There are less than 100 days until the opening ceremony of the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Yes, the summer games are proceeding amid an ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. Olympic hopefuls and Pacific Northwest athletes already picked for Team USA invariably said they are eager to go.

“I’m just really excited that the Olympics are going to happen,” said gymnast Jade Carey. The Oregon State University freshman is a likely selection for the U.S. Olympic squad at the gymnastics team trials in St. Louis in late June.

“I think we’re all excited about heading to Tokyo finally, after a year’s delay,” echoed U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe of Seattle, during an online press conference hosted by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Japan fared much better than most developed nations during the first year of the pandemic, but vaccination efforts are lagging. New cases of COVID-19 have risen sharply since mid-March.

The onset of what appears to be a fourth wave caused the governors of Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa to implement stricter virus control measures this week, including curtailed business hours for bars and restaurants. With the pandemic still not under control in many parts of the world, questioning about whether Japan should host the global sporting event continues at home and abroad.

But the International Olympic Committee and local organizers appear bound and determined to pull off the summer games from July 23 to August 8 and the subsequent Paralympic games.

The traditional Olympic torch relay is well underway in Japan. Detailed “playbooks” have been prepared to guide athletes, officials, broadcasters and sponsors through pre-arrival COVID-19 testing and health protocols on scene.

Last month, the Japanese government and Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee announced that overseas sports fans and athletes’ families will not be allowed into Japan for the Olympic and Paralympic games due to “the COVID-19 situation.”

U.S. women’s national team soccer players said this development was incredibly sad, but added the impact was greater on their families than on the athletes themselves who are in many ways walled off and in an all business mindset during world competitions.

“Going to these events, business is first and foremost,” said Crystal Dunn, who plays for the Portland Thorns when not with the national team. “Our families are there to support us, but they are usually having a grand old time without us.”

The 2020 U.S. Olympic team bound for Tokyo is expected to consist of more than 600 athletes. The largest component, track and field, has yet to be selected. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field are scheduled in Eugene from June 18 through June 27. It remains uncertain whether spectators will be able to buy tickets to see the team trials in person at Hayward Field because of the evolving pandemic.

Historically, alumni of the University of Oregon’s powerhouse running program and local professional runners fill out a big chunk of the U.S. Olympic track roster. This year is likely no exception. The Nike-sponsored Bowerman Track Club in Beaverton, Brooks Beasts Track Club in Seattle and Oregon Track Club Elite in Eugene all have deep rosters of middle-distance running talent.

The U.S. Olympic marathon team was determined at a race in Atlanta in early 2020. Sally Kipyego, of Eugene, two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp, of Portland, and Bellingham, Washington, native Jacob Riley punched their tickets to Tokyo there.

Sabre fencer Mariel Zagunis, of Beaverton, the most decorated U.S. fencer of all time, has qualified for her fifth Olympics. The 36-year-old already has two golds and two bronze medals to her name, the first of which was earned at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Veteran Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird is a virtual lock to make her fifth Olympic basketball team. The spry 40-year-old has four gold medals to show for her prior efforts at the Olympics. The U.S. women’s team coach recently said that earning anything less than another gold in Tokyo would represent failure.

The U.S. softball team on the road to Tokyo includes 2017 University of Washington grad Ali Aguilar and class of 2015 Oregon Duck Janie Reed.

The U.S. rowing team will be selected by June 6. Based on the strength of the University of Washington crew program, it is a good bet that some past Huskies will be stroking at the Olympics in the men’s and women’s fours and eights.