Olympics 2021: Keep an eye on the Olympic Games with these apps
Finally, the "Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo" are here! The 2021 Olympics will start one year late – and we want to show you how to keep track of everything – the athletes, the dates, the results and of course the medal rankings.
The Summer Olympics in Tokyo start today, July 23. Unfortunately, we can't avoid talking about the pandemic, because also in 2021, the sports event is still suffering from the effects of the coronavirus: no spectators are allowed, there will be no colorful hustle and bustle on the streets of Japan and already more than 100 athletes, coaches and officials have tested positive.
Since most Olympics-fans can't be on-site this year, we are even more dependent on digital information. That's exactly why we created this article. Discovery has secured the global TV rights, but depending on your location on the globe, there may be other TV stations showing the event.
For the US, you can see the games on peacock TV – the paid service at least offers a free trial. In the UK, you should give the BBC iPlayer a shot. And if you're reading this article from Australia, you may want to check out 7Plus.
Olympia news apps: Stay up-to-date!
Now here they are, our app recommendations for you. Download them and never miss a spectacular moment or a crazy finale!
Content:
Olympia
The official app of the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, is the first one in our list. You can see when, where and which competitions are taking place, have an overview of the medal table at all times and can select your favorite team in addition to the sports you are interested in, which will then be prominently displayed – in my case, it's ze Germans.
The app is quite intuitive, free of charge, and you can watch the Olympic Games as well as the Paralympic Games. You can follow the torch relay virtually, get information about the TV broadcasts and have everything in view.
Tokyo 2021 – Schedule, Sports and Medals
The "Tokyo 2021" app by Cytech Informática also offers you what all Olympic apps must offer, i.e. a medal table and an overview of all disciplines. In my opinion, Tokyo 2021 is more appealing. It just looks nicer than the rather boring official app from the IOC.
Again, you can favorite disciplines, and the app will create a schedule for all your favorite sports. Unfortunately, there's also a catch with this app: There are a lot of ads, but you can get rid of this problem via the one-time payment of 99 cents.
Also a little annoying and unnecessary in my opinion: Your current time zone is displayed on top of the app at all times. We were not able to find an iOS version for Tokyo 2021.
Sonic at the Olympic Games
As the Olympics take place in Japan, of course the blue hedgehog Sonic can't be missing. Hence Sega has also contributed a little mobile game to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The game is quite entertaining, even if the free fun is over pretty quickly: You can only play the first ten levels for free.
After that, you can either pay to unlock individual levels or opt for the access pass, which unlocks all levels and some other features like daily challenges.
You'll shimmy your way through 15 different Olympic disciplines, and the gameplay is basically the same as we learned back in the eighties with Decathlon and Summer Games: You need really fast fingers and have to pay attention to the right timing depending on the discipline. Overall it's really quite entertaining – yet it costs just over 10 USD to unlock the whole game.
Tokyo Map Olympia Edition
Here we have a virtual city map of Tokyo. The app uses OpenStreetMap data to show you all the competition venues. The writing on the map itself will be indecipherable for most non-Japanese. But hey, a tap on the respective venue will show you the info about the location in English.
Also interesting for Olympia fans: You can view the route of the marathon race here. There are also many more options to view landmarks, train stations, hiking trails and more. Unfortunately, no sports tourists are allowed in Japan's capital these days, making those features not that exciting at the moment.
Finally, regardless of the other app recommendations, we would like to refer to the company where you can find information on just about everything - including the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. We're talking about Google, of course, and the Californians always provide information about major sporting events within Google Search. If you search for "Olympics", "Olympic Games" or similar suggestions, you will land directly on a results page that offers you an Olympics overview.
On mobile devices you'll see three tabs on the topic: "Overview", "Videos" and "News". The desktop search also offers you the "Live" tab with information on where you can currently watch the competitions. You can also put this info page as an icon on your smartphone screen, so you can always reach it quickly.
If you like Google's Easter Eggs and are also an Olympics fan, you'll get your money's worth today. With just one tap or click on the Google Doodle you can start the really nice and surprisingly extensive browser game "Island of Champions", which includes some mini-games like table tennis and archery.
Speaking of Google: If you're using Android TV on your television, the search engine giant will help you out with the Olympics here, too: namely, in the "For You" tab, that'll also provide you with everything that's interesting for real fans. There are links to the broadcasting stations, YouTube live streams, and you will also find further information about Japan as well as tips for movies and series that revolve around sports.
So, now you should be up-to-date with everything that's happening at the Olympics. Now all you have to do is make sure you have snacks and cold drinks in the house, but fortunately we can even order food via apps these days.
Can you already feel the Olympic spirit, or is the pandemic slowing down your euphoria? Write us in the comments and discuss with us.
