Tokyo 2021 Olympics: Complete Schedule of Summer Games' Medal Events
July 23, 2021
Let the Olympic Games begin. The athletes have arrived, the opening ceremony is taking place Friday and things are rolling, even though the events will feel a bit different because of COVID-19 protocols and the lack of fans in attendance.
Still, the coming weeks will feature some exciting competition as athletes from around the world compete for medals in Tokyo. That's what makes the Olympics so special, and these postponed Games will still capture that atmosphere.
Some of the events got underway before Friday's opening ceremony, with softball games and soccer matches taking place. Here's a look at the full schedule for every event at this year's Summer Olympics.
Complete Schedule for Medal Events
Opening Ceremony: July 23
Archery: July 23-31
Artistic Gymnastics: July 24-29, Aug. 1-3
Artistic Swimming: Aug. 2-4, Aug. 6-7
Athletics: July 30-Aug. 8
Badminton: July 24-Aug. 2
Baseball/Softball: July 21-22, July 24-Aug. 5, Aug. 7
Beach Volleyball: July 24-Aug. 7
Boxing: July 24-Aug. 1, Aug. 3-8
Canoe Slalom: July 25-30
Canoe Sprint: Aug. 2-7
Cycling BMX Freestyle: July 31-Aug. 1
Cycling BMX Racing: July 29-30
Cycling Mountain Bike: July 26-27
Cycling Road: July 24-25, July 28
Cycling Track: Aug. 2-8
Diving: July 25-28, July 30-Aug. 7
Equestrian: July 23-25, July 27-Aug. 7
Fencing: July 24-Aug. 1
Golf: July 29-Aug. 1, Aug. 4-7
Handball: July 24-Aug. 8
Hockey: July 24-Aug. 6
Judo: July 24-31
Karate: Aug. 5-7
Marathon Swimming: Aug. 4-5
Modern Pentathlon: Aug. 5-7
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Aug. 6-8
Rowing: July 23-30
Rugby Sevens: July 26-31
Sailing: July 25-Aug. 4
Shooting: July 22-Aug. 2
Skateboarding: July 25-26, Aug. 4-5
Soccer: July 21-22, July 24-25, July 27-28, July 30-31, Aug. 2-3, Aug. 5-7
Sport Climbing: Aug. 3-6
Surfing: July 25-Aug. 1
Swimming: July 24-Aug. 1
Table Tennis: July 24-30, Aug. 1-6
Taekwondo: July 24-27
Tennis: July 24-Aug. 1
Three-on-three Basketball: July 24-28
Trampoline Gymnastics: July 30-31
Triathlon: July 26-27, July 31
Volleyball: July 24-Aug. 8
Water Polo: July 24-Aug. 8
Weightlifting: July 24-28, July 31-Aug. 4
Wrestling: Aug. 1-7
Closing Ceremony: Aug. 8
After the opening ceremony takes place Friday, it won't take long for medals to start being awarded. Numerous events will have champions as soon as Saturday.
The first medal events taking place will be archery, road cycling, fencing, judo, shooting, taekwondo and weightlifting.
One noteworthy event taking place this weekend is skateboarding, which is part of the Olympics for the first time. There will be medal events Sunday and Monday, with men's street occurring on the first day and women's street happening on the second (the skateboarding park events are scheduled for Aug. 4-5).
Tony Hawk popularized skateboarding long before it became an Olympic event. Now that it's being included in the Games, he's thrilled to see it showcased on a larger scale.
"I think it's exciting. I think it's a testament to all of the skaters' perseverance through the years and how it has become validated in the eyes of kids and mainstream media," Hawk told Chris Bengel of CBS Sports. "To see it added to an institution like the Olympics, it shows that we're here to stay. We have been for a long time, but there were some growing pains along the way."
In addition to skateboarding, the other first-time sports at this year's Olympics are karate, sport climbing and surfing. Baseball and softball have also returned to the Games for the first time since 2008.
Softball play began Wednesday and continued Thursday. Only six teams qualified for the Olympics: Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United States. A round-robin tournament will be held, with the top two teams advancing to the gold medal game.
Team USA softball is off to a tremendous start, having notched back-to-back shutout wins over Italy and Canada. USA has scored only three total runs, but that's been enough to win because of its stellar pitching performances.
On Thursday, Monica Abbott threw a one-hitter in USA's 1-0 win over Canada. The lone run came from an RBI single by Amanda Chidester in the fifth inning.
There's a good chance that Team USA will win the gold medal in softball. It came up short in 2008, when it lost to Japan, but it won the gold in 1996, 2000 and 2004, the first three times that the sport was featured at the Games.
The gold and bronze medal games for softball take place Tuesday. And the baseball event will start the following day. As with the softball, six teams qualified: the Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United States.