After a year-long postponement enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is now just one week away.

Although the Games will be held under strict coronavirus protocol – including a ban on spectators – anticipation is building as the athletes arrive in Tokyo.

Those of us watching on TV will be treated to a whole range of sports – 28 to be exact. Skateboarding, surfing, climbing and karate have all been added to the Olympic programme, while softball and baseball are set to return to the Games for the first time since 2008.

Among the 11,200 competitors are a number of incredible British female athletes ready to make their mark on the Games. If you’re not sure what to watch at the Olympics this summer, let them try and convince you to choose their sport:

Shauna Coxsey – Climbing

“I think there's a lot of reasons why climbing is fascinating to watch. Climbing is something that's so natural to us – as kids we want to climb all over the sofa, all over climbing frames. We just want to climb, it's so ingrained within us and that doesn't change as adults, it just becomes more unacceptable to climb all over the place, unless you are at a climbing wall. I think it's something that we can connect to. It's something that's very natural within us.

“Climbing at the Olympics will also meet the Olympic motto of higher, faster, stronger. With lead climbing, it's about how high you get. With speed climbing, it's about how fast you are, and with bouldering, it’s so much about strength and technical ability. So we have everything within the Olympic motto under one sport, so I think it's going to be incredibly fascinating to watch and be part of that as well.”

Shauna Coxsey will compete in the women’s combined on August 4th and 6th. Sessions will run from 9:00am to 1:10pm BST.

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