2016 Rio Olympic Games
- August 6th-13th, 2016
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
“What time does swimming start at the Olympics where I live?”
Much of a story has been told about the 10PM start time for the finals sessions of swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, primarily done to appease the American television audiences.
While the interests of the rest of the world may have been subjugated to those of the American audience, the rest of the world will still get a chance to watch it – if at less-convenient times.
Below is a table of selected major cities and the start times for prelims/finals. Hopefully this is a rich enough list for all of our readers to figure out their times, but if you have a specific city missing that you’re unsure about, leave a comment and we’ll hit you with your schedule.
- See also: where to watch the Olympics around the world.
| Olympic Start Times, By Major City (Beginning August 6th) | ||
| Prelims Start Time | Major Cities | Finals Start Time |
| 1:00 PM | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (HOST), Buenos Aires, Santiago, Brasilia | 10:00 PM |
| 2:00 PM | Nuuk, Greenland | 11:00 PM |
| 3:00 PM | Praia, Cape Verde | Midnight |
| 4:00 PM | Reykjavik | 1:00 AM |
| 5:00 PM | Edinburgh, Dublin, Glasgow, Casablanca, Tripoli, London, Lisbon | 2:00 AM |
| 6:00 PM | Zurich, Milan, Brussels, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Cairo | 3:00 AM |
| 7:00 PM | Tallinn, Tel Aviv, Kyiv, Sofia, Istanbul, Bucharest, Vilnius, Beirut, Doha, | 4:00 AM |
| 8:00 PM | Moscow, Dubai, Baku, St. Petersburg, Kazan | 5:00 AM |
| 9:30 PM | New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Islamabad | 6:30 AM |
| 11:00 PM | Jakarta, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok | 8:00 AM |
| Midnight | Beijing, Taipei, Kowloon, Shanghai, Perth, Canton, Manila, Kuala Lumpur | 9:00 AM |
| 1:00 AM | Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Incheon, Kyoto, Pyongyang, Kobe | 10:00 AM |
| 2:00 AM | Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Guam | 11:00 AM |
| 3:00 AM | Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, Micronesia, | Noon |
| 4:00 AM | Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland | 1:00 PM |
| 5:00 AM | Pago Pago | 2:00 PM |
| 6:00 AM | Honolulu | 3:00 PM |
| 7:00 AM | Gambier Islands | 4:00 PM |
| 8:00 AM | Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks | 5:00 PM |
| 9:00 AM | Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Vancouver | 6:00 PM |
| 10:00 AM | Denver, Salt Lake City, Calgary, Edmonton, Galapagos Islands | 7:00 PM |
| 11:00 AM | Chicago, Houston, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Dallas, St. Lous, Minneapolis, Omaha, Bogota | 8:00 PM |
| Noon | New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, Louisville, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Caracas | 9:00 PM |
What about Atlanta??
Hi Caroline, your start times will be the same as New York.
Fiji?
Cairo, Egypt schedule please
Cairo is already in the schedule above – 6pm prelims, 3am finals.
Cairo, Egypt schedule please
I mean, the times were gonna be messed up for plenty of regions no matter when they held ’em. They just like to normalize ’em for the US.
THESE COLORS DON’T RUN. OR STAY UP TOO LATE TO WATCH STUFF.
2am final start ahh feels like punishment for having such a great time during my home Olympics 4 years ago ugh
But the races will be worth being without sleep for a week ha
I guess people in europe will not watch swimming….3am..
Will the west coast of US get to watch the races live? So often we get them on tape delay. Does anyone know?