Judo has been a part of the games since 1972 and women’s judo was added in 1992. The US has only won ten medals during that entire period, far behind the leader, Japan, who has 65 medals. The US has earned a single medal in each of the last two Olympics after going without a medal in Sydney.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of only five athletes, there men and two women, down from ten in Beijing and twelve in Athens. Only one of the athletes, Travis Stevens, has represented the US before at the Olympics.
Judo is run in a knockout format and does feature a Repechage (think loser’s bracket). The winner of the matches between the four losers of the quarterfinals will face off against the losers of the semifinals to determine the two bronze medalists in each event.
All Times ET
Monday July 30th
4:30 AM – Men’s 73kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
4:30 AM – Women’s 57kg – Round of 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 73kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
9 AM – Women’s 57kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11 AM – Women’s 57kg – Gold Medal Final
11:10 AM – Men’s 73kg – Gold Medal Final
Tuesday July 31st
4:30 AM – Men’s 81kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 81kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11:10 AM – Men’s 81kg – Gold Medal Final
Thursday August 2nd
4:30 AM – Men’s 100kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
4:30 AM – Women’s 78kg – Round of 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 100kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
9 AM – Women’s 78kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11 AM – Women’s 78kg – Gold Medal Final
11:10 AM – Men’s 100kg – Gold Medal Final
Past Results:
Travis Stevens lost in the Round of 16 of the judo tournament in Beijing and then was knocked out in repechage round 3. He was the furthest advancing American in the field. In 2004 the best finish for the US was by Jimmy Pedro who won a bronze medal with a strong repechage after losing in the Round of 16. At Sydney the best finish was by Pedro as well who lost the bronze medal match.
The women’s best finish in Beijing came from Ronda Rousey who made the quarterfinals before losing and then made the bronze medal match where she won the bronze. In 2004 the women only had two competitors win a single match, none making it past the 2nd round of the repechage. Back in 2000 the best finish by an American was four women who made it to round two of the repechage. Rousey’s medal is the only one in women’s judo for the Americans.
At the 2011 World Judo Championship Kayla Harrison earned the only medal for the US, a bronze. She also earned the only US medal in the 2010 version when she won the gold medal. She is a real threat for a medal in London, maybe even the first gold for the US in Judo. Marti Malloy made it to the semifinals of the World Championship, but she lost in the semifinal and again in the bronze medal match.
Nick Delpopolo lost in the 1st round at the World Championship, but his opponent made it to the final eight before losing. Travis Stevens lost in the 1st round as well, as did Kyle Vashkulat.
If the US could win two medals in London, likely both on the women’s side, it would be the first time since 1988 that the US won two medals.
Gymnastics is one of the original Olympic events and has been contested at every modern Olympics. Artistic gymnastics was the original form and women started competing in 1928. Rhythmic gymnastics was added in 1984 and trampoline was added in 2000. The Men’s program took on it’s current form in 1932 and remains unchanged since then. The women’s form reached it’s current look in 1960. The Us trails only the Soviet Union in medals in artistic gymnastics having won 95 medals and 30 golds. The US has never medaled in rhythmic gymnastics or trampoline.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of six men and seven women. Only one of the competitors, Jonathan Horton, has been to the Olympics before.
Artistic gymnastics will start with a qualification round where the team’s individuals will compete on all the apparatus. This will qualify eight teams for the team final, 24 gymnasts for the individual all-around final, and eight athletes per apparatus for the individual apparatus finals. The team final will see only three members per team compete on each apparatus. The qualification day is obviously most important for individuals trying to get into the finals for their events, while the top teams should be fairly safe to make the team final.
Rhythmic gymnastics starts with all individuals competing in a qualification round each taking their turn on the four apparatus. After this round only the top 10 move on the final. In the final they will compete on each apparatus again and the best combined score wins.
