Summer Olympic Games to watch the world’s best athletes from over 200 nations compete in their favorite event.
The anticipation for this 29th Games of the Olympiad is colossal, considering that last year’s games in Tokyo were postponed, for the first time in Olympic history, due to health and safety concerns.
This year’s games will be quite a bit different from any of the summer games previously hosted. Time to light the torch!
Changes to this year’s games
Across a total of 33 sports, four are featured at the Olympics for the very first time: karate, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing.
Three sports that debuted at Rio 2016, rugby sevens and golf will return, but kitesurfing has been dropped. Also returning to the contested games is baseball and softball, absent since 2012 when voted out of the games in London.
All-in-all, there are 15 new events in total, including 3×3 basketball and even mixed-gender competitions.
The biggest change will obviously be the lack of spectators in the stands as Tokyo organizers had to ban fans from the 25 venues, again for coronavirus health and safety measures.
This won’t stop hopeful viewers, though, as there are plenty of ways to tune in, stream, and watch coverage of your favorite events. A complete schedule is included below so you can be sure to catch your favorite games.
Summer games kickoff
A lot is about to happen over the event-packed 14-day Olympic schedule, which kicks off with football and softball on Wednesday, July 21, two days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Competitions run from July 21 to Aug. 8, when the closing ceremony commences.
The Opening Ceremony takes place on Friday, July 23rd at 6:30 am CT, and the ceremony re-broadcasts at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
Don’t Miss: Sunday, August 1, also known as Golden Sunday, on which 25 gold medals will be handed out.
Saturday, August 7, over 30 medal events take place including the women’s marathon, the gold medal basketball, and football matches.
The Closing Ceremony takes place on Sunday, August 8th at 6:00 am CT.
Gold-medal care for Olympic fans (and falls)
The sports added to the lineup may be new to these summer games, but the injuries from them are not new to us. Our specialists and Urgent Care Clinic have seen—and treated—them all. From skateboarders to climbers, and black belts to gymnasts, we have everything to treat orthopedic needs from head to toe. (And if you somehow get a surfing injury this far inland, we can help that, too.)
