The Tokyo 2020 Games -- now in 2021 -- are officially underway!
Team USA is going for the gold in men's basketball. The team will face off against France on Friday, aiming to make the Tokyo Olympics the fourth consecutive Olympic Games that the Team USA men's team wins gold in the event.
Team USA defeated Australia 97-78 in the semi-finals on Thursday, thanks in part to Kevin Durant, who recently became the all-time leading scorer of U.S. men's basketball at the Olympics, surpassing Carmelo Anthony. The U.S. team goes head to head with some fellow NBA players on Friday, with Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum all playing for France.
The game will kick off from Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT on Friday -- and while much of the Olympics has been free to stream on Peacock, fans will need a paid subscription to watch the men's basketball final.
The streamer offers two paid tiers -- one with ads for $5 / month, and one without ads for $10 / month.
The U.S. men's basketball team isn't the only one in a gold medal match. The U.S. women's basketball team has advanced to a gold medal game against Japan, which will take place on Sunday. Team USA will also have the chance to win gold in women's water polo if they beat Spain on Saturday.
After winning a bronze medal in the 400-meter dash, Allyson Felix became the most-decorated female track and field athlete, with 10 career medals. However, she could also become the most-decorated track athlete in Olympic history if the U.S. women's relay medals in the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday.
Find out more about how and when to watch the 2021 Olympics below.
When are the Tokyo Olympics? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are taking place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but thanks to live streaming, there are more ways to watch than ever before. The two-week event kicked off on July 21 and runs through Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan, which commemorated the Games with the opening ceremony on Friday, July 23.
Competitions run from July 21 to Aug. 8. You can see a full competition schedule on the Tokyo Olympics website.
How to watch the closing ceremony: For the first time, NBC will air the closing ceremony live coast-to-coast on Aug. 8. The ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. Japanese Standard Time, which is 7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT. The ceremony will also stream live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. The rebroadcast at 4:30 p.m. PT will also be available on Peacock.
How to watch or stream the Olympics: NBC is broadcasting the Olympics, with additional coverage on NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports app. Another way to watch the games is on Peacock.
Peacock's Olympic coverage will be on the service's Tokyo NOW channel and began streaming on July 24, with live competition's from 6-11 a.m. ET on Tokyo LIVE, followed by Tokyo Gold from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. PT, featuring big moments from the days' competitions. Two more programs will also stream On Her Turf at the Olympics -- which focuses on female athletes -- will stream from 7-7:30 p.m. ET, and Tokyo Tonight will bring all the highlights of the day from 7:30 p.m. to midnight ET.
You can subscribe to Peacock, which has a free tier, to get Olympic coverage, and NBC is available on several live TV streaming services, including Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, AT&T TV and YouTube TV. Sling's Blue package with Sports Extra, fuboTV and YouTube TV specifically have the Olympic Channel, which has some additional coverage of the Games.
Additionally, if you have a Roku device, there is even more Olympics coverage. Roku users will be able to access in-depth coverage all throughout the games via the NBC Sports or Peacock channels on all Roku devices. Please note, a valid subscription is required for NBC Sports.
Which events will stream live on Peacock? Peacock is streaming major events live every morning -- including women's and men's gymnastics and Track and Field. Peacock will also stream live coverage of Team USA men's basketball throughout the 2021 Olympics. The live coverage will be supplemented with the ability for subscribers to catch highlights and full replays of events on demand in Peacock.
What original programming will stream on Peacock? Peacock subscribers have access to a variety of original programs, including Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg, For Ball and Country -- tracking the USA Men's Basketball team's quest for a fourth straight gold medal, Golden -- which follows all-star American gymnasts, Laurie Hernandez, Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Konnor McClain and MyKayla Skinner -- and The Sisters of '96 -- which relives the U.S. Women's Soccer Team's gold medal effort at the 1996 Games.
What if I'm abroad and struggling to see the Olympics? If you are in a country that doesn't have the Olympic Games for whatever reason, you can use a VPN to connect your computer or mobile device to a server in another country where you can watch the Olympics. There are several services that do this, including ExpressVPN, which is compatible with many devices and has additional security features.
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