We may be a year late, but the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are here. After a 12-month delay due to the pandemic, the famous sporting event is taking place in Japan – though due to the cost in rebranding it is still called the ‘2020 Olympics’.
There’s still plenty of events to look forward to, with eyes turning to the artistic gymnastic team and all-round individual finals for both men and women. Simone Biles is back, though team USA did get off to a shaky start in the qualifiers. Team GB will also be competing in these events, with strong hopes for the men’s team finals.
If you want to tune in, then we have you covered for both broadcast TV and streaming – with options for both the UK and US. Keep on reading for more information. You can also check out our guide to watching the NFL.
When are the Olympics gymnastic finals?
There are numerous different events for the gymnastic finals: team, all-round, vault, floor exercise, pommel horse (men), parallel bars (men), rings (men), horizontal bar (men), uneven bars (women) and balance beam (women).
The team and all-round finals are some of the most exciting, with several different apparatus making up the scores. There will be a two-day break between these two events and the singular apparatus events. We’ll add in these times closer to the air dates.
Here’s what time the team and all-round finals will be taking place. Simone Biles will be participating in the women’s team and all-round finals:
- Men’s team finals – 26 July – 11am BST / 6am ET / 3am PT / 7pm JST
- Women’s team finals – 27 July – 11:45am BST / 6:45am ET / 3:45am PT / 7:45pm JST
- Men’s all-round finals – 28 July – 11:15am BST / 6:15am ET / 3:15am PT / 7:15pm JST
- Women’s all-round finals -11:50am BST / 6:50am ET / 3:50am PT / 7:50pm JST
How to watch the Olympics team and all-round finals in the UK
Broadcast TV
The channels with the rights to the Olympics in the UK this year are the BBC and Eurosport. You’ll be able to watch most sporting events through both of these channels – with the BBC splitting coverage between BBC One and the Red Button channel.
The team and all-round finals will all air on BBC One, with build up coverage starting around 10:30am BST.
BBC channels are available on both Freeview and TV packages such as Virgin and Sky, and you’ll also need a valid UK TV licence. Eurosport however is only accessible as a premium channel, not through standard Freeview TV.
Eurosport has seven Olympic specific Eurosport pop-up channels in HD (available at no extra cost for subscribers), and Sky Q and Virgin customers can get the games in 4K via the Eurosport 4K channel, which can be accessed via the red button on the remote. You can read more about this in our guide to watching the Olympics in 4K.
Online
If you don’t have access to a TV, then you can still stream the Olympics either on BBC iPlayer or Eurosport/Discovery+.
BBC iPlayer is free to sign up, but you do need a valid UK TV licence to watch. If you’re travelling whilst the Olympics are on, you can still log in to iPlayer with a VPN. VPNs (virtual private networks) reroute your IP address, which means you can browse the internet as if you’re in another country. For the best speeds and performance, we recommend NordVPN.
You can find out more details in our guide to watching iPlayer from abroad.
The dedicated streaming service for Eurosport is also being rolled into Discovery+. Plans start from £4.99 per month, and you also get access to other entertainment shows such as 90 Day Fiancé, Aussie Gold Hunters and Gold Rush.
If you’re a Vodafone mobile customer, then you can actually claim six months worth of Discovery+ completely for free, so you can stream the Olympic games at no extra cost. You can get the Vodafone Discovery+ offer here.
You can also add Eurosport as an extra channel on Amazon Prime, which costs an extra £6.99 on top of your existing Prime Video subscription. You can sign up for Amazon Prime here.
Discovery+ has a dedicated livestream for artistic gymnastics, as well as a Team GB channel which shows the sports that our country is competing in.
How to watch the Olympics team and all-round finals in the US
Broadcast TV
The broadcaster which holds the rights to the Olympics in the US is NBCUniversal. This means that the games will air on NBC (available on cable TV packages) and other NBCUniversal channels like NBCSN.
