The 2024 Summer Olympics are underway in Paris, France.

Australians will be competing in events including basketball, diving, swimming, hockey, road cycling and canoe slalom on Day One of the Games. 

Because of the time difference, it’ll be Saturday night in Australia when many of those events kick off.

The opening ceremony will be very early on Saturday morning.

Here’s what’s on the schedule for Day One of the Paris Olympics.

What are some of the key events Australians are competing in on Saturday night?

All times have been converted to AEST. 

Basketball:

• 7pm: Men’s: Australia vs Spain 

Diving: 

• 7pm: Women’s synchronised 3m springboard final [medal event]: Maddison Keeney, Anabelle Smith

Swimming:

• 7pm: Women’s 100m butterfly heats: Emma McKeon, Alexandria Perkins
• 7pm: Women’s 400m freestyle heats: Jamie Perkins, Ariarne Titmus
• 7pm: Men’s 100m breaststroke heats: Sam Williamson, Josh Yong
• 7pm: Men’s 400m freestyle heats: Sam Short, Elijah Winnington
• 7pm: Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay heats
• 7pm: Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Hockey:

• 9.15pm: Men’s: Australia vs Argentina

Road cycling: 

• 10.30pm: Women’s Individual Time Trial [medal event]: Grace Brown

Canoe slalom:

• 11.50pm: Women’s kayak single heats, first run: Jessica Fox

Schedule for July 27:

All times have been converted to AEST. 

4.30pm: Badminton, men’s, women’s and mixed group stage  

5pm: Rowing, men’s and women’s heats 

5pm: Handball, men’s preliminaries 

5pm: Shooting, men’s and women’s 10m [air pistol qualification] 

5pm: Volleyball, men’s preliminary round  

5.30pm: Equestrian, eventing dressage 

6pm: Judo, women’s -48kg and men’s -60kg 

6pm: Hockey, men’s and women’s pool stage 

6pm: Fencing, women’s épéeand men’s sabre through quarter-finals 

6.30pm: Hockey, men’s and women’s pool stage 

6.30pm: Shooting, mixed team 10m air rifle qualification and final 

7pm: Artistic Gymnastics, men’s qualifications  

7pm: Basketball, men’s group phase 

7pm: Basketball, men’s: AUSTRALIA vs Spain 

7pm: Diving, women’s synchronised 3m springboard final [Medal event]

7pm: Swimming, women’s 100m fly, 400m free, 4x100m free relay and men’s 100m breast, 400m free, 4x100m free relay heats

8pm: Tennis, men’s and women’s singles and doubles  

8pm: Skateboard, men’s street preliminaries 

9pm: Volleyball, men’s preliminary round — men’s 

9.15pm: Hockey, AUSTRALIA vs Argentina

10pm: Badminton, Group Stage (M/W/Mixed)

10pm: Handball, men’s preliminaries 

10pm: Water polo, women’s preliminary round (2 matches) 

10pm: Beach volleyball, preliminary phase (M/W) 

10.30pm: Rugby sevens, men’s placement matches, semis, finals  

10.30pm: Road cycling, (time trial) men’s and women’s individual time trial finals 

10.30pm: Road cycling, Women’s Individual Time Trial [Medal event]:

11pm: Canoe slalom, Heats (M/W)

11pm: Table tennis, M/W singles preliminary round, Mixed doubles round of 16 

11pm: Football, men’s group stage 

11.50pm: Canoe Slalom, women’s kayak single heats, first run

11.30pm: Boxing, round of 32 or 16 (W/M) 

11.30pm: Artistic gymnastics, men’s qualifications 

When is the opening ceremony?

Early Saturday morning. 

It’s scheduled to start at 8:24pm in Paris on Friday, July 26, which, for Australia, actually falls on the following day — Saturday, July 27.

Here’s the specific time it will start for each region:

• 2:24am AWST: Western Australia
• 3:54am ACST: Northern Territory and South Australia
• 4:24am AEST: Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria

Where can I watch the Olympics in Australia?

The Olympics will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel Nine and 9Gem.

The station’s streaming service 9Now will also offer more than 40 live sports channels.

ABC Sport will also be live blogging Olympic events as they unfold.

And in Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Darwin, the Gold Coast and regional markets across the country, listeners can hear live daily Olympics coverage across ABC Radio and DAB+ — find out more details about that here.

The ABC’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is brought to you in conjunction with the Nine Network. 

What time zone is France in?

France is in the Central European Summer Time (CEST) zone. 

We have three time zones in Australia:

• Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST): ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria
• Australian Central Standard Time (ACST): Northern Territory, South Australia
• Australian Western Standard Time (AWST): Western Australia

What’s the time difference between France and Australia?

Australia is ahead of Paris time zone-wise, so when it’s morning in France, it’s afternoon Down Under. 

Here’s the breakdown of time zones:

• AEST: Eight hours ahead of Paris
• ACST: Seven hours and 30 minutes ahead of Paris
• AWST: Six hours ahead of Paris