Trampoline gymnastics starts with a qualification round with two routines. The first routine is restricted in difficulty and aims for execution. The second routine is where the competitors can show off the most difficult moves. The top eight combined scores from the two routines will advance to the final. In the final there is a routine of ten skills that will provide the final scores.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
6 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 1
10:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 2
3 PM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 3
Monday July 30th
11:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Team Final
Tuesday July 31st
11:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Team Final
Wednesday August 1st
11:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around
Thursday August 2nd
11:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around
Friday August 3rd
9 AM – Men’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Qualification
10:35 AM – Men’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Final
Saturday August 4th
9 AM – Women’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Qualification
10:35 AM – Women’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Final
Sunday August 5th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Floor Exercise Final
9:50 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Vault Final
10:41 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Pommel Horse Final
Monday August 6th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Rings Final
9:50 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Uneven Bars Final
10:41 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Vault Final
Tuesday August 7th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Parallel Bars Final
9:47 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Balance Beam Final
10:37 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Horizontal Bar Final
11:23 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Floor Exercise Final
Saturday August 11th
8:30 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 1
9:03 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 2
9:37 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 3
10:10 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 4
Past Results:
The men’s team has the only returning competitor, Jonathan Horton, who was the leading competitor for the men in Beijing. Horton led the US team to a 3rd place finish and the bronze medal and then finished 9th in the individual all-around and won a silver on the horizontal bar.
At the 2011 World Championships the US won the bronze medal, narrowly missing out on the silver by just .01 points. China was a strong 1st, but it showed the US has a real chance to improve on their bronze medal from Beijing. John Orozco might be this year’s Horton. He finished 5th in the individual all-around at the world championship, the 2nd best American being Danell Leyva finishing 24th. Horton narrowly missed out on the individual all-around, finishing 5th in the world in the qualification round, but behind Leyva and Orozco. Jake Dalton made the floor final and finished 9th, Horton made the rings final, finishing 7th, and John Orozco made the horizontal bar final, finishing 8th. Danell Leyva won the US a gold when he won the parallel bars final.
Steven Gluckstein will be looking to improve on 2008 when the men’s trampoline competitor for the United States finished in 15th place.
The women’s team brings back no competitors from Beijing and has big shoes to fill considering the remarkable success that was found there. The US women at Beijing won the silver in the team event and took the top two spots in the indvidual all-around (Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson). Johnson and Liukin also went one-two in the balance beam and two-there in the floor event. Liukin also added a silver in the uneven bars. The eight medals followed six medals in Athens, but just one in Sydney. The good news for the US is that the women’s team is the defending all-around champion at the world championship. They also won the individual all-around (Jordyn Wieber) and vault (McKayla Maroney). Wieber also won the bronze in the balance beam and Alexandra Raisman won the bronze in the floor excercise. Raisman was a point out of the bronze in the individual all-around and had narrowly qualified for the event over Gabrielle Douglas. The competition for the two-per country spots in the individual all-around on both the men’s and women’s teams will make the qualification round very important and exciting in London. It will take a strong effort to match the eight medals from Beijing, but don’t put it past this incredibly talented group.
The US was unable to qualify a rhythmic gymnast in 2008 and finished 15th in 2004. Julie Zetlin finished 35th in the qualification at the World Championship. In trampoline the Us finished 13th in Beijing and 14th in Athens. Both Zetlin in the rhythmic competition and Savannah Vinsant in the trampoline competition will be seeking the first medal for the US in those disciplines.
Fencing has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympics with the women’s events starting in 1924. The events have expanded from three in the first Olympic games to ten, as there has been since 1996. Five of the events are in men’s fencing, with five in women’s. Four of the events are in the foil category, three in Épée, and three in Sabre. The US has only won 20 medals in fencing at the Olympics, a far smaller number than the 115 of France and the 114 of Italy. The US only has two gold medals, both in women’s individual sabre at the last two Olympic games.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of 16 athletes, eight men and eight women.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
USA Fencing
Men:
Seth Kelsey** – Individual Épée Soren Thompson& – Individual Épée Miles Chamley-Watson – Individual and Team Foil Race Imboden – Individual and Team Foil
Alexander Massialas – Individual and Team Foil Daryl Homer – Individual and Team Sabre Tim Morehouse* – Individual and Team Sabre
James Williams – Individual and Team Sabre
Women:
Courtney Hurley – Individual and Team Épée
Maya Lawrence – Individual and Team Épée
Susie Scanlan – Individual and Team Épée Lee Kiefer – Individual and Team Foil Nzingha Prescod – Individual and Team Foil
Nicole Ross – Individual and Team Foil Dagmara Wozniak – Individual Sabre Mariel Zagunis** – Individual Sabre
* – Was on team in 2008
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
& – Was on team in 2004
Schedule:
What are the different forms? Foil is a light weapon. In this form the target is the torso. Double touches are not permitted. Épée uses a heavier weapon and allows the whole body to be targeted. Doubles touches are allowed. In sabre you are allowed to score with the side of the weapon and the upper body is the target area. Double touches are not allowed. Fencing is a little hard to pick up at first. The basic point is to hit your opponent and avoid being hit, thereby scoring more points than them. Sabre in particular has become more about hitting first, getting hit 2nd doesn’t really matter.
