ON THE OFF-CHANCE you haven’t noticed yet, the 2024 Paris Olympics are about to begin, with the opening ceremony taking place early on Saturday morning. For the next two weeks or so, many people’s lives will be consumed by sport, as intense media saturation, never ending broadcast coverage and swaths of public discourse will make it nearly impossible to ignore the Games. This presents a small problem, because there’s so much on that you might not know what to watch.
The Olympics will squeeze 329 events across 32 into just 16 days. Many of these events will run simultaneously, and unfortunately for Australian viewers, in the middle of the night. As a result, you need to be careful with how you spend your time. You don’t want to commit to waking up at 3am unless it’s going to be worth it, but you also don’t want to risk missing out on a magical moment.
To put your mind at ease, we’ve hand-picked this weekend’s highlights, so you can focus on the events that matter. All dates and times are in AEST. May your sleep schedule be minimally disrupted.
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Saturday morning, July 27th
Opening ceremony – 4:00am
Saturday night, July 27th
Men’s basketball, Australia vs Spain – 7:00pm
The Boomers begin their Olympic campaign.
Diving, women’s synchronised 3-metre springboard final – 7:00pm
Maddison Keeney and Annabelle Smith go for what could be Australia’s first medal of the Games.
Tennis, singles opening round – 8:00pm
Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz will all be in action.
Men’s field hockey, Australia vs Argentina – 9:15pm
The Kookaburras, lead by flagbearer Eddie Ockenden, start their road to gold.
Road cycling, women’s time trial – 10:30pm
Australian Grace Brown goes for gold.
Sunday morning, July 28th
Rugby sevens men’s semi-final, Australia vs Fiji – 12:00am
Fiji stands in the way of a gold medal match for the Aussie men’s sevens team.
Road cycling, men’s time trial – 12:30am
Skateboarding, men’s street final – 1:00am
Tennis, doubles opening round – 3:00am
Alcaraz and Nadal team up for doubles.
Rugby sevens, men’s gold medal match – 3:45am
If Australia defeats Fiji, they’ll play in this match for a gold medal.
Swimming, men’s 400m freestyle final – 4:42am
Both Sam Short and Elijah Winnington have a shot at gold.
Swimming, women’s 400m freestyle final – 4:52am
What’s being called the “race of the century” will feature Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh in a battle for the ages.
Swimming, women’s 4x100m freestyle relay final – 5:34am
Australia has won this event at three consecutive Olympics.
Swimming, men’s 4x100m freestyle relay final – 5:44am
Sunday night, July 28th
Tennis, singles opening round – 8:00pm
Alex de Minaur begins his Olympic campaign.
Women’s field hockey, Australia vs South Africa – 8:45pm
The Hockeyroos open the pool stage against their close rivals.
Monday morning, July 29th
Women’s rugby sevens, Australia vs South Africa – 12:00am
The women’s sevens team will look to emulate the success of their male counterparts.
Skateboarding, women’s street final – 1:00am
Chloe Covell looks to become Australia’s youngest gold medallist.
Men’s basketball, USA vs Serbia – 1:15am
Team USA starts out against what could potentially be their biggest threat for the gold medal.
Canoe slalom, women’s C1 final – 1:45am
Flagbearer Jess Fox looks to add to her extensive collection of Olympic medals.
Women’s football, Australia vs Zambia – 3:00am
The Matildas will hope to improve upon their abysmal start to the Games
Women’s rugby sevens, Australia vs Great Britain – 3:30am
Swimming, men’s 400m individual medley final – 4:30am
Frenchman Leon Marchand could break the world record in this event.
Swimming, women’s 100m butterfly final – 4:40am
Emma McKeon could become the most decorated female swimmer of all time with a medal here.
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