brady leads the American contingent in the women’s event and will face Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the first round. Brady reached the Australian Open final this year, losing to Osaka, and established herself over the last year as one of the best players in the world.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who won the first three men’s majors this year, will open his tournament against No. 139-ranked Hugo Dellien of Bolivia as he tries to win the so-called “Golden Slam,” something that has only been accomplished once – by Steffi Graf in 1988.

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who has been the best men’s player on hard courts outside of Djokovic in the last couple years, is seeded No. 2 and will face Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the first round.

(USA Today/TNS)

On TV: Tokyo Olympics (Opening ceremony live on Friday at 2 p.m. on Sport5. Game action will be covered on all Sport5 channels throughout the weekend).