The Tokyo Olympics 2021 officially begin on Friday, July 23 with the opening ceremony, but it will be very different from previous years.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is finally taking place, despite the coronavirus threatening to close the event down. It was postponed from 2020 and will take place exactly one year later in 2021, but maintains its name to reflect the intended start date. Having said this, events will actually kick off before the Games officially start, with some non-elimination heats of softball and soccer taking place on Wednesday, July 21, and Thursday, July 22. Team U.S.A. will join countries around the world to compete in 33 different sports, four of which are new for this year, and a fifth having return from Olympics past. We break down how to watch the coverage as it happens, as well as highlight shows. The first official day of coverage is July 21 at 9:00 a.m. Tokyo time, which in the U.S.A. is the evening of July 20 at 8:00 p.m. ET. This will be Australia and Japan playing Softball, after which the U.S.A. plays Italy. Following this, the afternoon events begin with six women’s soccer games, including the U.S.A. against Sweden at 5:30 p.m. JST, or 4:30 a.m. E.T. on July 21. The following day’s coverage, which starts on the evening of July 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET, is men’s softball with the U.S. A taking on Canada. The is followed by eight men’s soccer games including Germany taking on Brazil and Argentina vs. Australia. On the day of the opening ceremony, there are several heats of archery and rowing as well as pre-event checks for shooting and equestrian.
