The Olympic judo events of the 2024 Paris Olympics are currently underway, with the martial art enjoying its 15th appearance at the summer games having begun at Saturday, July 27.
US: Peacock | NBC
UK: iPlayer | BBC (free with license fee) | Discovery Plus
AU: Stan Sports | 9Now (free)
Watch abroad with a VPN
Sports fans in Australia or the UK will be able to watch the Olympic judo events for free on 9Now or iPlayer, which is certainly a real treat. But never fear if you're away from home during the tournament, because you can watch the Olympic games from anywhere with a VPN.
This Japanese martial art has slowly been growing in prominence at the Olympics, with the number of events slowly creeping up. The Paris Olympics sees it at 15 events, a figure that was new for 2020, after the mixed team event was added in Tokyo.
While the Olympic judo competition hasn't been contested for quite as long as the likes of the athletics, boxing or gymnastics, it's still become a classic sport for the quadrennial celebration of sports. So there's a good chance that you'll want to be able to watch it.
So here's how to watch the Olympic judo competition, including when the events take place and what services or channels you'll need to use to watch them.
How to watch the Olympic judo in the US
The best way to watch all of the 2024 Paris Olympics, including the judo, is by using NBC's streaming service called Peacock. This costs $5.99 per month for its standard subscription or $11.99 monthly for its ad-free plan.
Peacock, available as an app on your phone or TV or through a web browser, will let you watch live streams of every single event you can think of (as long as it's a real Olympic event).
You'll even be able to use Peacock to watch up to four sports at once, or set reminders for upcoming events that you're excited to see.
Some Olympic coverage may also be broadcast on NBC, if you'd rather watch on TV, but this will likely be a stream that flips between different sports. If you'd just like to watch judo, then Peacock is the one for you.
How to watch the Olympic judo in the UK
You might have a little bit of trouble watching all of the Olympic judo events in the UK.
Broadcasting rights, as always, fall to the BBC, which is hosting two separate streams; each of which will jump between different sports at different times.
First, on live TV, one stream will alternate between BBC One and BBC Two, with 250 hours of sports scheduled for this option. Secondly, iPlayer will be showing a second stream of different sports, which it's called Olympics Extra. Given that iPlayer also lets you watch live TV channels, this streaming service will be a handy way to watch all of the BBC's coverage.
Both of these streams will show you certain moments of each event before changing to a different sport, so if you want to watch the Olympic judo events from start to finish, the BBC won't be right for you.
Luckily, there's another option, in the form of Discovery Plus. This streaming service, which usually costs £6.99 per month for its necessary tier but can be picked up for just £3.99 in a limited-time deal, is offering on-demand live streams of the various sports and matches during the Olympics.
How to watch the Olympic judo in Australia
For those Olympic judo fans in Australia, you won't need to pay to watch the events, because they'll all be free to watch on 9Now.
9Now, the streaming service of Channel Nine, is set to host individual live streams for each Olympic event, so you can log in and watch judo to your heart's content (or whichever other sport you'd like to see).
Some of Channel Nine's TV channels, like Nine, may also show Olympic coverage at certain times. However this won't let you watch non-stop single sports like judo, so 9Now is still your way to go.
How to watch the Olympic judo everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the Olympic judo, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite sports, TV show or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
Olympic judo schedule
The Olympic judo events begin and end on the same day; they consist of elimination rounds of 64 then 32 then 16, then quarter-finals, repechage, semi-finals, the bronze medal contest and the finals. Here's which day each event is on:
Saturday, July 27
- Women's 48kg
- Men's 60kg
Sunday, July 28
- Men's 66kg
- Women's 52kg
Monday, July 29
- Women's 57kg
- Men's 73kg
Tuesday, July 30
- Men's 81kg
- Women's 63kg
Wednesday, July 31
- Women's 70kg
- Men's 90kg
Thursday, August 1
- Men's 100kg
- Women's 78kg
Friday, August 2
- Women's +78kg
- Men's +100kg
Saturday, August 3
- Mixed team
All you need to know about the Olympic judo
When does the Olympic judo competition begin?
The very first events of the Olympic judo competition begin on Saturday, July 27, and run all the way until Saturday, August 3.
Most events end on the same day they begin, with all stages happening over the course of the day..
Which events are included in the Olympic judo tournament?
There are, in total, 15 different judo events at the 2024 Olympics, same as in 2020. There are 7 men's, 7 women's and 1 mixed event:
Mixed
- Mixed team
Men's
- 60kg
- 66kg
- 73kg
- 81kg
- 90kg
- 100kg
- 100+kg
Women's
- 48kg
- 52kg
- 57kg
- 63kg
- 70kg
- 78kg
- 78+kg
Where does the Olympic judo tournament take place
All stages of each of the Olympic judo events will take place at the Grand Palais Éphémère.
This temporary structure at the Champ de Mars in Paris was created a few years ago, both to host events which normally take place at the Grand Palais (as that was getting renovated to host Olympic events) and also to itself house two of the games' sports: judo and wrestling.
How to watch other Olympic sports
If you want specific information on other Olympic sports, here are guides we have to the other activities which will be shown as part of the Paris Olympic games:
