As the Tokyo Olympics gets started a year later than originally scheduled, here's a day-by-day guide to each day and the British medal hopefuls gunning for gold.
Friday July 23: An opening ceremony like no other will get the Games under way at the Olympic Stadium. The first individual British athletes will compete in archery and rowing preliminary rounds.
Saturday July 24: Shooter Seonaid McIntosh could win Britain’s first medal in the women’s 10m air rifle. Double Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover returns in the lightweight double sculls, while the GB women’s football team face hosts Japan in Sapporo. Adam Peaty starts his 100m breaststroke campaign.
Sunday July 25: Taekwondo takes centre-stage with Jade Jones, bidding for her third straight Olympic title, and fellow world champion Bradly Sinden both in action. Peaty is back in his 100m semi-final, while the defending women’s hockey champions kick off their campaign against Germany.
Monday July 26: Peaty will look to wrap up another 100m breaststroke gold in the pool, while Tom Daley partners Matty Lee in the men’s 10m synchro. Jonny Brownlee will look to emulate his absent brother Ali in the men’s triathlon, while there are also medal chances for Amber Hill (women’s skeet) and Tom Pidcock (mountain biking).
Great Britain's Jade Jones celebrates with her gold medal following victory over Eva Calvo Gomez in the women's 57kg final at the Carioca Arena 3 on the thirteenth day of the Rio Olympics Games, Brazil. Issue date: Friday July 9, 2021.
Owen Humphreys
Tuesday July 27: Reigning world champion Bianca Walkden bids for an elusive Olympic taekwondo gold, while Mahama Cho is also in action. Jess Learmonth leads a three-strong British contingent in the women’s triathlon, while Charlotte Dujardin will target the podium as part of the GB dressage team.
Wednesday July 28: Rio gold medallist Jack Laugher partners Dan Goodfellow in the men’s 3m synchro, while GB hope to figure as the men’s rugby sevens competition concludes. Dujardin ought to be in the frame for another medal in the individual dressage.
Thursday July 29: Glover is set to go for her third Olympic gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls. World number one Matt Coward-Holley starts as favourite in the men’s trap. British stars aside, it is set to be the Simone Biles show as the US superstar bids to retain her women’s all-around gymnastics crown.
Friday July 30: Athletics starts with Dina Asher-Smith in her 100m heats, and a men’s 10,000m shorn of Mo Farah. Women’s rugby reaches the quarter-final stage, while there may also be British involvement in the men’s tennis semi-finals and the women’s trampoline, where Bryony Page bids to go one better than her Rio silver.
Charlotte Dujardin riding Gio in a warm up event for Great Britain's Olympic team at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Windsor. Picture date: Wednesday June 30, 2021.
Steve Parsons
Saturday July 31: Asher-Smith should get her first crack at gold in the women’s 100m final. McIntosh starts favourite in the women’s 3x50m rifle, and Peaty will target a return to the podium as part of the men’s 100m medley relay squad. Meanwhile GB women face Ireland in the women’s hockey.
Sunday August 1: Usain Bolt may be missing but all eyes will be on the men’s 100m final. British attention will shift to the gymnastics where Max Whitlock bids to retain his pommel title. The tennis programme brings gold medal matches in men’s singles, and women’s and mixed doubles.
Monday August 2: Sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember challenge in the women’s 100m hurdles. Track cycling commences with the women’s team sprint, while Britain stands strong medal chances in both team and individual eventing. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics, is in action in the women’s 87kg weightlifting.
Tuesday August 3: ‘Super Tuesday’ is on the cards with Asher-Smith set to line up in the women’s 200m final and rising star Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m final. Pat McCormack could be involved in the men’s welterweight boxing final, both Jason and Laura Kenny have the chance to add to their respective medal hauls, while Laugher (diving) and Giles Scott (sailing) are also in the mix.
Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith celebrates winning the Women's 200m final during day six of the IAAF World Championships at The Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar. Issue date: Friday July 9, 2021.
Martin Rickett
Wednesday August 4: Thirteen-year-old Sky Brown is set to steal the show in the women’s skateboard park competition, in which she stands a genuine medal chance. Ben Maher (showjumping) and Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (sailing) also boast outstanding podium hopes. The men’s 800m and 200m finals provide the highlights on the track.
Thursday August 5: Katarina Johnson-Thompson will hope her injury-hit year does not deny her a medal in the heptathlon. In the velodrome, the women’s keirin and men’s omnium provide the highlights, while GB will hope to figure in the men’s hockey final and perhaps also the football bronze medal match respectively.
Great Britain's Frazer Clarke, who is looking to secure a gold medal in the super-heavyweight boxing.
Martin Rickett
Friday August 6: A busy night on the track brings the women’s 400m and 1500m finals, with Laura Muir aiming to bid for glory in the latter, as well as another medal chance for Asher-Smith in the women’s 4x100m relay. Laura Kenny is set to go in the women’s madison, GB will hope to be involved in the women’s hockey and football finals, while Shauna Coxsey bids for Britain’s first Olympic medal in sport-climbing.
Saturday August 7: More boxing finals ought to yield more British medals, including for reigning world champion Lauren Price. Both high jumps and 4x400m relays provide the highlights in the stadium, while there are also medal hopes for Ethan Hayer in the men’s madison.
Sunday August 8: The Games conclude with the closing ceremony, prior to which Frazer Clarke will hope to be in a position to emulate Anthony Joshua in the men’s boxing super-heavyweight division, and there are more medal opportunities in the velodrome in the women’s omnium and men’s keirin respectively.
