​​It's the last edition of "A Little Roundup" before the 2020 Tokyo Games officially begin, so it's a super-sized one to wrap up the blog's pre-Opening Ceremony roundups of athlete headlines.

Yukiko Ueno and Team Japan get Olympic competition underway in softball. "All I felt was excitement before the game."

(More) Softball
Sara Croenewegen was overcome with legionnaire's disease just three years ago; now she's starring for Team Canada.

Will Yamato Fujita be Team Japan's new softball superstar?

Gymnastics
​Back fully from injury, Mai Murakami is ready to lead Japan's women in her home Games.

Tennis
"The most eye-catching star in tennis", Naomi Osaka stuns in Vogue Hong Kong...and on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition, too.

Sir Andy Murray: Why Tokyo 2020 is special.

Indian veteran Sania Mirza hasn't thought about retirement yet, despite headed to her fourth Olympics at age 34.

Karate
Switzerland's Elena Quirici is excited to do her "karate-mad" family proud at these Olympics.

Badminton
Nguyen Tien Minh will be the first Vietnamese athlete to appear in four Olympic Games, and still is his nation's leading medal hope.

Boxing
Delante Johnson carries a strong Cleveland-native tradition into the Games, with a real shot at gold.

Golf
Five things to know about golfer Justin Thomas, from For the Win.

Wrestling
Sports Illustrated has a Q&A with Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. woman to win Olympic wrestling gold, who's title defense comes after a tough few years.

Weightlifting
​Can Wes Kitts help bridge the gap to the podium for Team USA weightlifting in this changing times for the sport.

Trampoline
Dominic Clarke is grateful to be "unapologetically queer...on the Olympic stage".
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Diving
Krysta Palmer is not only finally a Team USA diver, she's also a member of the Iron Butt Association.

Triathlon
Veteran Javier Gomez returned to Olympic distance racing in triathlon for a shot at erasing a disappointing Rio 2016.

Artistic Swimming
Count Spain's Ona Carbonell as a mother uniquely impacted by the restrictions on accompanying family.

Archery
Re-live Team Bhutan's first official Olympic qualification, courtesy of archer Karma, in the documentary Kingdom of Archers.

​Swimming
'Swimming's next superstar'? Team USA's Caeleb Dressel would rather "just shut up and swim".

With a "fly and die" strategy, teenager Torri Huske is one to watch in the pool.

But Team Great Britain's swimming star Adam Peaty is feeling fit and ready for a world record.

Soccer
Jayde Riviere is a key component of Team Canada's bridge toward youth in the women's soccer team.

Meanwhile, Brazil's Formiga will become soccer's first seven-time Olympian at Tokyo 2020.

Sport Climbing
Bouldering specialist Kyra Condie shares a rundown of sport climbing's Olympic format.

Equestrian
Who are the Rio 2016 equestrian gold medalists looking to repeat at Tokyo 2020?

Caroline Chew is a London-based lawyer, Singapore's first-ever equestrian Olympian, and rides a horse named after a Friends character.

Basketball
Keldon Johnson's promotion from training squad to Team USA's men's basketball led to parents' tears.

Skateboarding
Letitia Bufoni is not just a five-time X Games champion skateboarder and a soon-to-be Olympian...she also has her own video game character.

Judo
With Tahani Alqahtani's participation, judo again represents a step forward for women in Saudi Arabia.

Cycling
Winner of the last two Tour de France stages last week, Team Belgium's road cyclist Wout van Aert may have tired legs, but is happy to be in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, with "no hiding, no tactics", Team New Zealander Patrick Bevin looks forward to thee potential for surprises in the cycling road race.

Rhythmic Gymnastics
Mexico's first-ever Olympic rhythmic gymnast, Rut Castillo started reluctantly in the discipline despite her 'super flexibility'.

Taekwondo
Taekwondo star Jade Jones: 'The making of a double Olympic champion.'

Track & Field
Budding Olympic star Armand Duplantis remembers watching previous Olympic pole vault finals, knowing it would be him one day there, too.

