Tokyo 2020 on the BBC

• Michael Johnson, Chris Hoy, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Katherine Grainger, Nicola Adams, Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and many more to join BBC Sport presenting team
• Over 350 hours of coverage on BBC One and BBC Two with a brand new virtual reality studio allowing for a stunning backdrop of the host city
• BBC Radio 5 Live to introduce Olympics schedule packed with live action for all 17 days of the competition

As the countdown begins to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (23 July – 8 August 2021), the BBC has unveiled coverage plans across TV, radio and online for what may be the most highly anticipated Games in a generation following a year-long postponement.

Building on the success of record-breaking output from Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018, the BBC will once again be at the heart of the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, offering  access to each of the 33 sports making up this year’s Olympic Games across TV, radio and online. BBC One and BBC Two will broadcast over 350 hours of action live from Tokyo, while a second live stream available on BBC iPlayer  will ensure fans can catch all the unmissable moments from this year’s Games as they unfold. BBC Radio 5 Live will introduce an Olympics schedule for all 17 days of the Games, while the BBC Sport website and app will provide up-to-the-minute coverage of events as they unfold with live text updates and analysis, video highlights and breaking news in addition to a comprehensive catch-up service.

Coverage will feature in-depth insight and analysis from a world-leading team of presenters and pundits. Among them will be some of the nation’s most-loved Olympians, including Michael Johnson, Chris Hoy, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Katherine Grainger, Nicola Adams, Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and many more. Gabby Logan, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Dan Walker, Jason Mohammad, Alex Scott, JJ Chalmers and Sam Quek will front BBC One’s coverage, while Jeanette Kwakye and Nihal Arthanayake will host an extra highlights show daily on BBC Two. Mark Chapman, Rachel Burden, Kelly Cates and JJ Chalmers will lead the coverage on 5 Live.

The BBC will also be producing a range of additional programmes and content to coincide with Tokyo 2020, from documentaries to podcasts. The much-anticipated trailer for Tokyo 2020 will premiere on Tuesday 29 June during England’s Euro 2020 match on BBC One.

Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, says: “There will be something for everyone on the BBC for Tokyo 2020, with a huge range of content available across TV, radio and online, plus a world-class line-up of presenters and pundits. The anticipation for this year’s Olympics is higher than ever, and we’re proud to be showcasing the very best of the action.”

TV and BBC iPlayer

The BBC will offer extensive access to the 33 sports making up this year’s Olympics, with in-depth insight and analysis available up to 24 hours a day across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the Red Button.

Fans can catch all the unmissable moments from this year’s Games with over 350 hours of network TV coverage in addition to a live stream available on BBC iPlayer. A brand new virtual reality studio will be the home of the action, giving viewers a spectacular backdrop of the host city and bringing them closer to their favourite events and those all-important medal moments.

The Games officially open on BBC One at 11am on Friday 23 July with the build-up and live coverage of the Opening Ceremony, hosted by Clare Balding and Alex Scott, with commentary from Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter. Team GB’s opening match against Chile in the women’s football will also be shown live on BBC Two from 8.15am on Wednesday 21 July, hosted by Alex Scott.

Daily event coverage will begin on BBC One on Saturday 24 July. Each day throughout the games, JJ Chalmers will host from midnight – 5am, followed by Dan Walker and Sam Quek co-hosting a special edition of BBC Breakfast from 5am - 9am with the best of the overnight action as well as plenty of live sport in addition to the regular national and regional news updates.

Hazel Irvine and Gabby Logan will co-host daily from 9am - 3pm, followed by Jason Mohammad from 3pm - 6pm. Clare Balding and Alex Scott will bring each day to a close on BBC One from 7.30pm - 9pm with Today At The Games, taking a look back at all the biggest and best moments from that day’s events. The action continues daily on BBC Two, 9pm - 10pm, with Olympics Extra, a show dedicated to in-depth highlights from some of the key sports of the day hosted by Jeanette Kwakye and Nihal Arthanayake. All shows on BBC One and BBC Two will also be available to watch live or on-demand on BBC iPlayer.

