Each day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, NBC Olympics will run down all sports in action, highlighting major athletes and marquee events. Every event streams live on NBCOlympics.com, Peacock, NBC.com and the NBC Sports app, and many will also air on the TV networks of NBC. Visit the schedule page for full listings.
Following Friday's Opening Ceremony, it's time for the first day of medal competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and several sports are in the spotlight.
In the pool, Katie Ledecky races Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh in the 400m freestyle, while Caeleb Dressel and the U.S. men look to three-peat in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Elsewhere, a U.S. diving pair seek the podium in the women's synchro 3m springboard event, and Nyjah Huston takes on a Japanese trio in men's street skateboarding.
Below, a full breakdown of the top events and athletes to watch on Day 1.
Swimming
The first night of swimming features four finals, with the headliner being Katie Ledecky's first attempt in Paris at another gold medal.
The women's 400m freestyle final may be the most anticipated swimming race of these Games with the event's last three world-record holders set to clash for gold. Australia's Ariarne Titmus, Canadian Summer McIntosh and Ledecky — collective holders of the distance's 28 fastest times in history — faced off at last year's world championships. Titmus took the title, Ledecky placed second, and McIntosh finished fourth behind Kiwi Erika Fairweather.
Titmus is the defending Olympic gold medalist, while Ledecky topped the podium in Rio. McIntosh, 17, grew up with Ledecky quotes and posters on her wall and trains in Florida, less than three hours from Ledecky.
The 4x100m freestyle relay finals cap off the night.
In the men's event, the Americans have won 10 of the last 13 golds and are favored to improve that record. Caeleb Dressel is back following an eight-month break after 2022 Worlds. He, Chris Guiliano, Jack Alexy and Hunter Armstrong all swam sub-47.8 seconds at U.S. Trials in June, and could potentially capture Team USA's first gold of the Games.
In the women's relay, Australia's depth primes it for gold, while the U.S. — which has won a medal in the event at every Games in which it's competed — hasn't won the big prize since 2000.
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Men's 400m Freestyle 🏅 | 2:42 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Women's 400m Freestyle 🏅 | 2:52 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay 🏅 | 3:34 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay 🏅 | 3:44 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Diving
Americans Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook, fourth-place finishers at the 2023 World Championships, have a good shot at landing on the women's synchro 3m springboard podium and earning the U.S. its second-ever medal in the event. Chinese divers have won the last five golds.
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Women's Synchronized 3m Springboard 🏅 | 5 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Skateboarding
UPDATE (3:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 27) -- Men's skateboard street, originally scheduled for Saturday, July 27, has been postponed due to slick course conditions and rain. The event will now be held on Monday, July 29. The women's skateboard street events remain scheduled for their original times on Sunday, July 28, with prelims at 6 a.m. ET and the final at 11 a.m. ET.
American Nyjah Huston is back to avenge a seventh-place men's skateboard street finish in Tokyo, where compatriot Jagger Eaton took bronze while skating on a broken ankle. But they have their work cut out for them against a dominant trio of skaters from Japan: defending gold medalist Yuto Horigome, 14-year-old prodigy Ginwoo Onodera and reigning world champion Sora Shirai. This has the potential to be Team USA's first gold of the Paris Games.
Both Horigome and Huston faced adversity in qualifying for these Olympics. Horigome almost missed out amid intense national competition, winning the final qualifier in June to secure his spot, while Huston won three qualifier events following an August 2022 fall in which he tore his ACL, partially tore his meniscus and fractured his tibia.
Fencing
Sabre fencer Eli Dershwitz made history last year by becoming the second American man to win an individual fencing world title — and did so dramatically. He overcame a 10-4 deficit in the semis against Hungary's Aron Szilagyi, who enters these Games the three-time defending Olympic gold medalist.
Dershwitz is a solid medal contender. A dark horse could be his younger compatriot Colin Heathcock, 18, who grew up in Beijing and represented Germany before joining the U.S. after the 2022 season. He's climbed the rankings over the past year and any podium spot would make him the youngest-ever medalist in the event.
In the women's individual epee, Marie-Florence Candassamy may find France's first gold of the Games.
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Women's Individual Epee 🏅 | 3:30 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Men's Individual Sabre 🏅 | 3:55 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Gymnastics
Men's qualifying gets underway, and for the first time in a few cycles, a young and hungry U.S. team is a confident podium contender in the team event.
Japan and China, the two most recent world title winners, are clear favorites, especially with no Russian competition. They're respectively led by defending all-around gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto and 2021 world all-around champion Zhang Boheng.
The Americans finished third at 2023 Worlds, and did it without Brody Malone, who suffered a major knee injury earlier in the year. Malone's back and joins reigning world all-around bronze medalist Frederick Richard, Paul Juda, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik in attempting to earn the U.S. its first team medal since 2008.
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Men's Qualification: Subdivision 1 | 5 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Soccer
The U.S. fell 3-0 to France in its group play opener, while New Zealand beat Guinea 2-1. The two teams will meet in the second match of group play for both, and this one is essentially a must-win for the Americans.
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Men's Group A: NZL vs. USA | 1 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Other notable events
- Mixed team air rifle pairings compete for first medals of the Paris Olympics (4:30 a.m. ET)
- Beach volleyball prelims get underway; U.S. pairings in action: Miles Partain/Andy Benesh (8 a.m. ET), Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss (4 p.m. ET)
- Reigning world champion cyclist Chloe Dygert pursues an elusive first individual Olympic gold in the women's time trial (8:30 a.m. ET)
- Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who has won virtually everything but Olympic gold in his career, gets to work in men's singles (8:30 a.m. ET)
- U.S. begins women's water polo title defense with prelim vs. Greece (9:35 a.m. ET)
- Clay-court king Rafael Nadal teams up with tennis throne heir Carlos Alcaraz in a dream Spanish doubles pairing (1 p.m. ET)
- France with star Antoine Dupont possibly reaches for rugby glory at home (1:45 p.m. ET)
- Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander go head-to-head in Greece-Canada group game (3 p.m. ET)
Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
---|---|---|
Shooting: Mixed Team Air Rifle 🏅 | 4:30 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Beach Volleyball: Men's Pool D USA Partain/Benesh vs. CUB Diaz/Alayo |
8 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Road Cycling: Women's Time Trial 🏅 | 8:30 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Tennis: Men's Singles Round 1 Djokovic (SRB) vs. Ebden (AUS) |
8:30 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Water Polo: Women's Group B, GRE-USA | 9:35 a.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Tennis: Men's Doubles Round 1 Gonzalez/Molteni vs. Alcaraz/Nadal |
1 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Rugby: Gold Medal Match 🏅 | 1:45 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Basketball: Men's Group A, GRE-CAN | 3 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
Beach Volleyball: Women's Pool B USA Nuss/Kloth vs. CAN Bansley/Bukovec |
4 p.m. | NBCOlympics.com, Peacock |
NBC Primetime
Primetime in Paris will air on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on Saturday night. Check local listings for the time in your area.
Saturday night's primetime show will include coverage from men's gymnastics qualifying, Night 1 of swimming finals, and the first diving event of the Paris Games.