All the fencing events are knockout style. In team events there are three fencers per team who will face the three fencers on the other team. Scores are summed up and the team with the most points at the end wins. Each fight is limited to three minutes. The first fight ends at three minutes or when a team reaches five points. The second fight ends at three minutes or when a team reaches ten points… and so on until the end.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Gold Medal Match
Sunday July 29th
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 64
6:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 32
8:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 16
9:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Semifinals
1:50 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Gold Medal Match
Monday July 30th
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Gold Medal Match
Tuesday July 31st
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Gold Medal Match
Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 32
6:15 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 16
7:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Quarterfinals
8:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 32
9:45 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 16
10:40 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Quarterfinals
12:30 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Semifinals
1:30 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
3 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Gold Medal Match
3:30 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Gold Medal Match
Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Semifinals
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Gold Medal Match
Friday August 3rd
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Round of 16
6:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Quarterfinals
7:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Semifinals
9:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Placement 5-6
9:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
1:45 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Gold Medal Match
Saturday August 4th
4 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Semifinals
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Gold Medal Match
Sunday August 5th
4 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Semifinals
10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
Men’s fencing has been a challenge for the US. They have only won 13 medals, five silvers and eight bronze. They were able to win the team sabre silver in Beijing, that team sends one competitor, Tim Morehouse, back to London this year. In 2004 they were in the bronze medal match for both team foil and team sabre, but lost both to the Russians.
Seth Kelsey lost in the individual épée Round of 32 in Beijing, finishing 17th. Soren Thompson was a quarterfinalist in both team and individual épée in Athens. Unfortunately team épée is not an event in this Olympics, so the US will have to hope that these two can make a run at an individual medal. Tim Morehouse lost in the Round of 32 in Beijing in individual sabre, but his silver medal in team sabre should give him confidence heading into London.
The US has really come on strong in women’s fencing, winning five medals in Beijing, including a sweep of the medals in individual sabre, and two in Athens. That is much better than the zero they had before that. Mariel Zagnuis has been a major part of that, winning the last two golds in individual sabre and the team bronze. Unfortunately team sabre is not a part of London 2012, so she’ll only have one chance at a medal this year in the individual competition.
The US looks like a strong candidate to grab at least a medal or two from London. Hopefully the US can even exceed those numbers and continue the strong momentum from taking home six medals from Beijing.
Equestrian competitions have been a part of the Olympic competition since 1912 and involves mixed-gender competition. The United States is the all time leader with 49 medals, including 11 golds, in the competition, though Germany has won 24 medals in the last five Olympics compared to only 17 for the United States. The US has medaled in every Olympics since 1960 (excluding the boycotted 1980 games).
The Team:
This year’s team features 13 competitors, 12 of whom will be competing in the team events and all of whom will be competing in the individual events.