Alongside the presenters will be an expert team of pundits and commentators, including Michael Johnson and Team GB legends Chris Hoy, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Colin Jackson, Nicola Adams, Mark Foster, Rebecca Adlington, Katherine Grainger, Kate Richardson-Walsh and many more.

The action wraps up with a review of the Games at 11am on Sunday 8 August on BBC One ahead of live coverage of the Closing Ceremony, hosted again by Alex Scott and Clare Balding, with commentary from Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter.

In addition to what’s on TV, a second live stream available on BBC iPlayer will ensure fans can catch all the unmissable moments from this year’s Games as they unfold, while UK audiences can still enjoy anything they may have missed live with special highlights programmes available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website. Viewers watching live programmes on BBC iPlayer can also make use of the live restart function, allowing them to watch their favourite events from the beginning.

Radio and BBC Sounds

BBC Radio 5 Live will introduce an Olympic schedule to run for all 17 days of the competition beginning with Sonja McLaughlan covering the Opening Ceremony on Friday 23 July. From Saturday 24 July, Mark Chapman and Rachel Burden will present Olympic Breakfast (6am - 9am) alongside Victoria Pendleton, Helen Richardson-Walsh, Daley Thompson, Christine Ohuruogu and Mark Hunter, bringing listeners all the overnight news from Japan and live commentary as it happens.

From 1am - 6am each day Dotun Adebayo will have the latest from the morning sessions in Tokyo in Up All Night, while from 11am - 2pm Kelly Cates will have the very best of the action from the evening events. The baton is handed to JJ Chalmers and Eleanor Oldroyd in the evenings for a daily highlights show on 5 Live Sport. All shows can be heard on radio or on BBC Sounds. Throughout each day the presenters will be joined by a world leading team of pundits and commentators, including Nile Wilson, Allison Curbishley and Katelyn Ohashi and Karen Carney.

Also on BBC Sounds, the Olympics Daily podcast will round up the best commentary moments and stories from the Games for fans to enjoy on demand.  In addition, brand new three part podcast Olympic Mile will see Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller get to know athletes as they prepare for this year’s Summer Olympics by walking a mile with them. She’ll hear from them again during the competition itself, lifting the curtain on the life of an athlete during the Games, as well as catching up with them afterwards to hear what they made of the experience.

Digital

The BBC Sport website, app and social media channels will enable fans to catch unmissable moments from the Games whenever, wherever and however they want.

Though the action may be taking place almost 6000 miles and several time zones away, UK audiences can still enjoy anything they may have missed live with special highlights programmes available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

The BBC Sport website and app will keep fans up to speed with events as they happen, with live text updates and analysis alongside video highlights and breaking news, while interactive content across BBC Sport’s social media channels will also allow fans to get involved in the excitement, including on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and more.

A full medal table, comprehensive results coverage and a day-by-day guide to the Games will provide up-to-the-minute updates in addition to personalised notifications for major stories via the app.

Additional Programming

Beyond event coverage, there will be a range of additional content across the BBC to coincide with Tokyo 2020.

TV

Gold Rush

BBC One, 5 July, 9pm- 10pm

This is the definitive story of Britain’s sporting journey from the Atlanta Games in 1996, to Olympic glory in London 2012. It is a story of athletes, for whom those 16 years represent a patchwork of personal triumph, adversity and, sometimes, bitter disappointment; a story of politicians and strategists, who oversaw British sport’s transition from a culture of semi-amateurism to a world-beating professional enterprise.

And it’s the story of our nation - facing being known as the world’s sporting ‘also-rans’; scoffing at the idea we could hope to host a Games on home soil; but emerging in 2012 with a renewed self-confidence in our own abilities, and our own shared identity.

