Team USA Olympic schedule: key competitions and days from gymnastics, basketball to swimming
Team USA is heading to Paris, France to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, hoping to bring home a slew of gold medals with the likes of Simone Biles and Sha’Carri Richardson in their ranks.
To date, Team USA has brought home 2,629 Summer Olympic medals, with 1,061 of them being gold medals.
LeBron James has officially been chosen as flag bearer for the United States delegation during the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. The four-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was voted by a group of nearly 600 members of Team USA to be the flag bearer during the Paris Games’ Opening Ceremony.
James will join the 592 athletes competing for Team USA in the upcoming games. Here is what to expect and key dates – with the stats in Eastern Time – for the biggest competitions:
Key dates for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Opening Ceremonies
The Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics are always a grand affair, and the Paris Games will be no exception.
The ceremonies are set to happen on July 26 starting at 1.30 p.m. NBC will air the opening ceremonies live and again in primetime for those unable to watch while at work.
Paris plans several firsts for the Opening Ceremonies this year, including that it will be the first outside of a stadium. The event will instead be held along the Seine river with boats for each national delegation. More than 10,500 athletes in total will cross through the center of Paris by boat. The parade of athletes will also be at the start of the event, a change from other Opening Ceremonies.
Archery
The USA archery teams will be out competing for the top of the podium with the women’s team led by 20-year-old Casey Kaufhold. She could be the first American to medal in archery since the 1976 games in Montreal. She competed at age 17 in the Tokoyo games.
The women’s team semifinal and final will air on USA Network at 10.10 am on July 28, and the men’s final will air on USA Network at 1pm on July 29.
Basketball
The men’s basketball group stages run between July 28 and August 3, and the quarterfinals to medal games run between August 6 and August 10. LeBron James, who last played for the Olympics in 2012, will return to play for the Olympic Team when it opens group play against Serbia on Sunday, July 28 at 11.15am. The game is set to air on NBC.
The women’s basketball group stages run from July 29 to August 4, and the quarterfinals to medal contests run between August 7 and August 11. Basketball legend Diana Taurasi, with five Olympic gold medals to her name, will start play against Japan at 3pm on July 29 airing on USA.
The group phase games begin at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, roughly 136 miles north of Paris, while the knockout rounds return to Paris at the Bercy Arena.
Beach volleyball
The men’s and women’s volleyball group stages run between July 27 and August 10, with quarterfinals between August 6 and August 10.
On the women’s side, World championships Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes return to Paris this week, along with Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss. Kloth and Nuss open on July 28 at 2am against Canada airing on USA network. Hughes and Cheng open the same day at 4 p.m. against Czechoslovakia, with the match airing on digital broadcasting.
The games take place at the Champ de Mars Park, next to the Eiffel Tower.
Breakdancing
For the Olympics’ newly added breaking sport, the men will compete on August 9 and the women will compete on August 10 at the Place de La Concorde, a historic square located at the end of the Champs-Elysees.
Victor Montalvo, who won gold at the 2023 World Championships, is set to play for the USA. The women’s final is set for 2pm on August 9 airing on E!
Gymnastics
Men’s qualification begins July 27 at 5am and women’s qualification begins July 28 at 3.30am, and finals for both squads run between July 29 and August 5 at Bercy Arena.
Simone Biles, who with one more medal would become the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history, will compete for USA. She will compete in several events including in team qualifying at 3.30am on July 28 and in the the women’s vault final at 10.20am on August 3. The women’s all-around final is set for 12.15pm. on August 1, airing on digital broadcasts.
The women’s team final is set for 12.15pm on July 30, airing on NBC.
Judo
Men’s and women’s preliminary and finals rounds run between July 27 and August 3 at the Champs de Mars Arena in Paris. The USA has four competitors in judo, including Maria Laborde and Angelica Delgado on the women’s side and Jack Yonezuka and John Jayne on the men’s.
Skateboarding
Men’s and women’s preliminary and final rounds run between July 27 and August 7 at Paris’ Place de La Concorde. Gavin Bottger, Jagger Eaton, and Nyjah Huston will play for the U.S. team.
The men’s street preliminary rounds are set for 6.45am on July 27 and will air on CNBC. The men’s park preliminary rounds are set for August 7 at 7.05am on USA, and the finals will air later in the morning on the same network.
Swimming
Men’s and women’s rounds run between July 27 and August 9 at the Paris La Defense Arena.
With seven Olympic gold medals, Katie Ledecky will start on July 28 at 5.40am in the women’s 200m freestyle heat airing on USA. She also plans to swim the 800m and 1500m freestyle and the 4×200 team relay. Ledecky who is one of the USA most popular athletes has the chance to become the most decorated female Olympic swimmer in history. The team relay is set for August 1 at 2.30pm airing on NBC.
“My goals are not to be the first person to do this, to be the first person to do that and join this person and this person as the only ones that have done this,” Ledecky said in the Olympic run-up, according to NBC Washington. “My goals are very time focused and splits focused and technically focused.”
Both the men’s and women’s 100m freestyle swim finals are set for July 31 at 2.15pm on NBC. The men’s 10km open water swim is set for August 9 starting at 1.30am on USA network.
Track and field
Some of the most watched competitions come from track and field. Men’s and women’s rounds run between August 1 and August 11 at the Stade de France, the country’s biggest stadium.
One of the most anticipated players will be Sha’Carri Richardson, who was unable to compete at the 2020 Games due to a suspension. She is set to compete in the 100m sprint for the USA. The 100m sprint is one of the most watched races in the world, and helps determine the “fastest” people on Earth. The men’s final 100m race runs August 3 at 1pm., while the women’s final 100m race runs August 4 at 1.10pm.
Other notable events include the women’s 3000m steeplechase starting at 1:35 p.m. on August 6 on NBC, and the women’s pole vault final starting at 12.55pm. on August 7 airing on digital platforms and the men’s 400m hurdles finals starting at 1.35pm on August 8 on NBC.
Wrestling
Numerous Americans will be competing across wrestling in different weight classes and styles. David Taylor is the reigning Olympic champion in the 86kg men’s freestyle and is set to compete again this year. The finals for that weight class are set for August 9 at 12.15pm and airing on digital platforms. The women are led by Amit Elor, who is competing in the 68kg freestyle. The finals for her weight class are set for August 10 again on digital platforms.
Closing Ceremonies
The Olympics are set to conclude on August 11 with the Closing Ceremony. Coverage is set to begin at 2pm on NBC, with primetime coverage starting at 7pm.
