July 22, 2021
The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin Friday after being delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The summer games — still officially dubbed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games — will run from July 23 to Aug. 8, though some events, including soccer and softball games, are taking place before the opening ceremony.
Athletes are eager to compete on the global state, but the Olympics won't have the same feel as previous games. Japan is prohibiting spectators from attending after enacting a state of emergency to mitigate COVID-19 cases.
With 339 events — all airing live from Tokyo — and endless streaming options, there's a lot to keep up with this year. Plus, Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so primetime coverage won't always be live.
Here's how to watch everything from the opening to the closing ceremonies:
This marks NBC's first live morning broadcast of an opening ceremony, and Philadelphia viewers will need to be early birds to catch it.
The broadcast will begin at 6:55 a.m. Friday and continue until 11 a.m. It will be re-aired during NBC's primetime coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. U.S. women's basketball star Sue Bird, who has won four Olympic gold medals, and U.S. baseball player Eddy Alvarez will serve as flag bearers.
The first Olympic daytime coverage runs from 1-4 p.m. Friday.
Viewers can tune into their local NBC stations, including NBC10 in the Philadelphia region, to watch the primetime coverage at 8 p.m. every night.
Five cable networks — USA Network, CNBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel and the Golf Channel — also will be providing coverage throughout the day, with much of it live. Telemundo and Universo will provide coverage for Spanish-language viewers.
USA Network's coverage will include swimming, diving, track and field, basketball, soccer and beach volleyball.
CNBC's coverage will include beach volleyball, skateboarding and rugby.
NBCSN will cover soccer, softball, beach volleyball, table tennis, handball, badminton, fencing and equestrian.
Peacock, the streaming service NBC launched in July 2020, will provide live coverage of gymnastics and track and field, and several other events.
Peacock's coverage will be available for free, excluding its live U.S. men's basketball coverage. To watch basketball, viewers will have to pay the $4.99 monthly fee for Peacock Premium. Viewers can sign up for Peacock's free coverage here.
Viewers also can stream Olympic coverage on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
There are Olympic channels on SlingTV, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV as well.
The gymnastics competitions will be broadcast July 24 through Aug. 3. They can be streamed live on Peacock. NBC will broadcast highlights later each day.
Here's a breakdown of the schedule:
Saturday, July 24: The men's team competition begins with 12 teams competing for eight spots in the final. Peacock (live): 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 2:45-6 p.m. and 8-11:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 25: The women's team competition begins with 12 teams competing for eight spots in the final. Peacock (live): 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 7-9:30 p.m.
Monday, July 26: Men's team final. Peacock (live): 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 8-9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 27: Women's team final. Peacock (live): 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 8 p.m. to midnight.
Wednesday, July 28: Men's individual all-around competition. Peacock (live): 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 8 p.m. to midnight.
Thursday, July 29: Women's individual all-around competition. Peacock (live) 6-11 a.m.; NBC: 8-11:30 p.m. Women's trampoline final. CNBC (live) 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Friday, July 30: Men's trampoline final. CNBC (live) 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Sunday, Aug. 1: Men's floor and pommel horse finals. Peacock (live) 4-11 a.m.; NBC: 10:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Women's vault and uneven bars finals. Peacock (live) 4-11 a.m.; NBC: 9-9:30 p.m. and 11-11:30 p.m., respectively.
Monday, Aug. 2: Men's vault and rings finals. Peacock (live) 4-11 a.m.; NBC: Noon to 5 p.m. Women's floor final. Peacock (live) 4-11 a.m.; NBC: 8-11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 3: Men's parallel bars and horizontal bar finals. Peacock (live 4-11 a.m.); NBC: Noon to 5 p.m. and 8-11:30 p.m., respectively. Women's balance beam final. NBC: 8-11:30 p.m.
Olympic swimming runs from July 24 through July 31.
The finals for all swimming events will be broadcast by NBC during its primetime coverage. Qualifying heats will be broadcast live on the USA Network beginning at 6 a.m. A schedule for the qualifying heats can be found here.