The narrative takes in how Britain won the bid to host the 2012 games, and the strategy that went into ensuring we would triumph on home soil. But although the no-compromise approach led to glory, those wins sometimes came at a cost.

The tale of highs and lows will be told through rich archive, as well as testimony from those at the top level, including our greatest athletes and their coaches, leading politicians, and others behind the scenes.

Gold Rush, a 3x60 for BBC One, is made by Blast Films. It was commissioned by Kate Philips, Acting Controller, BBC One and Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, History and Religion. The Executive Producer is Tanya Winston and the Commissioning Editor is Hamish Fergusson.

BBC World Service

On The Podium

Produced by Joel Hammer with BBC Sport, new BBC World Service series On the Podium looks at what it takes to get to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Paralympian Scout Bassett, comedian Eliza Skinner and athletics commentator Ed Harry interview athletes with remarkable personal stories about the journeys they took to star on sport’s biggest stage. These include Lex Gillette, the blind long jumper, Maarten van der Weeden, who, just a few years after recovering from cancer won gold in the open water swimming at Beijing 2008, multiple medal-winning double leg amputee Oksana Masters and 16 year-old Brighton Zeuner, a skateboarder with two X-Games golds under her belt set to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Listen on BBC World Service or on BBC Sounds now.

On The Podium - Programme Information

World Service Languages

A team of journalists will deliver multiplatform material for BBC World Service’s 41 non-English-language websites, YouTube and social-media channels, telling the stories of the triumphs and heartbreaks of the athletes who will be performing in most unusual circumstances.

The BBC’s language services will mount Instagram and Facebook lives for their audiences, bringing them stories beyond the sports results. These include inspirational stories such as those of the refugee team who, against all odds, have kept alive their dreams of competing. Behind-the-scenes coverage will include explainers on what it's like to be at a 'Covid' Olympics, be it as a journalist, a volunteer or an athlete; what measures are taken by the Japanese government and the IOC to keep the games safe; how GPS monitoring will be conducted using each journalist's smartphone; and the requirements for visitors to refrain from going out during the first 14 days of their stay in Japan.

As part of the visual journalism content, the BBC’s output in various languages will include an interactive section, How To Fuel The Marathon Olympians, offering users the opportunity to learn about the diet of Kenya’s two world-record-holding marathon runners, Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei. Users will learn about the importance of nutrition and the huge amount of energy required to be a marathon champion, while exclusive interviews with the two athletes will provide a unique insight into the culture and lifestyle of the Kalenjin people of Western Kenya.

A special team of BBC journalists will produce content in multiple languages for audiences in Africa where the World Service has a weekly reach of 111m people. Live TV and radio programmes will wrap up each day's events while the digital offer will include stories of special relevance to the region, be it an insight into the African musicians, teachers and chefs who live in Japan and are informal ambassadors of their home countries; Japan’s fans of the African dance Kizomba; or Tokyo's burgeoning Afro hip-hop dancing scene.

BBC News

BBC World News and BBC.com

BBC World News will be providing audiences around the globe with daily updates from Tokyo during news bulletins, whilst BBC.com will explore the Olympics in more depth, including a daily catch-up, a medals table, results pages and features and analyses.

Nations

BBC Sport Scotland will follow the stories of Scottish athletes throughout their Olympic journeys, with regular news and updates across TV, radio and online.

Fans at home can follow Welsh athletes on BBC Sport Wales online and on BBC Cymru Fyw, Wales Today, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, while on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Sounds, two-part documentary Training for Tokyo will follow Welsh athletes as they prepare for these unique games in Japan.

BBC Sport NI will be following the progress of the Northern Ireland athletes in Tokyo. Gavin Andrews, Nigel Ringland and Rob Carter will be reporting from Tokyo keeping local audiences up to date. The BBC Sport NI team will be providing regular updates as our competitors go in search of Olympic glory. Nigel, Rob and Gavin will have all the latest news across BBC Sport NI platforms with live updates on Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster, features, interviews and packages on BBC Newsline and all the latest reaction on the BBC Sport NI website.