Show Jumping:
Rich Fellers Reed Kessler
Beezie Madden**
McLain Ward**
* – Was on team in Beijing
** – Was on team in Beijing and Athens
& – Was on team in Beijing, Sydney, Atlanta and Seoul
^ – Was on team in Beijing and Atlanta
Schedule:
Equestrian is a sport that probably is not familiar to many people. The dressage events are based on horses doing different movements and scored based off of how well they do those movements. There will be a grand prix round to start. The top seven teams and the top eleven individuals not on those teams move on to the grand prix special. The total score of the team from the grand prix round and the grand prix special will determine medals. Additionally the top 18 individual scores from the two rounds combined go through to the final, the grand prix freestyle. The grand prix freestyle scores determine the individual medals. Phew. And that’s just one of the forms of Equestrian…
Eventing is the decathlon of equestrian, involving a dressage portion, a cross-country portion, and a show jumping portion. Cross-country and show jumping are somewhat similar as they both involve a horse going through a course jumping over fences or other obstacles. The cross-country course is longer, linear and has more permanent bigger obstacles. Think logs, ditches, hedges. The show jumping course is smaller and set up in a ring. Additionally the fences are able to be knocked down. Think hurdles.
The first couple days are the dressage portion and the scores are translated to penalties (least penalties wins this competition). The third day is the cross-country portion where the riders will again attempt to avoid penalties (for jumping mistakes and time penalties). Finally on day 4 the showjumping is conducted with two rounds. After the first round the team medals are decided. The team of five will use the best three results to get their team score. The second round of jumping will only involve the top 25 individual riders at that point. Adding the final set of jumping penalties will provide the final results.
The jumping competition itself consists of five rounds, with two of those counting for the team competition. The first round is individual only and will narrow the field down to the top 60 and all team riders. The second round will narrow the field to the top 45, combined first and second round scores, and the best eight teams (second round only scores). The third round will narrow the field to the top 35 (first, second, and third round scores combined) and determines the team medalists (second and third round scores combined). The fourth round narrows the field to the top 20 based only on the fourth round score and the fifth and final round determines the medals based off of the fourth and fifth round scores combined. In case of a tie there is a jump-off conducted.
While it’s pretty confusing at first, I think the Equestrian competition could be interesting to watch, especially the jumping portions.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5 AM – Eventing – Dressage Day 1
Sunday July 29th
5 AM – Eventing – Dressage Day 2
Monday July 30th
7:30 AM – Eventing – Cross-Country
Tuesday July 31st
5:30 AM – Eventing – Jumping
9:30 AM – Eventing – Individual Jumping
Thursday August 2nd
6 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Day 1
Friday August 3rd
6 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Day 2
Saturday August 4th
5:30 AM – Jumping – Round 1
Sunday August 5th
6 AM – Jumping – Round 2
Monday August 6th
9 AM – Jumping – Round 3
Tuesday August 7th
5 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Special
Wednesday August 8th
7 AM – Jumping – Final Round A
9:45 AM – Jumping – Final Round B
Thursday August 9th
7:30 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Freestyle
Past Results:
Dressage has been a decent medal producer for the United States, they won the team bronze in four straight Olympics before losing that spot to Denmark in the Beijing games. The individual portion has not been the US’s strong suit, the last medal was in 1932. Steffen Peters came in 4th in Beijing and is a serious threat for a medal this time around. Peters was also part of the team that won bronze in Atlanta.
Eventing has been a good event for the United States in the three Olympics before Beijing the American team had won a medal, though the last gold was in 1984. The US has won a medal in the last four Olympics in the individual portion of the competition, the last gold being in 2000 when David O’Connor was victorious. In Beijing the US took home the silver in the individual eventing but finished 7th as a team. Phillip Dutton is actually a two-time gold medalist, both coming for Australia, from winning the 1996 and 2000 team events. Karen O’Connor is a five-time Olympian now. She has competed in 1988 (Seoul), 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney) and 2008 (Beijing). She won the bronze in Sydney and the silver in Atlanta, both as part of the team event.
Jumping has been another good event for the US with team medals in 3 of the last four Olympics, including the last two golds, and individual medals in the last two Olympics. The US almost had two individual medals in Beijing but Beezie Madden and McLain Ward ended up tied for 3rd and Madden won the jump-off. Both were part of the team that won gold in Athens as well.
It seems a safe bet that the Us will win medals in Equestrian in London. It is simply a question of which events and which competitors.
