July 27: What to watch at the Paris Olympics

Each day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, NBC Olympics will run down every sport in action, highlighting top athletes and marquee events. Every event streams live on NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock, and many are also on the TV networks of NBC. Visit the schedule page for listings sorted by sport and TV network.

Following Friday’s Opening Ceremony, it’s time for the first day of medal competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics and several sports are in the spotlight. In the pool, Katie Ledecky races Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh in the women’s 400m freestyle, while Caeleb Dressel leads a U.S. men three-peat title defense bid in the 4x100m freestyle. Elsewhere, a pair of U.S. divers seek the podium in synchro 3m springboard, Nyjah Huston takes on a Japanese trio in men’s street skateboarding, and more.

Full breakdown of the top events and athletes to watch on Day 1 below:

Swimming

The women’s 400m freestyle final may be the most anticipated swimming race of these Games with the event’s last three world-record holders set to clash for gold. Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, Summer McIntosh of Canada and Katie Ledecky, collective holders of the distance’s 28 fastest times in history, faced off at 2023 Worlds where Titmus took the title, Ledecky placed second and McIntosh finished fourth behind Kiwi Erika Fairweather.

Titmus is the defending gold medalist, while Ledecky topped the podium in Rio. McIntosh, 17, grew up with Ledecky quotes and posters on her wall and trains in Florida, less than three hours from Ledecky.

On the men’s side, Lukas Martens seeks Germany’s first Olympic gold in the pool since 1988 after posting the event’s fastest time since 2012 at his nation’s trials in April.

SEE MORE: Swimming 7/27 preview: Ledecky’s superstar showdown highlights must-see Paris opener

The 4x100m freestyle relay finals cap off the night. In the men’s event, the Americans have won 10 of the last 13 golds and are favored to improve that record. Caeleb Dressel is back after an eight-month break after 2022 Worlds. He, Chris Guiliano, Jack Alexy and Hunter Armstrong all swam sub-47.8 seconds at U.S. Trials in June, and may capture Team USA’s first gold of the Games.

In the women’s event, Australia’s depth primes it for gold, while the U.S., which has won a medal in the event at every Games in which it’s competed, hasn’t won the big prize since 2000.

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