With medals already awarded in Mountain Bike and on the Road, the cycling events at the Paris Olympic Games continue with the BMX Freestyle on July 30 and July 31. Tuesday will see the qualification process in the men’s and women’s events, while the finals play out on Wednesday, and here’s how to watch an Olympics 2024 BMX Freestyle live stream.
There are two BMX disciplines at the Olympics: Freestyle and Racing. While BMX Racing sees riders race one another to a finish line on a track, BMX Freestyle is a feast of tricks and stunts. Taking place in the Urban Park at La Concorde, the athletes have two one-minute runs to show the judges what they can do, with points awarded for difficulty and execution of their flips, 360s, tailwhips and the like.
In the men’s event, Logan Martin (Australia) is out to defend his title, having triumphed in Tokyo when the event was included in the Games for the first time, but he’ll face stiff competition from home favourite Anthony Jeanjean and Britain’s Kieran Reilly. The defending women’s champion is Britain’s Charlotte Worthington, who made further history in Tokyo by becoming the first women to land a 360 backflip. However, she has opened up about her struggles adapting to life as an Olympic champion, and more fancied for gold is the USA’s Hannah Roberts, the runner-up in Tokyo and four times a world champion.
This guide explains how to watch Olympics BMX Freestyle 2024 wherever you are in the world, including details of how to use a VPN if you’re away from home. For more from the other disciplines, find out how to watch cycling at the Paris Olympics.
Watch Olympic Games BMX Freestyle live streams in the USA
NBC holds the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in the USA. The Olympics will be shown across several of the the broadcaster’s television channels, and also on the network’s streaming service, Peacock.
Tuesday’s qualifying rounds for the BMX Freestyle will be on Peacock and the E! cable channel. Wednesday’s finals will be shown live on Peacock and the USA Network channel.
Peacock offers a seven-day free trial for those who want to try before they buy. A full subscription to the service via Peacock Premium starts from $7.99 per month. The ad-free Peacock Premium Plus costs $13.99 per month.
USA Network and E! are available via cable plans, but there’s no need to worry if you don’t have cable. Sling is a smart TV service that allows people in the US to watch cable channels on their TV, laptop or tablet without actually having to subscribe to an annual cable TV package. USA Network and E! are available on Sling with the Sling Blue package, which costs $40 per month ($20 for the first month).
Watch Olympic Games BMX Freestyle live streams in Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch the Olympic Games across several broadcasters, including the free-to-air CBC, and subscription services TSN and Sportsnet.
On CBC, coverage of the BMX Freestyle finals on July 31 will be included as part of the morning show, while both the qualifying and finals will be available to stream online on CBC Gem. Access to the broadcaster’s ad-free on-demand library costs $5.99 per month, though the ad-supported version is free of charge.
On TSN, it is not yet confirmed whether the the BMX Freestyle will be selected as part of the channel’s daily programming, which is available online via the TSN subscription service, which will set you back $19.99 per month or $199.90 per year.
The same goes for Sportsnet, which is available online with a Sportsnet SN Now subscription, costing $14.99 per month or $179.99 per year.
Watch Olympic Games BMX Freestyle live streams in the UK
In the UK, cycling fans will be able to watch the Olympics on the BBC for free, via BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The BBC only has rights to broadcast two streams at any one time, however, so if the BMX Freestyle doesn’t make the cut you’ll have to watch on Discovery+, home to the most comprehensive coverage in the UK – 3,800 hours of live action across 55 channels.
Thanks to a special Olympics deal you can subscribe to the “standard” Discovery+ package for a cut-price £3.99 per month – sign up before August 11 and you can take advantage of the lower price until the end of the year. The package includes year-round cycling streams as well as other live sports, including snooker, tennis, motorsports, and more.
Watch Olympic Games BMX Freestyle live streams in Australia
In Australia, cycling fans can watch the Olympics for free on Channel 9 – it’s arguably the most comprehensive free Olympics coverage in the world. Viewers across Australia can tune in to the 9Now streaming service on the smart device of their choosing to catch all the action from the events.
All the BMX Freestyle action will be available online, and while it’s not clear whether it’ll be included in the television broadcast, Logan Martin’s favourite status makes the men’s event a good bet for inclusion.
Watch Olympic Games BMX Freestyle live streams from anywhere
If you are traveling abroad and try to access your usual live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it’s home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and NordVPN won the gold medal:
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.