The U.S. Women's National Soccer team is preparing for its Tokyo Olympic competitions by training in Miyazaki, Japan.
“We’re here. We’re in Japan. We were supposed to be here a year ago. It’s crazy to think about but I’m glad we’re here," said USWNT defender Kelley O'Hara.
O'Hara, who was born in Jacksonville, is no stranger to competition - especially in the Olympics.
“It feels familiar. I guess this is my third Olympics. You can kind of feel how things are going to happen and it feels good to have been through it many times," she said.
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The team won the She Believes Cup in Orlando in February and now they're pushing forward to Tokyo. The star-studded squad includes many repeat Olympians like Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Julie Ertz and many more.
The full Olympic roster can be found here.
This will be the second Olympics for midfielder Rose Lavelle, who says she's getting in the zone.
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“I don’t feel like it’s sunk in yet. I feel like with the World Cup, it didn’t really sink in until the first game so I suspect that will be the case this time around," said Lavelle.
The team will be playing against rival Sweden in their first match - and even though there won't be any fans in the stadiums, these athletes are hoping to hit the back of the net for those who may be watching from home.
“Fans always make the game so much more fun, but we’ve kind of been playing like this for the past year now so I don’t think it’s going to feel too foreign or different. It’s a bummer that they can’t be there, but we know that they’ll be supporting us from wherever they’re watching," said Lavelle.