Cycling has been a part of every modern Olympics and has included women’s cycling since 1984. The program constantly seems to be changing, of the 18 events to be held in London, five are new from Beijing while five other events from Beijing are gone. Of the current events only men’s team pursuit, men’s/women’s individual sprint, and men’s/women’s individual road race have histories at the Olympics stretching earlier than Atlanta. France is the all-time leader in cycling medals with 86, but the US is 4th with 50, including 14 golds. The US won three bronze, one silver and one gold in Beijing.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of 12 men and 12 women. Eight of the 24 athletes were part of the team in Beijing and three were around back in 2004 in Athens.
Women:
Kristin Armstrong** – Road – Road Race & Time Trial Amber Neben* – Road – Road Race & Time Trial
Shelley Olds – Road – Road Race Evelyn Stevens – Road – Road Race Dotsie Bausch – Track – Team Pursuit Sarah Hammer* – Track – Team Pursuit & Omnium Jennie Reed** – Track – Team Pursuit Lauren Tamayo – Track – Team Pursuit Lea Davison – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country Georgia Gould* – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country Arielle Martin – BMX Alise Post – BMX
* – Was part of the team in Beijing
** – Was part of the team in Beijing and Athens
Schedule:
There are a lot of cycling competitions so we’ll try to explain them one at a time. Additionally there are various categories of events: road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, and BMX.
Road Cycling – Road Race – The road race is a fairly straight forward event. All athletes will start at the same time, the first one to finish wins! The men’s race is a meager 156 miles, while the women’s race is only 87 miles. No big deal. There is a section called Box Hill that is supposed to be very challenging and will be looped (nine times by the men, twice by the women).
Road Cycling – Time Trial – The time trial event will see competitors begin every 90 seconds. The fastest time for the course wins. The men will race 44km while the women race 29km.
Track Cycling – Sprint – The sprint event is a sprint, just three laps of the track long! There will be two riders racing, starting side by side, and the first one to finish wins. Win two of the three heats and you move on. There will be a time trial before the tournament to develop seeding, then we will have the knockout tournament. This is the event you may have seen videos of where neither rider is even “trying” most of the time, perhaps basically stopping. Here is an example:
Track Cycling – Team Pursuit – Team pursuit is pretty cool concept. In team pursuit the two teams start on opposite sides of the track and try to catch the other team. They are only allowed 3km to do so, if they don’t catch the other team by that time then the team which finishes the 3km the fastest wins. To “catch” the other team the entire group of three must get within 1m. After putting up qualifying times only the top four teams will be eligible for the gold. 1st will face 4th and 2nd will face 3rd with the winners facing off for gold. 5th faces 8th, 6th and 7th face off, and the two teams out of those four (along with the losers of the other two races) which had the fastest times in that round will compete for the bronze. In all reality, most teams aren’t going to actually catch the other teams, it’s more of a quickest team to complete 3km competition despite the name.
Track Cycling – Omnium – The omnium is the cycling version of the decathlon, six events in all. In each event the winner receives one point, the 2nd two, and so on. Add up all the points from all the events and the lowest total wins. The events are: Flying lap – a race against the clock (fastest single lap). Points race – you get points for lapping competitors and sprints. The sprints occur every 10 laps. Requires endurance and then getting up to high gear quickly for the sprints. The men’s race lasts 30km, the women’s 20km. Elimination race – one of my favorites – has everyone bunched together racing with a sprint every two laps. After each sprint the last rider is eliminated. Gets pretty crazy quick as riders are getting eliminated left and right. Individual pursuit – Much like team pursuit but with only one rider on each side. Scratch race – 16km race for men, 10km race for women. Very simple. Time trial – 1km for men, 500m for women – fastest time (one at a time) wins.
Mountain Bike Cycling – Cross-Country – Riders all start at once and the first to finish wins. The terrain, of course, is a challenging trail type ride. There’s even a few rock areas to ride over.
BMX Cycling – BMX – First of all let’s be clear… this is not BMX “trick” riding like we see at the X-Games. This is take your BMX bike and race and see who can go the quickest. 450m for the men, 44m0 for the women, both complete with jumps and other fun surprises for the riders. In London each rider will ride once to get a seeding time. The men will move to quarterfinals. Each quarterfinal will have five runs where you pick up points based on your finish. After three of the five runs, the top two move on. The rest compete in the final two runs and the top two from there move on as well. The women will go straight to the semifinals. For the men and women the semifinals will have three runs, the top four in each semifinal after the runs will move to the final. The final is a one-run competition where the winner takes the gold.
