Pity all of us in the Mountain Time Zone. Sometimes, it’s just weird.
We have learned to live with incomprehensible television broadcast schedules. Network programming that will appear at “8 p.m. Eastern, Central and Pacific” might be on here at 9 p.m., 6 p.m., or 8:15 p.m.
Mostly, it doesn’t matter. We figure it out. But when a global event like the Summer Olympics arrives, the schedule becomes important. Particularly when so many of the U.S. federations, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee itself are headquartered here in Colorado Springs.
So many athletes are either from here or live part of the year here to take advantage of the altitude (we can call them Coloradans in training), that there is a lot to cheer for over the next couple of weeks.
But Paris is eight hours ahead of us, meaning if you want to watch your favorite events or athletes live, you’ll probably have to forgo some sleep, avoid the boss during the workday or both. If you miss something, there will be an evening recap on NBC to catch you up.
But even that may be confusing. For example, on Monday, you may hear NBC promoting primetime coverage at 8 p.m. Eastern. Mountain time is two hours behind Eastern, so it will be on at 6 p.m. here, right? Wrong. It will be on here at 7 p.m. to accommodate news programming. The events shown won't be live anyway (it will be 3 a.m. in Paris), but it is a good way to get caught up on the overwhelming number of sports - if you can find it.
To see absolutely everything live (and there are more than 150 separate events or recaps scheduled for Saturday alone), you might want the Peacock app from NBC, it will be streaming it all. Plans start at $7.99 a month. NBCOlympics.com is also showing events, as are NBC, USA Network, CNBC, E!, GOLF Channel, Telemundo and Universo.
To set your appointment viewing, you can start by going to NBC's Paris Olympics schedule webpage for the full day-by-day, sport-by-sport schedule of events actually tailored to the Mountain Time Zone.
But if you are just interested in the ceremony, and the Colorado athletes, your schedule is easier.
Subject to change due to injuries, changes in entries and changes in NBC’s broadcast plans, here is how to watch the opening ceremony live, and then at least the initial appearances of the Colorado-based athletes:
Opening ceremony schedule:
Friday
10 a.m. Opening Ceremony Preview — NBC
11 a.m. Opening Ceremony Preview in Spanish — Telemundo
11:30 a.m. Opening Ceremony — NBC
6:30 p.m. Opening Ceremony replay — NBC
10 p.m. Highlights in Spanish — Telemundo
When Colorado athletes will appear
Saturday, July 27
2:30 a.m. on Peacock (CNBC will air coverage starting at 3 a.m.)
Rylan Kissell competes for a medal in mixed team air rifle shooting. It will be the first medal awarded in the games. Kissell is a graduate of Littleton’s Dakota Ridge High School who now lives in Colorado Springs.
4 a.m. on Peacock
Rajeev Ram, men’s tennis doubles. Born in Denver, Ram won silver in mixed doubles in Rio with Venus Williams. Ram was born in Colorado to Bangalore immigrants.
6:30 a.m. on Peacock (NBC will air coverage starting at 7 a.m.)
Taylor Knibb, who trains in Boulder, will compete in the women’s cycling time trial. She is a rare dual-athlete, also competing later in the games in triathlon. Chloe Dygert, who trains in Colorado Springs, is also set to compete, one of two cycling competitions she’ll be in.
11:00 a.m. on USA Network, Peacock
Colorado Rapids midfielder Djordje Mihailovic plays for Team USA soccer against New Zealand. This is Mihailovic’s first Olympics. He grew up in Florida and Illinois. He’s the second Rapids player to play for an Olympic team.
1 p.m. on CNBC
Nuggets star Jamal Murray grew up in Kitchener, Canada, and plays for the Canadian national team against Greece. Canada hadn’t sent a basketball team to the Olympics in 24 years.
1:20 p.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Jajaira Gonzalez, who trains in Colorado Springs, competes in 60kg boxing preliminaries
Sunday, July 28
1:30 a.m. on Peacock (E! will air coverage starting at 2 a.m.)
Lynnzee Brown of the University of Denver will compete for Haiti in the qualifying rounds of women’s gymnastics.
2:30 a.m. on USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Jessica Thoennes, who grew up in Highlands Ranch, rows for the U.S. in the pairs heats.
3 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Emma Weber of Regis Jesuit and the Denver Hilltoppers swim club competes in the preliminaries of the 100m breaststroke.
6 a.m. on Peacock, (NBC will air starting at 6:30 a.m.)
Savilia Blunk of Durango and Fort Lewis College competes for a medal in women’s mountain biking.
8:30 a.m. on Peacock, CNBC
Sammy Sullivan competes in rugby for Team USA. She attended West Point and lives in Glendale, which has some of the premier rugby facilities in America. She plays for the Colorado Gray Wolves club.
9:15 a.m. on NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets leads Serbia against the U.S. in basketball group play.
1 p.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Janine Beckie of Highlands Ranch and Valor Christian High School plays for Canada in women’s soccer.
