People walk past the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2021. Exactly a year later, it is hosting the opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

People walk past the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2021. Exactly a year later, it is hosting the opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics. / AFP via Getty Images

The 2022 Olympics kick off Friday in Beijing, promising top-tier athletics and plenty of national pride, despite the ongoing pandemic and diplomatic tensions.

Some of us armchair athletes may still feel like we're in recovery mode from the last Olympics, since the Tokyo Games just took place over the summer. But the Winter Olympics beckon, with hundreds of world-renowned competitors participating in a record 109 sporting events (including seven new ones) over the course of more than two weeks.

It all officially starts with Friday's opening ceremony, which will take place beginning at 7 a.m. ET at Beijing's National Stadium and include speeches, performances, artistic spectacles and a lengthy-but-spirited parade featuring athletes from every participating country.

So how exactly can you get in on the action?

NBCUniversal, which has a lock on Olympics coverage, will be broadcasting the opening ceremony on NBC and Peacock beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET (keep in mind, Beijing is 13 hours ahead of ET).

It will also offer an "enhanced primetime presentation" of the ceremony, with a special focus on Team USA, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET. Get the details here.

You can also follow along with NPR's opening ceremony live blog, on NPR.org on Friday morning, and find more of our Olympics coverage on the NPR One app.

After the opening ceremony wraps up

Once the Games begin, competitions will run for a little over two weeks. Keep up with the full schedule and results here.

NBC says it will televise nearly 200 hours of live coverage, including 18 nights in primetime (starting at 8 p.m. ET). And it's promising thousands of hours of streaming Olympics content across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. Click here for specifics.

Here's how you can follow along with NPR:

  • Check out NPR.org and the Morning Edition live blog for more digital stories from reporters around the world, including in the Olympic Bubble.
  • You can also subscribe to NPR's daily morning newsletter, which will feature Olympics updates along with stories you need to start your day. 
  • Tune in to your local member station and the NPR One app for continued radio coverage. 
  • You can always find NPR's 2022 Olympics stories in this special digital collection. 

The closing ceremony is set for Feb. 20. And, before you know it, it'll be time for the Winter Paralympics to kick off on March 4.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags: 2022 Beijing Olympics  2022 olympics  Series: The 2022 Winter Olympics