Tokyo Olympics: Here's when you can watch Hemel gymnast Max Whitlock as he goes for gold - and what you need to know about the Games

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 are now underway after a year-long postponement in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

The first events of the Games, including football and softball, began on Wednesday, July 21, and the opening ceremony will officially kick things off tonight (Friday, July 23).

The Japanese and Olympic authorities decided to press ahead with this year's Games, although the tournament will take place largely in empty stadiums due to the rising number of coronavirus cases.

That means sporting fans will not be able to travel abroad to spectate at their favourite events, but you are still able to watch the action from home.

Hemel Hempstead's Max Whitlock MBE will be competing in his third Olympic games, but Tokyo 2020 will be his first as a father, with two-year-old Willow cheering him on from home.

The 28-year-old is already Team GB’s most successful Olympic gymnast - he won two Gold medals and a Bronze at Rio, and two Bronze medals at the London games.

At Rio 2016 the artistic gymnast won Gold in the Men's Floor Exercise and Men's Pommelled Horse, he won a Bronze medal Men's Individual All-Around.

At London 2012 Max won Bronze medals in the Men's Pommelled Horse and Men's Team All-Around.

You can follow Max Whitlock on Twitter here.

What is the Tokyo Olympics 2020 schedule?

The original Tokyo Olympics schedule was scrapped and replaced after the Games were pushed back by 12 months due to the pandemic.

But 206 countries will now compete in Japan for coveted gold medals.

This year’s tournament will feature a record number of 46 competitions and 339 gold medals to be won over two weeks across 42 competition venues.

Here is the schedule for the men's artistic gymnastics events:

> Saturday, July 24 - Men's Qualification - 2am

> Monday, July 26 - Men's Team Final - 11am

> Wednesday, July 28 - Men's All Round Final - 11.15am .

> Sunday, August 1 - Men's Floor Exercise Final - 9am; Men's Pommel Horse Final - 10.30

> Monday, August 2 - Men's Rings Final - 9am; Men's Vault Final - 10.54am

> Tuesday, August 3 - Men's Parallel Bars Final - 9am; Men's Horizontal Bar Final - 10.37am

For a full list of the schedule for the Tokyo Games click here.

What new sports will there be at the Olympics?

There are five new sports featuring in this year’s Summer Games.

These are: baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.

While baseball and softball were included during the 2008 Games in Beijing, the other four sports are making their Olympics debut.

Where can you watch the Tokyo Olympics in the UK?

Japan is eight hours ahead of British Summer Time, meaning a lot of the 2020 Olympic Games action will happen during unsociable hours in the UK.

But there are still plenty of ways for sporting fans over here to watch the Tokyo tournament despite the tricky time difference.

The Games will be available to watch live in the UK via BBC One every day.

Coverage will start on the channel at midnight and will run to about 9pm.

And if you miss your favourite sport, BBC Two will be showing a daily highlights show from 9-10pm.