1 p.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, Telemundo
Lindsey Horan of Golden, Mallory Swanson of Highlands Ranch and Sophia Smith of Windsor compete for the U.S. in soccer vs. Germany.
Monday, July 29
6:30 a.m. on Peacock, USA Network
Durango’s Riley Amos of Animas High School and Fort Lewis College, and Christopher Blevins of Durango High School compete for medals in mountain biking.
9 a.m. on Peacock
Jordyn Poulter competes for the U.S. vs. China in volleyball. Poulter is from Aurora and still lives there. She was on the team in Tokyo and came back from injury to help secure gold. Poulter was named best setter at the Tokyo Games.
Haleigh Washington was named best middle blocker in volleyball in Tokyo for the gold-winning Team USA. Washington, a former national champion for Penn State, was born in Denver. She attended Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, where she set a school record for most kills (48) in a single match.
Tuesday, July 30
12 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Morgan Pearson was a seven-time All-American at CU Boulder and won silver as part of the USA relay team at the mixed relay event in Tokyo. He won a bronze medal in 2021 at the World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama. He lives and trains in Boulder.
2 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Natalia Grossman of CU-Boulder competes in the boulder sport climbing competition.
1 p.m. on Peacock, NBC
Canyon Barry of Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs and Jimmer Fredette, who now lives in Littleton, compete in 3x3 men’s basketball, with the USA team likely to play around 2:15 p.m.
Wednesday, July 31
12 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Taylor Knibb, who trains in Boulder, will be back for her second event, triathlon. She’ll compete again in the mixed team relay in triathlon at midnight on Monday, Aug. 5.
3:30 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Omari Jones, who trains in Colorado Springs, competes in 71kg boxing.
Thursday, Aug. 1
1 a.m. on GOLF Channel
Denver’s Wyndham Clark of Valor Christian will compete in the first of four rounds of Olympic golf.
Friday, August 2
3:05 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Yared Nuguse, who lives in Boulder, runs in the men’s 1500 meters. In 2019, Nuguse was the college Division 1 champion in the 1500 for Notre Dame. According to the Olympics bio he can solve a Rubik’s cube in 33 seconds.
10:10 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Elise Cranny of Niwot competes in the preliminary round of women’s 5,000m
10:55 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Valarie Allman of Longmont will compete in the qualifying rounds of the discus competition.
1:20 p.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Woody Kincaid of Littleton and Columbine High School, competes in the 10,000 meters.
Sunday, August 4
1 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Keith Sanderson, who spent eight years in the Marines and eight years in the Army, competes in rapid-fire pistol. Sanderson is from Monument and competed in the Beijing, Rio and London games.
2:05 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Valerie Constien of Edwards, Battle Mountain High School and CU Boulder will compete in the opening round of the 3,000m steeplechase in track and field.
Monday, August 5
12 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Taylor Knibb makes her final Olympic appearance this year, alongside CU-Boulder’s Morgan Pearson, in the triathlon mixed relay.
2 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Colin Duffy of Broomfield and CU-Boulder competes in the boulder competition of sport climbing.
7 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Amit Elor, who trains in Colorado Springs, competes in 68kg wrestling.
Tuesday, August 6
2 a.m. on Peacock
Born in Boulder Brooke Raboutou is from a family of rock climbers. She competes in the Boulder semifinal for Team USA. In Tokyo, her first games, she finished fifth.
3:30 a.m. on Peacock
Kamal Bey, who trains in Colorado Springs, competes in 77kg Greco Roman wrestling
Sarah Hildenbrandt, who also trains in Colorado Springs, competes in 50kg wrestling.
Wrestler Kyle Snyder went to Coronado High School, Colorado Springs. Snyder became the youngest USA wrestler to win gold in Rio, competing in Heavyweight, Freestyle. At Ohio State, he had a 35-match winning streak that lasted three years. He competes in the 97kg round of 16.
9 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Cyclist Jennifer Valente lives in Colorado Springs and attended UCCS. She won gold in omnium in Tokyo. She competes first in team pursuit cycling track, then later in omnium.
9:30 a.m. on Peacock
Olivia Cummins of Fort Collins, and Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction and Chloe Dygert, who now trains in Colorado Springs, compete in cycling’s women’s team pursuit.
Wednesday, August 7
11:30 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Jourdan Delacruz of the University of Northern Colorado competes in the medal round of 49kg weightlifting.
Thursday, August 8
2:05 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, USA Network
Anna Hall of Highlands Ranch and Valor Christian High School, predicted to become one of the stars of the games for the U.S., begins the women’s heptathlon competition. The two days of events will continue through 12:15 p.m. Friday.
3:30 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Spencer Lee, who was born in Denver, competes in 57kg wrestling.
9 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Grant Koontz, who now lives and trains in Nederland, will compete for a medal in track cycling.
Friday, August 9
1 a.m. on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Kristina Teachout competes in her first Olympics in taekwondo. She is a resident athlete training at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
CPR’s Ben Markus contributed to this report.
