By Hiroki Noda,
The Olympics will return to "normal" in Paris after the previous two editions, one summer and one winter, in which spectators from around the world were shut out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the games that open Friday, Japanese athletes have strong chances of winning gold medals in urban sports such as skateboarding and breaking, also known as breakdancing, while having few prospects for success in swimming.
When questions were being raised about whether the postponed Tokyo Games should go ahead at all in 2021 during one of the hardest phases of the pandemic, young skateboarders Yuto Horigome, Sakura Yosozumi and Momiji Nishiya gave the host country something to cheer by winning gold in the sport's Olympic debut.
Horigome and Yosozumi will be out to defend the men's street and women's park titles, respectively, about a month after the 16-year-old Nishiya lost out to her domestic rivals in an intense qualifying race for Japan's three-woman street skateboarding team.
Having already made his name in the skateboarding world, 14-year-prodigy Ginwoo Onodera is poised to take his fame to another level at his first Olympics.
Onodera topped the street qualifying rankings that were led by three Japanese, outperforming global street skateboarding icon Nyjah Huston, who ranked sixth, second best among Americans behind No. 4 Jagger Eaton.
"I feel the same (as always)," Onodera said after training Tuesday at the competition venue, La Concorde. "I'm not in a special mode for the Olympics. It feels like just another competition to me."
"I don't really care about conditions such as the weather. I'll be fine even if it gets hot on the day of my event. I just want to enjoy it and show my style of skateboarding."
In the Olympic debut of breaking, two b-boys Shigeyuki Nakarai and Hiroto Ono as well as two b-girls Ami Yuasa and Ayumi Fukushima will look to battle for podium spots.
Nakarai, runner-up at the 2022 world championships whose stage name is Shigekix, wants to outperform long-time rivals such as Victor Montalvo of the United States and Canada's Philip Kim, known as Phil Wizard. Performers usually compete under their stage names.
"It's best if my performance can create some exciting moments for everyone," Shigekix told a press conference in Tokyo last Saturday.
Two-time world champion Ami and 41-year-old Ayumi, the 2021 champion and 2023 runner-up to Lithuanian teenager Dominika Banevic at worlds, have set their sights on the top step of the podium.
In swimming, Japan hopes to regain its footing after struggling at international competitions in recent years, including the home world championships last July in Fukuoka where Japan managed only two bronze while being shut out of gold for the second worlds in a row.
Rikako Ikee, who went from a leukemia diagnosis in February 2019 to competing at the Tokyo Olympics in three relay events, will contest the women's 100-meter butterfly.
"I want to make the final," the 24-year-old Ikee said. "I have to admit that I'm worried because my rivals keep raising the bar, but I'm telling myself that there is nothing to lose. I'm ready to take on the world's best."
Yui Ohashi will stand on the starting block in the women's 200-meter individual medley after winning a 200-400 IM double at her home Olympics.
On the men's side, French swimming superstar Leon Marchand will face Tomoru Honda in the men's 200-meter butterfly and Daiya Seto in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys.
In judo, one of the most popular sports in France, Japan is looking to build on its record nine-gold performance at the Tokyo Games.
Hifumi Abe and his younger sister Uta will bid for gold on the same day again -- in the men's 66-kilogram and the women's 52-kg contests on July 28.
There will likely be marquee matchups between veteran host country favorite Teddy Riner and Tatsuru Saito in the men's over 100-kilogram category and between their countries in the mixed team event, in which France defeated Japan in the final of the previous Olympics.
In gymnastics, Daiki Hashimoto will try to not only retain his all-around and horizontal bar titles but also to carry a big load in an expected showdown with China in the men's team event.
Akari Fujinami is set to extend her 133-match winning streak in the women's 53-kilogram wrestling in her chase for Olympic gold.
Other Japanese athletes to watch are Haruka Kitaguchi and Misaki Emura, the women's javelin throw and individual sabre fencing world champions, respectively, as well as Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who aims to reach the men's 100-meter final after doing so at the last two world championships.
Sani Brown finished seventh in 2022 and sixth last year.
As for team sports, Japan's basketball and volleyball teams have gained ever-increasing attention at home.
While all eyes are on the U.S. men's basketball team featuring NBA stars LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, Japan will try to achieve its goal of reaching the last eight, with Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe leading the way.
In volleyball, the Japanese men's and women's teams showed positive signs in the run-up to the Olympics as they both reached but lost their respective Nations League finals.
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