Tokyo Olympics: Here's when Bedfordshire's athletes are competing in the Olympics - and how you can watch

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 are now underway
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 are now underway after a year-long postponement in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

The first events of the Games, including football and softball, began on Wednesday (July 21), and the opening ceremony will officially kick things off today (Friday).

After fierce debate, the Japanese and Olympic authorities decided to press ahead with this year's Games, although the tournament will take place largely in empty stadiums due to the rising number of virus cases.

Bedfordshire athletes are competing in the Tokyo 2020 OlympicsBedfordshire athletes are competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Bedfordshire athletes are competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Which Bedfordshire athletes are competing and when can I watch them?

Charlotte Dujardin from Leighton Buzzard will be competing in the Dressage team event.

Saturday, July 24: Dressage Horse Re-Inspection After 1st Inspection - 1.30am; Dressage Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier Day 1 - 9am

Sunday, July 25: Dressage Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier Day 2 - 9am

Tuesday, July 27: Dressage Team Grand Prix Special - 9am

Wednesday, July 28: Dressage 2nd Horse Inspection - 2.30am; Dressage Individual Grand Prix Freestyle - 9.30am

Ryan Owens from Aspley Guise will be competing in the Men's Team Sprint cycling event.

Tuesday, August 3: Men's Team Sprint Qualifying - 7.58am; Men's Team Sprint First Round - 8.50am; Men's Team Sprint Finals - 9.35am

Former Bedford School pupil Ethan Vernon will be competing in the Men's Team Pursuit.

Monday, August 2: Men's Team Pursuit Qualifying - 9.02am

Tuesday, August 3: Men's Team Pursuit First Round - 8.22am

Wednesday, August 4: Men's Team Pursuit Finals - 9.45am

Luton's Revee Walcott-Nolan will be competing in the 1,500m.

Monday, August 2: Women's 1500m Round 1 - 1.35am

Wednesday, August 4: Women's 1500m Semi-Final 1 - 11am; Women's 1500m Semi-Final 2 - 11.12am

Friday, August 6: Women's 1500m Final - 1.50pm

Stotfold's golden girl Victoria Pendleton, who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, winning two gold medals and a silver, will be commentating on Equestrian and Cycling events at Tokyo Olympics.

What is the Tokyo Olympics 2020 schedule?

The original Tokyo Olympics schedule was scrapped and replaced after the Games were pushed back by 12 months due to the pandemic.

But 206 countries will now compete in Japan for coveted gold medals.

This year’s tournament will feature a record number of 46 competitions and 339 gold medals to be won over two weeks across 42 competition venues.

You can view a full schedule for the Tokyo Games online.

What new sports will there be at the Olympics?

There are five new sports featuring in this year’s Summer Games.

These are: baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.

While baseball and softball were included during the 2008 Games in Beijing, the other four sports are making their Olympics debut.

Where can you watch the Tokyo Olympics in the UK?

Japan is eight hours ahead of British Summer Time, meaning a lot of the 2020 Olympic Games action will happen during unsociable hours in the UK.

But there are still plenty of ways for sporting fans over here to watch the Tokyo tournament despite the tricky time difference.

The Games will be available to watch live in the UK via BBC One every day.

Coverage will start on the channel at midnight and will run to about 9pm.

And if you miss your favourite sport, BBC Two will be showing a daily highlights show from 9-10pm.

There will also be options to stream sports not showing live on BBC One via BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and the BBC Sport website.

The BBC is set to cover over 350 hours of uninterrupted coverage live

The Games in their full glory will also be shown on Eurosport, as well as on online streaming platforms Eurosport Player and Discovery+.

Related topics: