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The Summer Olympics are back! After a thoroughly weird 2020 Tokyo Games—which actually took place in 2021 and largely happened without crowds of spectators because of Covid-related restrictions—we're returning to the relative normalcy of the hyped up, enormously crowded, in-person spectacles of Olympics past.
The 2024 Summer Olympics are taking place in Paris, France. The Olympics start this Friday, July 26. (Technically there are some events before the Opening Ceremony, but we’ll get to those in a minute.) The Games will run every day for just over two weeks, with the Closing Ceremony held on August 11.
Watching the last Summer Olympics involved a bit of juggling between apps, time zones, and prime-time live coverage. This year, the Games will be much easier to watch. NBC, the broadcast partner in the US, has launched a fresh Olympics portal on its Peacock streaming service, giving users a way to bookmark the events they want to watch and then get reminders to tune in live.
Also, France is in a time zone that's friendlier to viewers in the West—Just one hour ahead of London and six hours ahead of New York, which is much more manageable than the 13-hour time difference between Tokyo and NYC—so tuning into live coverage will be less of an issue for most of the English-speaking audience.
Still, many events will take place during the early morning hours in the US, which means you might wind up seeing some spoilers if you're watching with a delay. If you’re concerned about that, be prepared to mute notifications and avoid social media. (Or go scorched earth and just kill your notifications altogether.)
If you live in the US and you have cable or an over-the-air antenna, you can watch a mix of packaged highlights and live events on NBC (yet again the Games’ sole US distributor). Cable coverage will be across several NBC channels, including NBC, NBC Sports, CNBC, and the USA Network. Coverage in Spanish is on Telemundo and Universo.
Viewers in the UK can watch Summer Olympics coverage for free on BBC1 and BBC2 between 8 am and 10 pm, where the channels will broadcast a mix of live and tape-delayed events. Each day's television coverage will end with a highlights package. Or watch on the BBC iPlayer, where livestreams of key events will be mixed with on-demand options.
If you live in the US and you prefer streaming, NBC’s Peacock streaming service is the place to go. There's a whole Olympic Games hub where you can search for specific events or browse a calendar, then add things to your watchlist. You can then watch on your computer, or open an app on your TV, your streamer box, or your mobile device, and all of your selections will be there. Every Olympic event will stream live on Peacock, and you can rewatch any event in full after the fact too. Peacock requires a subscription, but it's cheap: $8 a month, and you can cancel anytime.
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If you only want to see highlights or don't care about streaming specific events, there will be plenty of coverage available for free on NBCOlympics.com.
If you live in the UK and you prefer to stream select events live or on-demand that aren't available on the BBC's player, your best option is Discovery+, which will be streaming every event at the Games. It's running a special deal this summer that gives you access for £4 per month. There are also additional savings if you already pay for Sky TV.
Read on for the specific timing of some of the biggest events. Just know that the times might change as the actual games play out. You can find the full schedule of events on the official Olympics website.
Note: Unless specified otherwise, all times below are listed in US East Coast time.
Opening Ceremony
The four-hour-long opening ceremony will be broadcast by almost every Olympic media outlet live on July 26. It starts at 8 pm Paris time, which is 2 pm Eastern and 11 am Pacific. Most broadcasts will start 30 minutes before the ceremony begins.
3×3 Basketball
The three-on-three variant of basketball starts July 30 with men's and women's rounds. The medal matches are played on August 5.
Archery
Archery ranking rounds begin on July 25. The medal matches are on July 28 for the women and July 29 for the men.
Badminton
Badminton starts with both doubles and singles games on July 26. The finals are spread out over several days, from August 2 to August 5.
Basketball
There's a ton of hoops to watch this year. Games start on July 27. The US men's team plays its first game on July 28 at 11:15 am, and the US women play on July 29 at 3 pm. The gold medal games are on August 10 for the men and August 11 for the women.
See the whole schedule.
Boat Stuff
Rowing: Men and women’s single, double, and quadruple sculls heats start July 27. The medals matches are spread out between July 29 and August 2.Sailing: Events start on July 28. Finals for all the categories—windsurfing, one-person dinghy, two-person dinghy, skiff, and mixed multihull—are spread out between August 1 and August 8.Canoe/kayak slalom: Starts July 27 with men's and women's heats. Finals in all slalom events take place between July 28 and August 5.Canoe/kayak sprint: Starts August 6, with finals on August 8, 9, and 10.