Coverage of the gymnastic finals will be available on the NBC Olympics channel.
If you don’t have a TV, then never fear. You can still stream the Olympics online.
Online
NBCUniversal also owns the streaming platform Peacock. Subscribers will be able to tune into ‘new daily live shows, original programming, Olympics channels, full event replays and curated highlights of NBC Olympics’ coverage’ according to NBC.
Most programming will be available on the free tier of Peacock, with the exception of USA Men’s Basketball live coverage – which will be exclusive to Premium subscribers.
Peacock will air the livestreams of all the gymnastics finals, so you can catch Simone Biles live in action.
There are three tiers to Peacock – free, Premium and Premium Plus. The free tier offers a limited content library, whilst the two other Premium tiers have a larger selection, with the Plus tier giving the content with no ads.
The Premium tier costs $5.99 per month, whilst Premium Plus costs $9.99 per month.
Another cheap way is to sign up to Sling TV. This subscription usually costs $35 per month, but new customers can get the first month for just $10 – plenty enough time to stream all of the games. Sign up for Sling TV here.
Fubo TV is another streaming option – you can get a seven-day free trial, which then goes up to $64.99 per month. However, if you’re only watching the games for a select number of things, you could always take advantage of the free trial and cancel before you pay. Sign up for Fubo TV here.
You can also sign up for YouTube TV, which features four dedicated channels for 4K Olympic channels: NBC 4K, NBC Sports 4K, Olympic Channel 4K, and Golf Channel 4K.
YouTube TV costs $64.99 per month, though there is currently an offer on which knocks $10 off the usual price.
Like Peacock, you can cancel this subscription at any time. YouTube TV has also confirmed that it will offer the games in 4K, though this does cost extra.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic games schedule
The games kicked off on Friday 23 July 2021, and will conclude on Sunday 8 August 2021, running for over just two weeks. We’ll be keeping tabs on some of the most popular events such as gymnastics and athletics.
However, if you’d like to know when everything is, you can take a look at the full schedule below. If you’d like to specifically when the medal events are, you can see this over on the official Olympics website.
3×3 Basketball
24 to 28 July
Archery
23 to 31 July
Artistic Gymnastics
24 July to 3 August
Artistic Swimming
2 to 7 August
Athletics
30 July to 8 August
Badminton
24 July to 2 August
Baseball/Softball
21 July to 7 August
Basketball
25 July to 8 August
Beach Volleyball
24 July to 7 August
Boxing
24 July to 8 August
Canoe Slalom
25 to 30 July
Canoe Sprint
2 to 7 August
Cycling BMX Freestyle
31 July to 1 August
Cycling BMX Racing
29 to 30 July
Cycling Mountain Bike
26 to 27 July
Cycling Road
24 to 28 July
Cycling Track
2 to 8 August
Diving
25 July to 7 August
Equestrian
23 July to 7 August
Fencing
24 July to 1 August
Football
21 July to 7 August
Golf
29 July to 7 August
Handball
24 July to 8 August
Hockey
24 July to 6 August
Judo
24 to 31 July
Karate
5 to 7 August
Marathon Swimming
4 to 5 August
Modern Pentathlon
5 to 7 August
Rhythmic Gymnastics
6 to 8 August
Rowing
23 to 30 July
Rugby Sevens
26 to 31 July
Sailing
25 July to 4 August
Shooting
23 July to 2 August
Skateboarding
25 July to 5 August
Sport Climbing
3 to 6 August
Surfing
25 July to 1 August
Swimming
24 July to 1 August
Table Tennis
24 July to 6 August
Taekwondo
24 to 27 July
Tennis
24 July to 1 August
Trampoline Gymnastics
30 to 31 July
Triathlon
26 to 31 July
Volleyball
24 July to 8 August
Water Polo
24 July to 8 August
Weightlifting
24 July to 4 August
Wrestling
1 to 7 August
