RIO DE JANEIRO — The big question for Team USA in the 2020 Olympics centers on whether the two biggest stars of 2016 will still be competing. That starts with the flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony, swimmer Michael Phelps, and includes the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony, gymnast Simone Biles.
Phelps has said definitively that he’s retiring this time, though he’s made that declaration before, and some of his teammates expressed hope that over four years he would change his mind. “Hopefully,” fellow swimmer Nathan Adrian said, “he will miss being on the podium and will want to at least come back and compete in some relays.