After being delayed a year due to covid-19, the 2020 Olympic Games have begun in Tokyo. While you’re glued to the screen watching everything from shooting to shot put, don’t forget to tune in and cheer for an Arkansan or an alum of one of the Natural State’s athletic programs.
Go to arkansasonline.com/tokyoolympics2021/ to see a full schedule, results and medals.
If you’re not sure how to watch the Games of the 32nd Olympiad, we’ve got you covered. If you have cable, check the NBC Olympics website for times. NBCUniversal’s networks and platforms will be broadcasting and streaming the Tokyo games, and you can find your favorite event. For those without cable, you can watch on the NBC Olympics site or on Peacock, and apps are available for your iPhone, Roku, Apple TV and more.
If the 13-hour time difference prevents you from watching an event live, you can find highlights on the site, and many popular events are shown during prime time, even if they happened earlier in the day.
United States of America:
Shooting
Kayle Browning was born in Conway and now lives in Wooster, running a media business called Gunsmoke Media. She graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in interior design, and is competing in trap shooting. The 28-year-old has one three national championships, and has been to the world championships three times, winning bronze in team trap in 2018.
Browning will compete in Group 4 of the Women’s Trap Shooting qualifying round at 7 p.m. CDT on Tuesday night for a chance to go for gold in the finals on Thursday.
Baseball
Eric Filia, 29, played for the Arkansas Travelers during the 2018 season before playing for the Tacoma Rainiers.
Derek “Bubba” Starling, 28, played for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, overlapping with Jack López, 28, who played for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The U.S. baseball team starts its quest for Olympic gold during the opening round on Friday at 5 a.m. CDT then faces South Korea at the same time on Saturday.
Track and Field
Sandi Morris, 29, won the silver medal at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, and is returning this year. She transferred to the University of Arkansas to work with Bryon Compton after starting her collegiate career at UNC Chapel Hill. She graduated from UA in 2015 with a degree in broadcast journalism.
Morris won the gold medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, in addition to multiple world and national titles.
If you’re an early bird, you can watch her compete in the women’s pole vault qualifier at 5:20 a.m. on Monday, August 2.
Ryan Crouser, 28, is the reigning Olympic champion in shot put, set the Olympic record in 2016 and just threw the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. He is now a volunteer assistant for the University of Arkansas’ men’s track and field program.
Crouser will compete in the men’s shot put qualifying round at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3.
Basketball
Kelsey Plum, 26, is a member of this year’s women’s 3x3 basketball team and plays for the WNBA Las Vegas Aces.
She is currently a graduate assistant for the University of Arkansas’ women’s basketball team, helping the players transition from student athletes to professionals.
The USA women’s 3x3 basketball team beat France, Mongolia, Italy, China, Romania and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the first round. They clinched a berth to the semifinals even before they lost to Japan. The USA remains at the top of the standings and will compete in the semifinals against France at 3 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 28.
Paralympic Track and Field
Hunter Woodhall will be representing the U.S. at the Paralympic Games, which start in August and end in September. He ran for UA for four years and earned First-Team All-American honors. Woodhall graduated from UA in 2021 and will be running in the 400m and 100m races.
The 22-year-old Utah native competed in the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro and won silver in the 200m and bronze in the 400m.
He is dating Tara Davis, another member of Team USA, who is competing in the women’s long jump in Tokyo.
The schedule for the 400m and 100m races has not been announced.
Great Britain
Swimming
Anna Hopkin, 25, was born and raised in Great Britain, Hopkin attended the University of Arkansas for graduate school and swam there for two seasons, graduating with a master’s in kinesiology in 2020. Hopkin placed 5th in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Saturday, July 24. She will compete in Heat 6 for 100m freestyle on Wednesday, July 28 at 5:15 a.m. CDT and Heat 11 of the 50m freestyle on Friday, July 30 at 5:45 a.m. CDT.
Jamaica
Track and Field
Kemar Mowatt, now 26, competed with the Razorbacks track and field team for three years, graduating in 2018. While there, he earned First Team All-American honors in the 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
You can watch him in the first round of the men’s 400m hurdles at 8:55 p.m. CDT on Thursday, July 29.
Phillip Lemonious is a reserve athlete for the 110m hurdles, and just finished his freshman year at UA. He won the SEC Freshman of the Week award after his performance in the 110m hurdles at the LSU Invitational.
Trinidad and Tobago
Track and field
Sparkle McKnight, 29, won the NCAA championship in the 4x400m sprints and won the SEC championship in the 400m hurdles while running with the University of Arkansas.
She will compete in the first round of the women’s 400m hurdles, which will take place at 7 p.m. CDT on Friday, July 30.
South Africa
Track and field
Dominique Scott-Efurd was a five-time NCAA champion during her time with the Razorbacks. She went to the 2016 Olympics where the 29-year-old placed 21st in the 10,000m.
The first round of the women’s 5000m will be on Friday, July 30, and the women’s 10,000m will be at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday August 7.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Track and Field
Shafiqua Maloney, 22, has run for the University of Arkansas for three seasons. She finished ninth in the 800m at the 2021 NCAA Championship.
After serving as a flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies, she will compete in the first round of the women’s 800m, which will start at 7:55 p.m. CDT Thursday, July 29.
Slovenia
Track and Field
Tina Sutej attended UA and won the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in the women’s pole vault. In March, the 32-year-old won the silver medal in the pole vault at the European Indoor Championships.
Women’s pole vault qualifying rounds at 5:20 a.m. on Monday, August 2.
Mexico
Golf
Gaby Lopez, 27, played golf for UA and was the 2015 NCAA Championship Runner-Up. She now tours with the LPGA.
In Tokyo, she was Mexico’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies.
Her teammate, 23-year-old Maria Fassi, graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2019 and was the 2019 NCAA Individual National Champion.
The women’s golf tournament begins on Tuesday, August 3.
Dominican Republic
Baseball
Julio Rodriguez, 20, currently plays for the Arkansas Travelers and is competing with the Dominican Republic team in the Tokyo Olympics.
The Dominican Republic will open the Olympic baseball tournament against Japan at 10 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, then play Mexico at the same time on Thursday.
Denmark
Track and Field
Kris Hari is ranked third on the Arkansas Razorbacks’ all-time list in the 60m spring with a time of 6.62 seconds.
The 23-year-old is competing in the men’s 4x100m relay. The first round will be on Wednesday, August 4 at 9:30 p.m. CDT.