Hugues Fabrice Zango carries Burkina Faso's olympic medal dreams into Tokyo as a podium favorite.

The men's track 4x100 relay may be one of Japan's most anticipated events as a home nation. Team member Yoshihide Kiryu shares his enthusiasm for the race.

Fencing
Count world championship medalist fencer Vivian Kong Man-Wai as one athlete dedicated to observe all precautions to stay safe in the lead-up to the Games.

Shooting
Meet Derrick Main, trap shooter for Team USA who grew up quail hunting and now has a "dream come true" competing in the Olympics.

Rowing
Inspired by the pandemic delay, rower Helen Glover has un-retired and is the first mother to row for Team Great Britain at the Olympics.

​Rugby Sevens
Will Olympic success push Team Australia's rugby sevens' Lachlan Miller back toward rugby league and the National Rugby League?
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Fun fact about Team Ireland's rugby sevens squad: Harry McNulty is the one member to have helped start the program six years ago.

Here's a look at the UCLA Bruins competing at Tokyo 2020.* The list of 43 athletes named below just outpaces the roster of 36 for Rio 2016, and matches the size of both the Slovakian and Ecuadoran squads.

Note, there are also seven Bruin staffers scheduled to go to Tokyo as part of Team USA coaching contingents, across water polo, softball, and volleyball.

Thomas Barr knows it will probably take another personal best time to make it into an Olympic 400 meter hurdles final for the second time.

The Daily Mail features Team USA's Abdi Abdirahman, running the Tokyo 2020 marathon in what will be his fifth Olympic Games.

Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has high confidence for India's medal chances on the field at Tokyo 2020.

Team Great Britain's hammer thrower Taylor Campbell shows one of the publicity risks of being a relative unknown making it into the spotlight.

Heir apparent to Claressa Shields, boxer Naomi Graham will be the "first female active-duty service member to fight for the U.S.at the Olympics".

Track cyclist Annette Edmondson hasn't let exercise-induced asthma deter her from Tokyo 2020.

Can NBA star Dennis Schroder suit up for the Olympics this summer after Team Germany's surprise qualification?

Team Nigeria's women's basketball team might feature three sisters...one of whom might take special interest in the July 27 game vs Team USA....

3x3 basketball player Agnis Cavars: Not only making an Olympic debut in a new Olympic discipline, but carrying his nation's flag, too.

​With Olympic qualification in hand, Kenyan Guadencia Makokha has moved successfully from indoor to beach volleyball.

Fran Kirby's recovery from a heart condition is complete with inclusion in Team Great Britain's Olympic soccer team.

And...Team Spain's young soccer star Pedri insists that he can perform at Tokyo 2020 without hurting fitness for Barcelona F.C.

Colombian Maria Camila Osorio Serrano is one to watch, after her two wins at Wimbledon shoot her well into the top 100 of the tennis rankings.

Tokyo 2020-bound sprint canoeist Nevin Harrison's pre-race tears are a ritual to help center herself before competition.

Luigi "Il Gorilla" Busa thanks his father and wife- both karate experts as well - for helping him on his way to Tokyo 2020 for the sport's Olympic debut.

Sport Innovation Lab: Olympic ice hockey great Angela Ruggerio has a new endeavor that focuses on the science of fan data.

BMX rider Saya Sakikabara is going to Tokyo 2020 for Team Australia, fulfilling a dream for her - and her brother Kai.

Get to know Team USA water polo stalwart Jesse Smith, a veteran of (now) five Olympics on a squad of relative newcomers.

Team USA's Monica Abbott pens a letter of thanks to her parents for their support in her persistence to continue in softball.

Hoping that "young athletes will be inspired by her journey", modern pentathlete Joanna Muir finds going to Tokyo 2020 "amazing".

Get to know Team USA's newest men's gymnastics star, rodeo-riding, frog-giggling Brody Malone.

And, South African gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz answers a few questions from FIG.

Soraya Aghaei becomes the first Iranian woman to secure qualification in Olympic badminton.

"We chose to keep our dreams alive." Refugess athlete and swimmer Yusra Mardini narrates the latest #StrongerTogether message from the IOC.

