SuperSport viewers on DStv and GOtv can look forward to the world’s biggest and most diverse celebration of sport, the Summer Olympic Games, which will run from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
SuperSport is the ultimate destination for coverage of the Olympic Games, with thousands of world class athletes from around the world set to entertain for over two weeks of incredible action from the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
With Tokyo 2020 now fully underway, we take a closer look at the Athletics events which will be on show from 30 July to 1 August, and which African stars look set to light up the Olympic Games.
The pick of Athletics events on Friday 30 July is the Men’s 10,000m Final, which has traditionally been dominated by East African runners – most notably the great Ethiopians Haile Gebreselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, who both won back-to-back Gold Medals in 1996-2000 and 2004-2008 respectively.
The reigning champion, Mo Farah of Great Britain, will not be present to defend his title, leaving the way open for the likes of Selemon Barega (Ethiopia), Geoffrey Kamworor, Rodgers Kwemoi (both Kenya) and race favourite Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) to make history.
Cheptegei’s achievements – he holds world records for the 5,000m, 10,000m and 5km road race – mark him out as the man most likely to win Gold, and he’ll also be chasing glory in the 5,000m later in the Games.
“It would be a mountain to climb, but the challenge is up to me,” Cheptegei said of trying to win both the 5,000m and 10,000m at Tokyo 2020. “It’s demanding a lot, in terms of racing and mindset but I want to give myself a try to win both gold medals. It would be really amazing to win the double, but if I win gold in the 10,000m I would still be grateful.”
Saturday 31 July features the Men’s Discus Throw Final and the Women’s 800m Final, but the headline event is undoubtedly the Women’s 100m Final. Africa could well be represented in the Final by Marie-Josee Ta Lou (Ivory Coast) and Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria), but the one to watch is Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
“The women have been running incredibly quickly this year and it’s amazing for world sprinting. I always back myself because I know what kind of shape I’m in. I definitely have faster in me. I’m in good shape, I’m in actually really, really good shape so I’m really excited. And I’m a championship performer,” said Asher-Smith.
The Men’s 100m Final headlines the events for Sunday 1 August, with South Africa hoping to see Akani Simbine strut his stuff after recently breaking the African record with a 9.84s time in Hungary. “[Breaking the record] is the first tick toward going to Tokyo, we had to do it now and I’m glad we’ve done it on time. I feel like I’m peaking at the right time,” said Simbine.
The day will also feature the Men’s High Jump Final, Men’s 800m Semifinals – where Kenyans Ferguson Rotich, Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni will be major contenders – the Women’s Triple Jump Final and Women’s Shot Put Final.
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Broadcast details, 30 July – 1 August 2021
All times CAT
Friday 30 July
01:50: Athletics, Session 2 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSportMaximo 360 and SuperSport GOtv Football
11:50: Athletics, Session 3 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSportMaximo 360 and SuperSport GOtv Football
Saturday 31 July
01:50: Athletics, Session 4 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSport Maximo 2 and SuperSport GOtv Football
11:50: Athletics, Session 5 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSport Maximo 360 and SuperSport GOtv Football
Sunday 1 August
02:00: Athletics, Session 6 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSport Maximo 360 and SuperSport GOtv Football
11:50: Athletics, Session 7 – LIVE on SuperSport PSL, SuperSport OTT4, SuperSport Maximo 1, SuperSport Maximo 360 and SuperSport GOtv Football
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