How To Watch The Olympics Opening Ceremony In The UK

The Tokyo Olympics are finally set to start this Friday with a spectacular opening ceremony to kick things off. It's been more than a year in the making, as the spread of coronavirus put a stop to the games in 2020. Due to the rise in cases though, spectators have been banned from the games, meaning they can only be watched on TV.

In addition, the athletes will be sleeping in 'anti-sex beds' to make sure nobody is tempted to break social distancing rules.

Despite the (some rather unusual) anti-covid measures though, the Olympics will have the usual theatrical opening ceremony to mark the official start of the games, although some sports do start a few days before.

Here's everything you need to know about watching it.

When is the Olympics opening ceremony?

The opening ceremony for the Olympics 2020 takes place on Friday 23rd July 2021 in the main Olympic stadium in Tokyo.

Olympics opening ceremony UK time and TV channel

To watch it in the UK, you can watch it live on TV or livestream through BBC One (BBC iPlayer), Eurosport (Eurosport Player) or Discovery+.

The opening ceremony starts at 8pm local time, which means it starts at 12pm for UK viewers. The opening ceremony is set to last three hours.

What happens at the opening ceremony?

Traditionally, the opening ceremony will start with the raising of the host country's flag, which this year will be Japan's, followed by the host country's national anthem.

As usual, the details about the opening ceremony have been kept under wraps, but it's sure to be a spectacular display. Last year, there were rumours that Japan's famous video game characters would play key roles in the ceremony.

What we do know is that the chosen composer, Keigo Oyamada - aka Cornelius - has recently been axed from the opening ceremony after he boasted about abusing disabled classmates at school. So it looks like the committee for the opening ceremony has got a replacement to find - and fast.

But while we wait for that, here's a video of the Rio Olympics 2016 opening ceremony.

When do the Olympics start?

The first official Olympic games take place on Wednesday 23rd July with the women's softball opening round being the first event at 9am local time. So if you want to stay up to watch it, that's 1am UK time.