At long last, the Tokyo Olympics are underway after being delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Competitions started on July 21 and will wrap up on August 8.
The opening ceremony aired live on Friday, July 23 at 6:55 a.m. EDT. The closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, August 8 at 7 a.m. EDT.
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Keep in mind that Tokyo, Japan, is 13 hours ahead of the eastern time zone in the United States. Most cycling events will air live in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours in the U.S., so watching the replays may be the way to go—or set your alarm and get your coffee ready!
Here’s how you can tune in, and check here for all of the latest results.
📺 What to Watch: Saturday, August 7
3:55 a.m. ET (4:55 p.m. in Tokyo): Men’s madison final (stream live here)
Where to Watch the Olympics
NBC is the main broadcaster in the U.S. for all Olympic coverage. It will air a variety of both live events and replays on the following television channels:
- NBC
- NBCSN
- USA Network
- Olympic Channel
- CNBC
- The Golf Channel
Spanish-language coverage of the Olympics will be available through Telemundo and Universo.
How to Stream the Olympics
Live streaming and full replays of all events will be available to watch on nbcolympics.com, but you’ll need a cable subscription (and package that offers NBC) and your corresponding login in order to view anything. You can also stream the events on your smart TV through the
If you’re content with highlights and shorter recaps, NBC’s Peacock app offers just that—and for free— but live coverage on Peacock only includes gymnastics and track and field. While Peacock Premium, which costs $4.99 a month, offers pro cycling coverage like the Tour de France, during the Olympics it’ll only have live coverage of men’s basketball.
Otherwise, you can live stream Olympic events through a subscription with YouTubeTV ($64.99/month), FuboTV ($64.99/month), AT&T TV ($69.99/month), Hulu + Live TV ($64.99/month), or Sling Blue with the New Extra add-on ($41/month total).
Where are the Olympic cycling events taking place?
The road cycling events will start at Musashinonomori Park and finish at Fuji International Speedway. The mountain bike events will take place at the Izu MTB Course. The BMX racing and BMX freestyle events will take place at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. The track cycling events will take place at the Izu Velodrome.
Olympic cycling schedule
This year, cyclists will compete in 22 events for the ever-coveted Olympic medals in five different disciplines:
- Road cycling
- Cross-country mountain biking
- BMX freestyle
- BMX racing
- Track cycling
There are four more cycling events than there were in the last summer Games: the madison events were brought back for track cycling, and this is the first time BMX freestyle has been included.
Cycling events will take place from July 24 (well, July 23 in the U.S.!) until August 8. Here’s when each discipline will compete live in Japan, with EDT in parenthesis:
Road
Men’s road race: July 24, 11 a.m. (July 23, 10 p.m.)
Women’s road race: July 25, 1 p.m. (12 a.m.)
Women’s time trial: July 28, 11:30 a.m. (July 27, 10:30 p.m.)
Men’s time trial: July 28, 2 p.m. (1 a.m.)
Mountain Bike
Men’s cross-country race: July 26, 3 p.m. (July 26, 2 a.m.)
Women’s cross-country race: July 27, 3 p.m. (July 27, 2 a.m.)
BMX Racing
Men’s and women’s quarterfinals: July 29, 10 a.m. (July 28, 9 p.m.)
Men’s and women’s semifinals and finals: July 30, 10 a.m. (July 29, 9 p.m.)
BMX Freestyle
Women’s park seeding: July 31, 10:10 a.m. (July 30, 9:10 p.m.)
Men’s park seeding: July 31, 11:20 a.m. (July 30, 10:20 p.m.)
Women’s park finals: August 1, 10:10 a.m. (July 31, 9:10 p.m.)
Men’s park finals: August 1, 11:20 a.m. (July 31, 10:10 p.m.)
Track cycling (please see the full schedule for schedules of the qualifying rounds)
Women’s team sprint final: August 2, 6:09 p.m. (5:09 a.m.)
Women’s team pursuit final: August 3, 5:26 p.m. (4:26 a.m.)
Men’s team sprint final: August 3, 5:44 p.m. (4:44 a.m.)
Men’s team pursuit final: August 4, 6:06 p.m. (5:06 a.m.)
Women’s keirin final: August 5, 5:45 p.m. (4:45 a.m.)
Men’s omnium points race: August 5, 5:55 p.m. (4:55 a.m.)
Women’s madison final: August 6, 5:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m.)
Men’s sprint final: August 6, 6:35 p.m. (5:35 a.m.)
Men’s madison finals: August 7, 4:55 p.m. (3:55 a.m.)
Men’s keirin final: August 8, 12 p.m. (August 7, 11 p.m.)
Women’s sprint finals: August 8, 12:05 p.m. (August 7, 11:05 p.m.)
Women’s omnium points race: August 8, 12:25 p.m. (August 7, 11:25 p.m.)
Check NBC’s Olympic website for the complete television schedule.
When she’s not out riding her mountain bike, Jessica is an editor for Popular Mechanics. She was previously an editor for Bicycling magazine.