​And...not even the threat of crocodiles can stop Edha Belo from training for a chance to swim at Tokyo 2020!

Can Rio 2016 gold medalist judoka Majlinda Kelmendi win a second gold for her hometown fans in Kosovo?

Tokyo 2020 checks in with Team USA weightlifter Sarah Robles on her progression in and perspective on the sport, her Rio 2016 medal, and more.

Megan Jones and Celia Quansah are not just teammates for Team Great Britain's rugby sevens, they're also partners off the pitch.

And more partners...Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud are set to return to the Summer Olympics together for Team Netherlands in equestrian dressage.

Fencer Daniele Garozzo sees Tokyo 2020 as a "first step to a new beginning" in a post-pandemic world, as he "puts all of (his) energy into training".

Meanwhile, can South Korea - and not a European nation - dominate the fencing competition at Tokyo 2020?

Get to know teenage sensation Erriyon Knighton, who will represent Team USA in track's 200 meters this summer in Tokyo.

And also Juvaughn Harrison, set to be the first American to compete in both the high jump and long jump at the Olympics since 1912.

Meanwhile, Dina Asher-Smith promises to meet the challenge posed by Jamaican and U.S. sprinters this summer.

Mandy Bujold wins an important step in her bid for Tokyo 2020 in boxing after returning from maternity.

Samantha Achterberg's multi-sport background growing up fueled success in modern pentathlon, for which she'll have her Olympic this summer.

College sports heavyweight UCLA features heavily on Team USA's men's basketball team for Tokyo 2020.

Francisco "Pako" Cruz makes a high-scoring mark in FIBA's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. (And in Game 2, too.)

A "relative newbie" at age 30, Neah Evans looks to inspire "older" would-be athletes as a Team Great Britain track cyclist at Tokyo 2020.

Rower Kara Kohler is much more "appreciative of (the road to the Olympics)", as she prepares for her second Games appearance this summer nine years after London 2012.

​"In the span of two weeks, the USA Shooting Olympic team went from no Leveretts to two."

Golfers Nelly and Jessica Korda buck their brother Sebastian to confirm their Tokyo 2020 ambitions.

Rio 2016 artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez hopes to enjoy Tokyo 2020's "Olympic experience more than ever", especially after a health scare in qualification.

Can Tokyo 2020's rugby sevens  jumpstart Japanese women's interest in the sport? Rio 2016 Olympian Chiharu Nakamura hopes so.

Softball star Stacey Porter is back on the Olympic stage after 13 years, and ready to serve as a role model for future potential athletes.

Rio 2016 bronze medalist Nozomi Okuhara has learned confidence as a top badminton player over the last five years.

Can Team Australia's Olyroos "shock the world" in Tokyo 2020's Group of Death' in men's soccer?

(But Spain's roster brings some heavy hitters.)

Irish Times​: Is Novak Djokovic destined to be the greatest-ever tennis player?

All-around cyclist Mathieu van der Poel, with a strong start at the Tour de France, is committed to mountain biking at Tokyo 2020, and beyond.

A metal plate, six screws, and 16 stitches has Sarah Sjostrom back on track for swimming at Tokyo 2020.

"An absolute dream": 32-year-old Laura Gallagher named to Great Britain's trampoline Tokyo 2020 squad after years of international competition.

Switching from handball to field hockey "changed (her) life completely", says Udita, Team India's Olympic-bound rising star.

Alpine skier Sofia Goggia's downhill-winning prize from December has finally arrived!

Tim and Jonelle Price return to the Olympics as New Zealand's first couple of equestrian eventing.

ISU.org checks in with Estonian speed skater Saskia Alusalu, who's targeting a repeat Olympic appearance despite limited funding and training company back home.

Table tennis veteran Jian Fang Lay now unexpectedly poised for a sixth Olympic Games for Australia.

And another table tennis stalwart, Germany's Timo Boll, still seeks an Olympic medal at age 40.

More 'veteran' news: Karateka Sandra Sanchez was once told she was "too old" for championships; now she's a gold contender in her sport's Olympic debut.