If you’re like me after reading all that you are excited to watch some cycling, and probably not just the “Tour de France” kind.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Road – Road Race
Sunday July 29th
7 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Road Race
Wednesday August 1st
7:30 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial
9:15 AM – Men’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial
Friday August 3rd
11 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Qualification
Saturday August 4th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Qualification
5:25 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 250m Time Trial (Flying Lap)
5:55 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/16 Finals
11 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/16 Repechage
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Round 1
11:40 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/8 Finals
12 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 30km Points Race
12:40 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/8 Repechage
12:45 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Finals
1:20 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Final (9-12)
1:25 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Elimination Race
Sunday August 5th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Individual Pursuit
11:35 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Quarterfinals
12 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 15km Scratch Race
1:10 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 1km Time Trial
1:45 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Final (5-8)
Monday August 6th
11 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Semifinals
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 250m Time Trial (Flying Lap)
12:05 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 20km Points Race
12:40 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Finals
1:20 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Elimination Race
Tuesday August 7th
5:15 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Individual Pursuit
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 10km Scratch Race
11:50 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 500m Time Trial
Wednesday August 8th
10 AM – Men’s BMX – Seeding
10 AM – Women’s BMX – Seeding
Thursday August 9th
10 AM – Men’s BMX – Quarterfinals
Friday August 10th
10 AM – Women’s BMX – Semifinals
10:08 AM – Men’s BMX – Semifinals
11:30 AM – Women’s BMX – Final
11:40 AM – Men’s BMX – Final
Saturday August 11th
7:30 AM – Women’s Mountain Bike – Cross-Country Race
Sunday August 12th
8:30 AM – Men’s Mountain Bike – Cross-Country Race
Past Results:
First we’ll deal with the men. Most of the male road competitors for the United States have some international experience. Timmy Duggan was a part of the last Road World Championship, but was part of a group well off the pace finishing almost nine minutes off the pace and in 174th place. Tyler Farrar was the best American at the Road World Championship finishing in 10th place in the road race competition. Farrar has also won a stage of the Tour de France in 2011. While not participating in the Road World Championship, Chris Horner was the winner of the Tour of California last year. Taylor Phinney finished 15th at the latest Road World Championship in the time trial. He also had a good race in the road race portion, finishing in 24th place. Phinney competed in the Beijing Olympics in the track portion of cycling. He finished 8th in the individual pursuit competition. In Beijing the US did come home with a medal in the road competition as Levi Leipheimer won the bronze in the time trial. In Athens the US won both the gold (Tyler Hamilton) and the bronze (Bobby Julich) in the time trial competition.
On the track, Bobby Lea was a competitor in the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championship, so we have some feel for how he might do in the Omnium. At the World Championship Lea finished 17th, with his best finish being 13th in three events (flying lap, individual pursuit, 1km time trial). In 2008 Lea did not finish the points race he was entered in and finished 16th in an event called the madison. The US last medaled in men’s track during the 2000 Olympics.
In the cross-country competition Todd Wells is the more experienced of the two male competitors having finished 43rd in Beijing and 19th in Athens. The US has never medaled in men’s mountain biking. In the BMX competition the US won the silver and bronze in Beijing (the first time the competition was held) but have three new Olympians to rely on this year.
As far as women go, the road team will have high expectations heading into London. Why? Because Kristin Armstrong won the gold medal in the time trial event in Beijing and is back to defend that title. Armstrong also raced in the road race in Beijing finishing in 25th, barely beating Amber Neben who finished 33rd. Armstrong also competed in the road race in Athens and finished in 8th place.
