2021 Tokyo Olympics News and Updates

Although the opening ceremonies have not taken place, there has still been some action going on over the past 2 days. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics will officially start on Friday, July 23rd at 8 pm JST, or 7 am EST. Once the games have officially started, we will see all the sports being played throughout the next few weeks. But for now, we have a few that have started.

Let’s take a quick look at what we have so far.

Day -2

Only two sports on July 21st, Softball and Women’s Soccer, but there was a ton of action to discuss.

On the softball side of things, the number 2 ranked team and the host team Japan hit things off very quickly. They scored 4 out of 5 innings to invoke the mercy rule against Australia. Yu Yamamoto was electric at the plate getting 2 hits and 3 runs batted in.

Later on in the day, the number 1 ranked team, Team USA was able to take down fierce competitors Italy, who have revamped their lineup from previous international play. It was a very close game throughout as the United States were able to edge past Italy with 1 run in both the 4th and 5th innings.

To wrap up the opening round of softball, it was a top 5 matchup as Canada and Mexico faced off, with Canada coming out on top in this battle of North American giants. Canada got off to an early lead and looked unstoppable throughout, and they had a good amount of opportunities to score but left nearly 11 runners on base.

Women’s soccer group stages kicked off as well on Wednesday, and it was quite the spectacle.

It started off with the hosts Japan facing off against Canada, who hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2015. Canada got off to an early start with a goal in the 12th minute by Christine Sinclair, but Japan stole 2 points from Canada with a late equalizer in the 84th minute.

The next match kicked off with England versus Chile, where England won the match 2-0. Ellen White was spectacular and put on a show, scoring two goals in both halves of the game.

Brazil versus China was the next match, as Brazil handled the game as many expected them to, in blowout fashion. Marta of Brazil has been the greatest women’s soccer player in the past few decades, and at 35 in her 5th Olympics, she showed why by scoring 2 goals. Brazil ended up scoring 5 total to take down China in group stage match 1.

The following match between the Netherlands and Zambia was one to forget for Zambia. The Dutch put up 10 goals, and Vivienne Miedema scored 4 herself, setting an Olympic record for most goals in a match. Zambia did not go down without a fight. However, Babra Banda scored a hat trick herself to put 3 goals on the board.

The matchup that everyone was anticipating, the reigning World Cup champions and the number 1 ranked team in the world, United States facing off against Sweden. For the 2nd straight Olympics games, Sweden got the best of the USA, beating them 3-0 this time in regulation. In 2016, Sweden had won off penalties in the first round of the knockout stage.

To round off games for the day, Australia and New Zealand faced off, where Australia was able to dominate basically the entire game-winning 2-1. The last goal for New Zealand came in injury time late in the 2nd half, but by then, it was too little too late for them.

Day -1

The day started off with some more Softball, and boy, was it a great day.

The first game was the United States defeating Canada 1-0 thanks to a single RBI in the top of the 5th inning.

The second game was Mexico facing off against Japan. Japan got off to an early lead, but down to their last inning, Mexico was able to tie the game in the top of the 7th. But unfortunately, they ended up losing thanks to a bunt single in the bottom of the 8th.

Wrapping the day up was Australia and Italy. Australia was able to take down Italy after they got to an early lead and held it throughout the game. Italy is in big trouble and desperately needs to win if they want a chance at making it to the medal games.

Men’s soccer group stage finally kicked off today, and it was a wild day for sure.

Japan kicked things off like usual and had a very close game with South Africa. It wasn’t until the 71st minute that we saw the first goal, scored by Real Madrid midfielder Takefusa Kubo for Japan.

Mexico and France started off the 2nd game, and it was Mexican dominance the entire game. They won by a score of 4-1 and showed just how powerful their young core is.

New Zealand was able to grab the win, 1-0, by scoring the winning goal in the 70th minute.

The third game was virtually dominated by South Korea the whole time as they got 12 shots but only 2 on goal. But New Zealand was able to grab the win by scoring the winning goal in the 70th minute, on just their 2nd shot of the game.

Honduras and Romania was the fifth match, as Romania won off of an own goal by a Honduran player during injury time of the 1st half.

Argentina and Australia was the sixth match of the day, and after winning the Copa America a few weeks ago, the Argentinians brought their young squad to the Olympics. They ran into Australia, who ended up beating them 2-0 thanks to a goal in each half of the game.

The 2016 gold medal rematch was the seventh game, and it was not a disappointment at all. Brazil jumped out to a very quick 3-0 lead thanks to a 30-minute Richarlison hat trick. However, Germany would cut the lead down to 1 by the 84th minute, only to have Paulinho hit the dagger in injury time.

The final game of the day was when Cote d’Ivoire and Saudi Arabia battled it out for all 90 minutes of the game. After allowing an own goal, Saudi Arabia quickly erased that foul taste and equalized the game before the 1st half ended. However, it would all be for nothing as Franck Kessie won the game in the 66th minute, and Cote d’Ivoire was able to hold on.

Day 0

There is just one more day of sports before the actual ceremony begins, and those sports are Archery, Equestrian, Rowing, and Shooting.