Breaking
New this year! Very exciting. B-Girls compete on August 9, and B-Boys throw down on August 10. Here's the full schedule.
Cycling
BMX freestyle: All events take place on July 30 and 31.BMX racing: All events take place on August 1 and 2.Mountain bike races: The women race on July 28 and the men race on July 29.Road bike races: Men's and women's time trials are on July 27. The men's road race is on August 3, and the women race on August 4.Track: Track races start on August 5, with the medal races out between August 5 and August 9. Check out the Madison event, it's wild.
Diving
Diving events are quite spread out. The events start on July 27 and go until the men's 10-meter platform final on August 10. Here's the full schedule.
Golf
Men’s individual rounds start August 1 and conclude with the medal round on August 4. Women’s rounds start August 7 with the medals on August 10.
Gymnastics
The official schedules for gymnastics are broken up into specific categories, each with their own schedule. Artistic gymnastics start on July 27, rhythmic gymnastics start August 8, and trampoline gymnastics take place entirely on August 2.
Hockey
Hockey in the summer? Yes—field hockey. Men’s field hockey starts July 27 with the finals on August 8. Women’s games start July 27 with the finals on August 9. Here’s the full schedule.
Horses
There are lots of equestrian events, from dressage and cross-country to jumping and grand prix. Everything starts July 27. Behold the full horse schedule.
Martial Arts (and Miscellaneous Fighting)
Fencing: All the lunging, swiping, and parrying begins July 27. Full fencing schedule here.Boxing also begins on July 27, with dozens of matches across all the weight classes. Here are all the boxing times.Judo starts July 27. There are a bunch of weight classes in judo as well, so check the full schedule.Taekwondo: Competition starts August 7 and ends August 10. Here's the full list.Wrestling takes place between August 6 and August 11. Here’s the full schedule.
Soccer (aka Football)
Soccer matches start early on July 24. The gold medal games are August 9 for the men and August 10 for the women. The full soccer schedule is here.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is enjoying its second Olympics as an official sport, which is pretty rad. The street events are July 27 and 28, and the park events are August 6 and 7.
Sport Climbing
The new sensation of climbing up a wall is making its Olympic debut in Paris. All of the events take place between August 5 and 10. Here's the full schedule for the various matches. Also be sure to read our interview with US climber Jesse Grupper about the gear he's bringing to Paris.
Surfing
They have waves in Paris? Not really; the surfing events this year are being held at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, which is a French territory. Surfing events are mostly happening at weird hours because of the time difference. There will be some days where the surf is lousy, and they'll just hold the heats on a different day if that's the case. Check out the schedule, but just know that it will likely change.
Swimming
There are many swimming events, each with a different distance, stroke, and number of competitors. See the full schedule to find the ones you want to watch. There are medal matches nearly every day. And keep an eye out for the mayor of Paris.
Tennis
Tennis kicks off July 27, with matches every day leading up to the medal events for singles and doubles on August 2, 3, and 4. Here's the schedule.
Oh, and you'd like to watch some table tennis? There's a schedule for that too, and you'll need it. Table tennis spans the entirety of the Games, with matches from July 27 to August 10. The medal matches are on the last two days.
Track & Field
There are a variety of different track and field events that we now call athletics. These individual and team events—decathlon, high jump, hammer throw, and so on—take place from August 2 through August 10. You'll need the full schedule to keep tabs on what you want to see.
The men's marathon is August 9, and the women's is August 10.
Triathlon
Watch the great swim-bike-run effort. The men race on July 29, and the women race on July 30. The mixed relay is on August 4.
Volleyball
Indoor volleyball runs the whole length of the Games, from July 27 to August 10. The medal matches for men and women are on the last two days. Find your favorite country on the schedule.
Beach volleyball takes place over the same time span—just at a sandier venue—and the schedule is stacked.
Weightlifting
These matches are separated based on weight lifted (i.e., how swole the athletes are). The heavy objects will be lifted from August 7 to August 11, with medals awarded every day. Here’s the full schedule.
Water Polo
Much like volleyball, there are water polo matches for the whole two weeks of the Games. Events start on July 27 and go to August 11. The women's gold medal match is August 10, and the men's is August 11.
