Olympic Games full weekend schedule: times and events

Cyprian Kimutai 10:37 - 23 July 2021

The Olympic rings in Tokyo Bay.

Kenya is six hours behind Tokyo, Japan.

Finally after a long five year wait, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games officially gets underway today.

Featuring a record 33 sports, 339 medal events and 42 venues, the Games will open on today July 23 and close on August 8.

At approximately 2pm Kenya time, the Opening Ceremony will get underway, featuring a parade of nations and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

A section of the Kenya team heading into the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

A breakdown of what to expect in the Opening Ceremony:

No spectators, but there will be fireworks and flagbearers as part of the Parade of Nations, led by Greece, which is tradition, followed by the rest of the countries in alphabetical order. Host country Japan will enter the stadium last.
The Olympic oath will be taken by the officials, coaches, and athletes. According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the 2021 oath “has been significantly adapted in order to highlight the importance of solidarity, inclusion, non-discrimination and equality.”
The lighting of the Olympic cauldron will start with a “spectacular artistic display as the flame enters the city’s Olympic Stadium,” then the cauldron will be lit at “Tokyo’s waterfront city.”
The theme for the Opening Ceremony is “United by Emotion,” which is “underpinned by the idea the Games can bring fresh hope and encouragement to people around the world – both through the active appearance of athletes and through the power of sport,” IOC revealed.

People in Japan wear masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic in front of Olympics rings.

For the first time in history, the Olympic Games will be held in empty stadia due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The first medals of the Games will be awarded on July 24 in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting event. A total of 11 medal events will take place tomorrow.

The action swings into full gear with "Super Saturday" on July 31 featuring 21 medal events, four of which will debut at the Olympic Games: the 4x400 mixed relay in athletics, judo mixed team, triathlon mixed relay, and shooting trap mixed team.

August's arrival will bring with it 25 gold medals on "Golden Sunday", including the men’s 100m in athletics as well as four artistic gymnastics events. The men’s tennis singles final is also on the cards.

Tokyo 2020 will peak on August 7 with 34 medal events being held, such as the women's marathon in Sapporo and the finals for baseball, men's basketball, football and volleyball.

In regards to the new sports other than softball, 3x3 basketball will take stage tomorrow, July 24 followed by skateboarding as well as surfing the following day. Sport climbing gets underway on August 3 while karate takes the floor two days later.

Kenya's flag bearer Shehzana Anwar leads her national delegation during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 5, 2016. / AFP / FRANCK FIFE (Photo credit should read FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Weekend's action (Kenya time)

FRIDAY, JULY 23