How to watch Track and Field Athletics at Olympics 2020: live stream, schedule and more

Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo with track and field athletics stadium in background
(Image credit: kovop58 / Shutterstock.com)

The 2020 Olympics may soon be coming to an end but there is still plenty of track and field athletics to watch - in fact a huge 17 gold medals are to be handed out in the final three days of athletics in Tokyo. This page will be your handbook of key dates and Olympic live streams of the track and field athletics action so you don’t miss a second - including absolutely free! - including absolutely free.

Live stream track and field at 2020 Olympics

Dates: Friday, July 30 - Sunday, August 8

Venue: Tokyo Olympic Stadium

FREE live streams: Peacock TV (US) | BBC iPlayer (UK) | 7Plus (AUS) | CBC (Can) | TVNZ (NZ)

Watch anywhere: try ExpressVPN 100% risk-free

After rain paused play in the women’s pole vault qualifying, the athletes did well to recompose and qualify for the final. Unfortunately, US favorite Sandi Morris quite literally crashed out after her pole snapped, injuring her hip and heartbreakingly ending her Olympics. This leaves pre-event tips Katerina Stefanidi, Holly Bradshaw and Anzhelika Sidorova to settle the medals amongst them.

Saturday will see the climax of Sifan Hassan’s unprecedented pursuit for three Olympic golds in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m. With the 5000m gold already around her neck, can she write her name in the history books by doing the same in the 1500m and 10,000m?

The track and field action concludes with the ever-popular relays. Four athletes passing a baton around the track seems simple right? Wrong - that little metal baton can cause havoc for even the most drilled of teams. The 4x100m and 4x400m will see the best of the best from each nation, including medallists from the individual events in Tokyo, come together in the battle for those Olympic golds.

Keep up to date with the track and field athletics by watching the 2020 Olympic live stream available in your location. In this guide you'll find the key dates you need to put in your calendar and how to watch track and field live streams of all your favorites competing for gold at the 2020 Olympics.


Olympics 2020 track and field athletics: key dates and times

Women’s pole vault final: Thursday, August 5, 7pm JST / 11am BST / 6am ET

Men’s 400m final: Thursday, August 5, 9pm JST / 1pm BST / 8am ET

Women’s 400m final: Friday, August 6, 9.35pm JST / 1.35pm BST / 8.35am ET

Women’s 1500m final: Friday, August 6, 9.50pm JST / 1.50pm BST / 8.50am ET


Free Olympics track and field athletics live stream

The free, online Olympics Channel has highlights and other programming. But if you want more in-depth coverage, you'll need to look at domestic broadcasters. Those living in the UK have the benefit of the BBC's free-to-air coverage for example, with soooooo much being available on BBC iPlayer.

It's a similar story in the likes of Australia (Channel 7 and its jam-packed 7plus online), Ireland (RTE), France (TF1) and, Germany (ARD and ZDF). Even NBC's streaming service Peacock TV is getting in on the act, with free track and firled live streams in the US,

We have further information about worldwide Olympics streams below.

How to watch your Olympics live stream when abroad

Most countries are offering coverage of the 2020 Olympics, whether this be a paid subscription or free service. However, if you find you are unable to watch these streams because your place of work or education has blocked the service, or because you are in a location outside of your home country, fear not.  

All you need to do is download and install a VPN  to your laptop, phone, tablet, or whichever device you are trying to watch on. Using a VPN will trick your device into thinking it is in a different country so that you can enjoy your usual streaming service safely from any region. 

Use a VPN to watch Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games from anywhere

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In just three basic steps you can get up and running with a VPN...

1. Download and install a VPN - our recommended choice is ExpressVPN

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location

3. Go to the broadcaster's live stream - so if you're from the US or UK, just head to Peacock or the BBC iPlayer respectively

100 metres sprint at Olympics

(Image credit: photoyh / Shutterstock.com)

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FREE Olympics track and field athletics live stream in the UK

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The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">BBC is set to provide over 350 hours of Olympic coverage this summer, making this the first port of call for most of those watching the track athletics action in the UK. And although its coverage is somewhat diminished from previous years, when it comes to the track and field athletics, you can pretty much guarantee it will be showing all the major heats and finals as they happen.

Watch for FREE across BBC 1, BBC 2 and online on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">BBC iPlayer site and app - letting you watch on the go, on smart TVs, games consoles and pretty much every streaming device you can think of.

