Want to feel lazy? An 11-year-old from Winterville, North Carolina, used her time at home during the pandemic to practice a new skill, earning a spot on the USA Junior Olympics team.
After a long year of waiting, the Olympic Games are drawing ever closer, and there are still several high-profile sports that have yet to finalize their fields.
Team trials are coming up in several sports, including gymnastics, swimming and track and field, and the United States is still aiming to qualify in several other sports and disciplines, including baseball.
Here are five qualifiers and trials to watch in the coming months.
Baseball
Baseball will make its return to the Olympics after sitting on the sidelines in the 2012 and 2016 editions of the Games, and while the United States has not yet qualified, they will have two more opportunities to do so.
The Americas Qualifying Event, taking place in Florida May 31-June 5, will represent one chance, and the final Olympic qualifying tournament, set to be contested in Taiwan June 16-20, will be the other.
Four nations have qualified for the Olympics, with Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea taking part. Two more spots remain up for grabs.
Local
Gymnastics
The United States has already qualified for both team events in the Olympics, but two big dates remain on the calendar for athletes looking to represent their country in Tokyo.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
The first is the US Championships, set to take place in Texas June 3-6. The big one will come June 22-27 in St. Louis, when the US Olympic Team Trials will be contested.
Swimming and Diving
USA Swimming has changed up the way it conducts its swimming trials this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer athletes qualifying for participation in the event.
The first “wave” of the competition will take place in early June, with 550-650 competitors taking part. The top two finishers in each event will then qualify for the “second wave,” which will take place June 13-20 in Omaha and will determine the qualifiers for the Olympics.
Track and Field
The Olympic Team Trials, always a hotly-contested event, will take place in Eugene, Oregon June 18-27.
The United States won 32 medals in the Rio Olympics, and they’ll hope for a similarly strong performance in Tokyo. Each nation is permitted up to three athletes in each event and one relay team per event, and the US will use the trials to fill out those rosters.
Wrestling
There are just three weight classes that the United States has yet to qualify an athlete in for the upcoming Olympics, and they’ll get their final chance at the World Qualification Tournament in Bulgaria May 6-9.
Adam Coon, a native of Fowlerville, Michigan, will look to qualify in the 130-kilogram class in the Greco-Roman competition. Jesse Porter, a graduate student at Northern Michigan University, will try to do the same in the 77-kilogram competition.
The United States will also try to get an athlete into the 65-kilogram division in the freestyle competition, with Jordan Oliver looking to secure that spot after winning at the US Olympic Wrestling Trials.