The broadcast schedule for the finals is listed below. The times listed in italics represent NBC's entire primetime coverage. The swimming events are expected to be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. each night.
Saturday, July 24: Men's 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle finals. Women's 400m I.M. and 4x100m freestyle relay finals. NBC (live): 8-11:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 25: Women's 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle finals. Men's 100m breaststroke and 4x100m freestyle relay finals. NBC (live): 9-11:30 p.m.
Monday, July 26: Men's 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke finals. Women's 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke finals. NBC (live) 9-11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 27: Women's 200m freestyle, 200m I.M. and 1,500m freestyle finals. Men's 200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay finals. NBC (live): 8 p.m. to midnight.
Wednesday, July 28: Men's 800m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 100m freestyle finals. Women's 200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay finals. NBC (live): 8 p.m. to midnight.
Thursday, July 29: Women's 200m breaststroke and 100m freestyle finals. Men's 200m backstroke and 200m I.M. finals. NBC (live): 8-11:30 p.m.
Friday, July 30: Men's 100m butterfly final. Women's 200m backstroke and 800m freestyle finals. Mixed 4x100m freestyle final. NBC (live): 8-11:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 31: Men's 50m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle and 4x100 medley relay finals. Women's 50m freestyle and 4x100 medley relay finals. NBC (live): 8-11:30 p.m.
Olympic Track and Field events start July 39 and end on Aug. 7. Qualifying rounds comprise much of the early schedule.
The schedule below lists live coverage of the various events' semifinals and finals. NBC will replay many of them during its primetime coverage. A full schedule, including qualifying rounds, can be found online.
Friday, July 30: Men's 10,000m final. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.
Saturday, July 31: Women's 800m semifinals and 100m semifinals and final. Men's discus. Mixed 4x400m relay final. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.; Women's shot put final. USA Network, 8:10-10:45 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 1: Men's high jump and 100m finals. Men's 100m, 400m hurdles and 800m semifinals. Women's triple jump final and 100m hurdles semifinals. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.; Women's 100m hurdles final and men's long jump final. USA Network, 8-10:55 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 2: Women's discus and 5,000m finals. Women's 200m and 400m hurdles semifinals. Men's 400m semifinals and 3,000m steeplechase final. Peacock, 4-11 a.m.; Women's 5,000m and long jump finals. Men's 400m hurdles final. NBC, 8-11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 3: Men's pole vault final and 200m semifinals. Women's hammer throw, 800m and 200m finals. Peacock, 4-11 a.m.; Men's 110m hurdles semifinals. Women's 400m hurdles final. NBC, 8-11:30 p.m.; Men's decathlon and women's heptathlon. USA Network, 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.:
Wednesday, Aug. 4: Men's hammer throw, 800m and 200m finals. Women's 1,500m semifinals, 400m semifinals and 3,000m steeplechase final. Men's decathlon. Women's heptathlon. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.; Men's 110 hurdles, shot put and triple jump finals. NBC, 8-11:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 5: Men's 1,500m semifinals and 400m final. Women's pole vault final. Men's decathlon. Women's heptathlon. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.
Friday, Aug. 6: Men's 5,000m and 4x100m relay finals. Women's javelin, 400m, 1,500m and 4x400m relay finals. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.; Women's marathon. USA Network, 6 p.m.
Saturday Aug. 7: Women's high jump, 10,000m and 4x400m relay finals. Men's javelin, 1,500m and 4x400m relay finals. Peacock, 6-11 a.m.; Men's marathon, USA Network, 6 p.m.
Women's soccer kicked off Wednesday and will continue through Aug. 5.
The U.S. team dropped its first game in a group play, 3-0, to Sweden, ending a 44-game unbeaten streak. The U.S. men's team failed to qualify for the Olympics.
Here is the schedule for the U.S. team's two remaining group stage games and the Olympics single-elimination rounds.
Saturday, July 24: U.S. vs. New Zealand, NBCSN (live), 7:30 a.m.; USA Network (replay), 6 p.m.