However, Discovery has picked up the the majority of the rights and hosting on its Discovery+ and Eurosport Player platforms this year. You can get <a href="https://gb.eurosportplayer.com/subscribe?ns_campaign=player-england-prospect-allsports-undefined&ns_mchannel=referral&ns_source=eurosport.co.uk&ns_linkname=watch-epgcta&utm_campaign=player-england-prospect-allsports-undefined&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=eurosport.co.uk&utm_content=watch-epgcta" data-link-merchant="gb.eurosportplayer.com"" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"">Eurosport Player for just £6.99 a month or £29.99 for the year. But if you aren't sure this alternative coverage is for you, make use of the 3-day free trial to get a taster of the coverage.

Travelling abroad during the track and field action at Tokyo 2020? <a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fexpressvpn.com%2Ftechradar%3Foffer%3D3monthsfree%26a_fid%3D744" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"" data-link-merchant="gb.eurosportplayer.com"" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" data-link-merchant="bbc.co.uk"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Download and install a VPN to access your usual streaming services as if you were still at home in the UK. 

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How to watch 2020 Olympics track and field athletics in the US with and without cable

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In America, NBC has the rights to the 2020 Olympic coverage, for which you will need a cable subscription. So if you already have a cable set up, this is the service for you.

If you find yourself without cable, <a href="https://imp.i305175.net/c/221109/828265/11640?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacocktv.com%2F" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">NBC's streaming service Peacock is a decent, cheap alternative. And it's particularly great news, as Peacock has confirmed that it will show all the major track action for free on the service!

Our guide to <a href="https://www.techradar.com/how-to/watching-olympics-2020-on-peacock-tv" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"">watching Olympics 2020 on Peacock will explain more, but you can see its coverage on the your computer, IOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TVs and Fire TV Sticks.

Watch Olympics track athletics without cable

<a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/sling-tv-explained" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"">Sling TV is a streaming service that can offer you more than NBC if you have more streaming needs to satisfy. NBCSN comes as part of a $35 a month Sling Blue package but you can usually find a good deal on this. For example, you can get <a href="https://sling-tv.pxf.io/c/221109/1132376/14334?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2F" data-link-merchant="sling.com"" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">your first month for only $10 at the time of writing this. 

Alternatively, you could look at something like FuboTV. It carries loads more channels and is available to try with a <a href="https://geni.us/YkQAuWd" data-link-merchant="geni.us"" data-link-merchant="sling.com"" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="techradar.com"" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">free 7-day trial, but the normal monthly cost is much pricier starting at $64.99.

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How to watch Olympics track and field athletics in Canada

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The Olympic 2020 coverage in Canada is being split across a number of different streaming services. These include Sportsnet, TSN, CBC and TLN. We suggest looking at your local listings to find a more specific schedule of who is showing the track athletics coverage when.  

Those of you north of the border can watch <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/" data-link-merchant="cbc.ca"">online at CBC, where there is a whole host of live action to be accessed for free. CBC also have an app that is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick, so you can watch on the device that you prefer. 

If you aren't in this area you'll be looking at paid for Olympic coverage from Sportsnet, TSN and TLN.

If you find yourself out of the country during the games, remember <a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fexpressvpn.com%2Ftechradar%3Foffer%3D3monthsfree%26a_fid%3D744" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"" data-link-merchant="cbc.ca"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">using a VPN lets you access your favorite local streaming services whilst abroad. 

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How to live stream track and field athletics at the Olympics for FREE in Australia

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FREE Olympic coverage is available in Australia on Channel 7 and its online <a href="http://7plus.com.au/" data-link-merchant="7plus.com.au"">7Plus streaming service.

The Aussie's are providing some of the most extensive, free live coverage of the games. The online option of 7Plus gives you the freedom of watching on any device, from a laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Not in Australia? <a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fexpressvpn.com%2Ftechradar%3Foffer%3D3monthsfree%26a_fid%3D744" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"" data-link-merchant="7plus.com.au"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Use a VPN when you’re away from home to catch all the Olympic coverage from your local provider. 

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How to watch Olympic track and field athletics in New Zealand

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New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ and its <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/" data-link-merchant="tvnz.co.nz"">TVNZ OnDemand streaming service, are providing Kiwis with free Olympic coverage. 

If this coverage isn’t enough for you, you can buy a $19.99 weekly pass for Sky Sport, who are also covering the action.

Other 2020 Olympics broadcasters around the world

As the biggest global sporting event, it will come as no surprise to you that most countries will have some coverage of Tokyo 2020 - albeit at different prices and varying levels of coverage.

There is a dedicated Wikipedia page with an extensive list of all the channels covering the Olympics if you aren’t in one of the countries mentioned above.