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The Tokyo Olympics, postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officially began on Friday with the majestic opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
The opening ceremony began at 8 p.m. local time in Japan. With the United States Eastern Standard Time 13 hours behind Japan, it was an early morning for those in the United States who wanted to watch the ceremony live.
If you missed it don’t worry. The 2021 Tokyo Opening Ceremony will air prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET and again overnight.
The ceremony opened the two-week global competition that features thousands of athletes, hundreds of countries and a record 339 medal events in 41 different sports. A few local athletes will compete among them on Friday. Here’s how you can watch:
Mass. Saber Fencer has gold in its sights
The Olympic fencing competition begins Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET with individual fights in the men’s saber and women’s epee. Team USA’s best fencer, Eli Dershwitz, is on his way to the Olympics in second place in the world and hopes to return from Tokyo with some hardware.
Before leaving for Tokyo, the 25-year-old from Sherborn, Massachusetts told NBC10 Boston that he knew the games would look very different than they were in Rio De Janeiro five years ago.
“It will definitely be sad not to have my family and friends in the stands like I did in Rio,” said Dershwitz. “I definitely used that as motivation, you know? This support system – I intended to use it as fuel during the competition. “
Italian and international fencing federation Augusto Bizzi Saber fencer Eli Dershwitz, of Sherborn, Massachusetts, said he had trained for the Olympics his entire life.
With no international tournaments or competitions during this time, fencers like Dershwitz go into the games with less scouting.
“It’s going to be a bit more of a guessing game,” said Dershwitz. “It depends on how well we mate individually, how mentally and physically we are ready. How willing you are to fight to make history at the Games. “
Watch here how Derschwitz and the USA team make history live online at 8:30 p.m.
The full schedule for streaming coverage of Olympic fencing can be found here.
Team USA’s best fencer, Eli Dershwitz, is on his way to the Olympic Games in second place in the world and hopes to return from Tokyo with some silver.
Mass. Native competes in the men’s foursome
Andrew Reed, who is from Massachusetts, will make his first appearance at the Olympics in Tokyo on the male four without a helmsman.
Born in Worcester and raised in Wayland, Reed attended Harvard University. In 2017 he was on the eighth of the men who won silver at the rowing world championships
See you here at 7:30 p.m. ET.
See Full TV Schedule for full TV schedules for rowing and all other Olympic sports.
3×3 basketball makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo
There are several new sports making their Olympic debut in Tokyo, and on Friday you can experience the exciting action for the first time.
The women’s 3×3 basketball tournament opens Friday at 9:15 p.m. ET. The U.S. women’s team will speak for the first time against France on Saturday at 4:55 p.m. ET, followed by a game against Mongolia at 8 p.m. ET.
Chicago Sky Center Stefanie Dolson, Dallas Wings Guard Allisha Gray, Las Vegas Aces Guard Kelsey Plum and Las Vegas Aces Guard Jackie Young will form the first Team USA 3×3 squad. Young has been named to replace Seattle Storm Guard Katie Lou Samuelson, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
Watch this link online to see how Team USA fights France. 3×3 basketball will be featured in television coverage on NBCSN (12pm to 2pm ET), USA (2pm to 9:50pm ET), and NBC (10:45 am to 2:45 pm ET).
Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images Kelsey Plum and Allisha Gray, right, of the USA Women’s 3×3 National Team smile during the USAB Womens 3×3 National Team practice at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on July 17, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Who will win the first gold medal?
Less than 24 hours after the opening ceremony in Tokyo, the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics will be awarded – and it could go to Team USA.
The women’s 10m air rifle final begins on Friday at 9:45 p.m. ET. Ginny Thrasher won gold for Team USA at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where it was also the first ever medal event of the Games. In Tokyo, the Americans Mary Tucker and Ali Weisz are strong contenders for the podium in their Olympic debuts.
The next medal event to begin is the Men’s Cycling Road Race, which begins at 10 p.m. ET. Afterwards, medals are awarded in weightlifting, archery, judo, fencing and taekwondo.
Watch live online right here or during TV coverage on NBCSN (12pm to 7:30 am ET) or NBC (10:45 am to 2:45 pm ET).
Getty Images Mary Tucker of the Kentucky Wildcats competes during the Division I Men’s and Women’s Rifle Championship taking place March 13, 2021 at the French Field House on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.
Swim prelims begin early Saturday morning
The swimming competitions at the Tokyo Games will cause a sensation from Saturday morning.
The action begins on Saturday at 6 a.m. ET with heats in six disciplines: Men’s 400m IM, Women’s 100m Butterfly, Men’s 400m Freestyle, Women’s 400m IM, Men’s 100m Breast and Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
The finals for the men’s 400m IM, the men’s 400m freestyle, the women’s 400m IM, and the women’s 4x100m relay will take place on Saturday night from 9:30 p.m. ET.
Chase Kalisz (men 400m IM); Torri Huske and Claire Curzan (women 100m butterfly); Kieran Smith (men’s 400m freestyle); Emma Weyant and Hali Flickinger (women 400 IM); Michael Andrew (men’s 100 m chest); and Abbey Weitzeil and Erika Brown (women’s relay 4x100m) will be among the top Americans on the first day of the swimming competitions.
One of the biggest questions after Tokyo was whether Simone Manuel would be included in the women’s 4 x 100m relay. The four-time Olympic medalist took gold in the 100 m freestyle and the women’s 4 x 100 m relay in Rio, but failed in the US Olympic Trials in the 100 m freestyle in June. She secured her place on the Olympic swim team by winning the 50m freestyle in the tests, but it remains unclear whether she will get a chance to take gold again as part of the relay.
Watch the opening runs live in the US or stream online here.
Olympic team’s 2021 swimming tests at the CHI Health Center on Jan.” class=”wp-image-6296637″/>
Tom Pennington / Getty Images Chase Kalisz of the United States reacts after taking the fifth day of the U.S. Olympic team’s 2021 swimming tests at the CHI Health Center on Jan.
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