Tuesday, July 27: U.S. vs. Australia, NBCSN (live), 4 a.m.; USA Network (replay), 6 p.m.
Friday, July 30: Quarterfinals, NBCSN (live), Times TBD
Monday, Aug. 2: Semifinals, NBCSN (live), 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Thursday, Aug. 5: Bronze Medal match, NBCSN (live), 4 a.m.; Gold Medal match, NBCSN (live), 10 p.m.
All soccer matches also are available for streaming on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
Olympic basketball starts July 24 and ends with the Bronze Medal game on Aug 7.
Team USA is one of 12 teams to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The top two teams from each of the three groups advance to the quarterfinals. So do the top two third-place teams. The U.S. team will be playing in Group A alongside France, Iran and the Czech Republic.
All U.S. men's games will be streamed live on Peacock Premium, which requires a $4.99 monthly fe. They will be replayed on NBC and NBCSN.
Here is the schedule for the U.S. team's group play and the single-elimination rounds. Note that only two quarterfinal games are slated to be broadcast live.
Sunday, July 25: U.S. vs. France, Peacock (live), 8 a.m.; NBCSN (replay), midnight
Wednesday, July 28: U.S. vs. Iran, Peacock (live), 12:40 a.m.; NBCSN (replay), 11:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 31: U.S. vs. Czech Republic, Peacock (live), 8 a.m; NBCSN (replay), Aug. 1 at 1:45 a.m.
Monday, Aug. 2 and Tuesday, Aug. 3: Quarterfinals, Peacock (live), Monday, Aug. 2 at 12:40 a.m; USA Network (live), Aug. 3 at 8 a.m.; NBCSN (replay), Aug. 3 at 10:45 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 5: Semifinals, NBCSN (live), 7 a.m.; USA Network (replay), 6 p.m.; NBCSN (replay), 11 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 6: Gold Medal game, NBC (live), 10:30 p.m.; NBCSN (replay), Aug. 7 at 6 p.m. and Aug. 8 at 1:30 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 7: Bronze Medal game, 7 a.m.
Women's Olympic basketball runs from July 27 to Aug. 7.
Team USA is one of 12 teams that qualified for competition. The top two teams from each of the three groups advance to the quarterfinals. So do the top two third-place teams. The U.S. team is in a group with France, Japan and Nigeria.
Here is the schedule for Team USA's group play games and the single-elimination round games. Note that only one quarterfinal game is slated to be covered live.
Tuesday, July 27: U.S. vs. Nigeria, USA Network (live), 12:40 a.m.; 4:15 p.m. (replay)
Friday, July 30: U.S. vs. Japan, USA Network (live) 12:40 a.m.; NBCSN (replay), 8 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 2: U.S. vs. France,USA Network (live) 12:40 a.m.; 4 p.m. (replay)
Tuesday, Aug. 3 and Wednesday Aug. 4: Quarterfinals, USA Network (live), Aug. 4 at 12:30 a.m., (replay), 6 p.m.; NBCSN (replay), 10 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 6: Semifinals, USA Network (replay), 10 a.m.; NBCSN (replays), 10 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 7: Bronze Medal game, 3 a.m.; Gold Medal game, 10:30 p.m., NBC (live)
The Olympics closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, Aug. 8 at 7 a.m.
Peacock will stream the ceremony live at 7 a.m. NBC will air it during its primetime coverage at 8 p.m.
A complete listing of what each network and streaming service will air each day can be found here. The complete schedules for individual sports are linked below.
Archery
Artistic swimming
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
3x3 basketball
Beach volleyball
Boxing
Canoe-kayak
Cycling
Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Field hockey
Golf
Gymnastics
Handball
Judo
Karate
Modern pentathlon
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rowing
Rugby
Sailing
Shooting
Skateboarding
Soccer
Softball
Sport climbing
Swimming
Table Tennis
Tae kwon do
Tennis
Track and field schedule
Trampoline
Triathlon
Volleyball
Water Polo
Weight-lifting
Wrestling
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