The Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony begins at 7 a.m. ET on Friday, July 23.
You can watch the ceremony live, starting with coverage at 6:55 a.m. ET on NBC. The network will also re-air the ceremony, with a broadcast starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC on Friday.
Technically, the Olympics got rolling before the Opening Ceremony.
The Tokyo Summer Games had events starting as early as Tuesday, July 20, with a few sports like softball and soccer needing additional time to complete their tournament. And yes, they’re still officially called the 2020 Olympics, even though they landed in 2021 after a year-long postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the pandemic, fans will not attend the events in person.
The Opening Ceremony will have a very small group of spectators. A few dignitaries, officials from the International Olympic Committee and Olympics sponsors will be in attendance. USA TODAY reports NBC will not pipe in crowd noise to simulate spectators.
The official @TeamUSA Opening Ceremony uniforms for the #TokyoOlympics have been revealed! (photos via @RalphLauren) pic.twitter.com/a3IYqYaeuv
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 14, 2021
Most of the events will span across 17 days, from July 23 to the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, August 8.
This year’s Olympics include four new sports — karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing — and two returning ones with baseball and softball. The Olympics will include 339 events across 33 sports in total.
