Will results count for athletes who test positive at Olympics?
The IOCs goal is to maintain the integrity of the competition while sticking to the planned schedules and formats and to have a degree of consistency across all sports. Doing that in the middle of a pandemic, when an athlete may have to be pulled out minutes before an event, will indeed be an Olympian challenge. Anyone whod reached the final (e.g., boxing) will receive a silver medal and the highest-ranked eligible athlete will step into the vacancy. Otherwise competitors will be credited with the minimum level that theyd achieved. While that policy is straightforward in sports like tennis, beach volleyball and badminton which progress across multiple days, it doesnt work in those like fencing, weightlifting and judo that are held on one day. Yes, says the IOC, but it will depend upon their sport. Ledecky, Dressel could net six golds  Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel, who left everyone in their backwash at the Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, each could have a chance at six gold medals in Tokyo. Advertisement  Dressel, wholl swim the 50- and 100-meter freestyles, the 100 butterfly, the 4 x 100 freestyle relay and probably the 4 x 100 medley relay, also likely will be picked for the new mixed medley relay, which will have two men and two women. Ledecky, wholl race the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles and the 4 x 200 freestyle relay, may be tapped for the 4 x 100 freestyle relay that she anchored in Rio. Even though Ledecky didnt swim the 100 at the trials, anyone on the team is eligible for any relay based on coaches discretion. Among the criteria are past relay performances, where Ledecky shines. Thats also why Simone Manuel, who anchored the winning 4 x 100 medley relay in Rio and led off the 4 x 100 that took silver, would be a solid choice even though she was seventh in the 100 in Omaha (she qualified in the 50). If the Americans want to beat the favored Australians theyre better off having two proven champions in the quartet. Advertisement  Trials for some reigning champs  Shot putter Ryan Crouser, the defending Olympic champion, made his second Olympic team with a world record throw at the trials. Charlie Riedel/Associated Press  Heading into the weekend only four reigning Olympic or world champions have made the US track and field team for Tokyo at the Oregon trials  shot putters Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs, pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, and hurdler Brianna Rollins-McNeal (pending her doping appeal). Shot putter Michelle Carter withdrew after recent ankle surgery, hurdler Nia Ali has a newborn and Donavan Brazier finished a shocking last in the 800. Another seven have yet to compete  long jumper Tianna Bartoletta, hurdler Grant Holloway and hammer thrower DeAnna Price (Saturday) and long jumper Jeff Henderson, hurdler Dalilah Muhammad, sprinter Noah Lyles and metric miler Matt Centrowitz (Sunday). Age just a number for US womens soccer team  Since the US womens soccer team is reigning global champion and riding a 42-match unbeaten streak its understandable that the Olympic roster has only one player (Hanson native Kristie Mewis) who wasnt on the 2019 World Cup team and 11 from the Rio group. Whats concerning for a squad that will be playing five matches in 13 days is that its average age is over 30 and most of the projected starters are 32 or older including Carli Lloyd (39 next month), Becky Sauerbrunn (36) and Megan Rapinoe (35). Advertisement  I dont judge the players by their age, said coach Vlatko Andonovski, whose team will face Mexico in two East Hartford tuneups before heading overseas. They are either good, perform well and can help us win or they cant.  Only two holdovers for mens basketball team  Kevin Durant (left) and Draymond Green (center) are the only two returnees from the Rio Games that will play for the US in Tokyo. REUTERS  Given a years delay, an NBA season that was the longest-ever followed by the current one that wont end until just before the Games, plus the prospect of playing in semi-quarantine halfway around the planet, its no surprise Kevin Durant (his third team) and Draymond Green are the only holdovers from the US mens basketball team that won gold in Rio and that only Jayson Tatum and Khris Middleton return from the world squad that finished a dismal seventh in 2019. Injuries and fatigue clearly narrowed the list of the willing. Odds are that therell be significantly more hands up for Paris three years from now. A nice mix for womens basketball team  The US womens basketball team, heavily favored to claim a record seventh straight Olympic crown, is evenly split between gilded veterans and rookies. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will be shooting for their fifth gold medals, Sylvia Fowles her fourth, Tina Charles her third and Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart their second. The newbies are Ariel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd and Aja Wilson. The squads average age is 30, skewed by Bird (40 years old) and Taurasi (39). Had Nneka Ogwumike not had an untimely knee sprain she likely would have made the roster. It breaks my heart, said coach Dawn Staley, who feels that Ogwumike would have been good to go had the decision been made just before the Games. Advertisement  Not many guarantees in gymnastics  Only the top two women and the mens winner at this weekends Olympic gymnastics trials in St. Louis are guaranteed places on the team. The selection committees will choose everyone else with an eye to covering every apparatus in the team competition with just four athletes, one fewer than last time. The extra womens entries earned by the US  an all-arounder and specialist Jade Carey  wont be eligible for the team event nor will the extra mens specialist. The mens runner-up will have to place in the top three in three events to take an automatic spot. Thats how important all-arounders are under the new format. John Powers can be reached at john.powers@globe.com. Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews and wire services was used in this report.