TV line-up

Athletics

Studio Guests: Jessica Ennis-Hill, Michael Johnson, Denise Lewis
Commentators: Steve Backley, Andrew Cotter, Steve Cram, Colin Jackson, Paula Radcliffe
Reporter: Jeanette Kwakye

Badminton (selected matches)

Commentators: Nick Lester, Sam Smith, Gail Emms

BMX

Commentators: Ed Leigh, Jon Taylor
Reporter: Tim Warwood

Boxing

Studio Guest: Nicola Adams
Commentators: Ronald McIntosh, Richie Woodhall

Canoeing

Commentators: Helen Reeves, Patrick Winterton
Reporter: Matthew Pinsent

Climbing

Studio Guest: Molly Thompson-Smith
Commentators: Ed Leigh, Mike Langley
Reporter: Tim Warwood

Cycling

Studio Guest: Chris Hoy
Commentators: Chris Boardman, Simon Brotherton
Reporter: Jill Douglas

Diving

Studio Guest: Chris Mears
Commentators: Kat Downes, Leon Taylor

Equestrian

Commentators: Andy Austin, Nick Luck, Ian Stark

Football

Studio Guest: Casey Stoney
Commentators (women’s): Jonathan Pearce, Sue Smith
Commentators (men’s): Alistair Mann

Gymnastics

Studio Guest: Beth Tweddle
Commentators: Matt Baker, Craig Heap, Christine Still

Hockey

Commentators: Matt Chilton, Simon Mason, Kate Richardson-Walsh

Rowing

Studio Guest: Katherine Grainger
Commentators: Garry Herbert, James Cracknell
Reporter: Matthew Pinsent

Sailing

Commentators: Niall Myant, Shirley Robertson

Skateboarding

Commentators: Ed Leigh, Marc Churchill
Reporter: Tim Warwood

Surfing

Commentators: Ed Leigh, Ben Mondy

Swimming

Studio Guests: Rebecca Adlington, Mark Foster
Commentators: Andy Jameson, Adrian Moorhouse
Reporter: Sharron Davies

Table Tennis (selected matches)

Commentators: Nick Lester, Sam Smith, Jill Parker

Taekwondo

Studio Guest: Lutalo Muhammad

Tennis (selected matches)

Commentators: Nick Lester, Sam Smith

Triathlon

Commentators: Matt Chilton, Annie Emmerson

Other commentators/reporters

Nihal Arthanayake, Rishi Persad, Nick Hope, John Watson

5 Live line-up

Aquatics

John Hunt, Karen Pickering and Steve Parry

Athletics

Mike Costello, Allison Curbishley, Marlon Devonish, Christine Ohuruogu, Daley Thompson

Boxing

Jonathan Overend, Steve Bunce

Canoe Sprint

Rob Hatch

Canoe Slalom

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Iain Carter, Rob Hatch

Cycling

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Rob Hatch and Victoria Pendleton

Equestrian

Jonathan Agnew

Golf

Iain Carter

Gymnastics

Eleanor Oldroyd, Katelyn Ohashi, Nile Wilson

Football

John Murray, Karen Carney, Izzy Christiansen

Hockey

Sara Orchard and Helen Richardson-Walsh

Rowing

Alistair Bruce-Ball and Mark Hunter

Rugby 7s

Sonja McLaughlan

Shooting

Andy Stevenson

Taekwondo

Jonathan Overend and Steve Bunce

Tennis

Russell Fuller

Reporter

Sonja McLaughlan

Pictures L-R: Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers, Hazel Irvine, Sam Quek, Clare Balding, Alex Scott, Dan Walker, Gabby Logan, Jason Mohammad, Nihal Arthanayake

BS 

Related BBC Links

• BBC Sport - Olympics