The track team brings back several members of the Beijing team, Jennie Reed and Sarah Hammer, but neither of them in the events they participated in. Sarah Hammer participated in the women’s point race and the individual pursuit while Jennie Reed participated in the individual sprint. Hammer placed 5th in the individual pursuit while Reed finished 7th in the women’s sprint. These two will now join together with Dotsie Bausch and Lauren Tamayo to form the first women’s team pursuit team (it’s a new event) the US will send to the Olympics. Three of the four (minus Reed) participated in the UCI Track Cycling World Championship and qualified in 5th place, less than a second out of place to compete for the bronze. Hammer will be the first woman to compete in the omnium at the Olympics for the US (it’s also a new event) and has a good result this Spring to look back at for motivation and encouragement. Hammer finished 3rd at the World Championships, 5 points out of 2nd. Her best event was individual pursuit where she finished 2nd. The US last medaled in a women’s track event in 1992, so Hammer could end that 20-year drought.
In mountain biking Georgia Gould will look to improve on her 8th place finish in Beijing and reach the medal stand this time. The Us has only medaled once in mountain biking, a bronze medal in the inaugural event in Atlanta. In BMX the women will look to improve upon the bronze medal that Jill Kintner won in Beijing. Arielle Martin had a crash in the World Championships ahead of Beijing that cost her the spot to Kintner, so she could be a real threat for the medal stand.
Boxing has been at every Olympics since 1912 and has given us some big moments for some of Boxing’s biggest names. Oscar de la Hoya, a young Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali), Joe Frazier, and George Foreman all won Gold for the United States. In all there have been 48 gold medals in Boxing for the United States and 110 total medals. While the men have the historic legacy to look back at. this will be the first Olympics to include women’s boxing.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of nine men and three women. Only one of these, Rau’shee Warren, has been to the Olympics before. Warren, who qualified for Athens as a 17-year old, is making his 3rd Olympic trip, something no American boxer has ever done before.
The boxing tournaments are single-elimination and feature five or four rounds (depending on the event). A bout is three rounds and scored based off of successful punches over the entire bout. This makes for exciting quick bouts where both boxers must go for it right away. Bronze medals are awarded to both boxers who lose the semifinal matches.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 32
10 AM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 32
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 32
Sunday July 29th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 32
10 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 32
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 32
Monday July 30th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 32
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 32
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 32
Tuesday July 31st
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 32
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 32
Wednesday August 1st
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Round of 16
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Round of 16
Thursday August 2nd
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 16
Friday August 3rd
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 16
Saturday August 4th
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 16
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 16
Sunday August 5th
8:30 AM – Women’s Flyweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Women’s Lightweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Middleweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Quarterfinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Quarterfinals
Saturday August 11th
3:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Final
4:15 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Final
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Final
5:15 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Final
Sunday August 12th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Final
8:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Final
9:15 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Final
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Final
10:15 AM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Final
Past Results:
As mentioned at the start, the US has had great success in past Olympics. An outlier was the US performance in Beijing where only Deontay Wilder, a heavyweight, medaled. Wilder won the bronze when he lost to Clemente Russo of Italy. In addition to Wilder only one other boxer made the quarterfinals. Rau’shee Warren lost in the first round to Oksung Lee in Beijing, a disappointing result in his second Olympic trip.
In 2004 the US won a gold when Andre Ward, a light heavyweight, beat Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus in the final. Andre Dirrell, competing as a Middleweight, won the bronze when he lost to Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan. Rau’shee Warren lost in the first round to Zou Shiming of China in his first Olympic bout. Two Americans other than Dirrell and Ward made the quarterfinals, and no American other than Warren lost in the first round.
2000 was a great year for the Americans as they won two bronze medals and two silver medals. 1996 was another strong year as the US won five bronze medals (including one by Floyd “no money yet” Mayweather Jr.) and a gold. 1992 featured a gold (Oscar de la Hoya) , a silver, and a bronze. You have to go all the way back to 1988 to find the last time the US won multiple gold medals in a single Olympics. that year the Us won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. It was a remarkable haul that saw the US medal in eight of the 12 events.
Rau’shee Warren has shown the ability to compete Internationally before having won the Gold in 2007 at the World Amateur Championship. He finished 3rd in the latest championship, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joseph Diaz was able to make the quarterfinals at that championship to earn his spot, and is only 18 years old. 19-year old Jose Ramírez was only able to get to the 2nd round in Baku, but finished 4th in the American (North and South) tournament to qualify for London. Jamel Herring, a 26-year old Marine boxer, didn’t advance out of the 1st round in Baku, but also finished 4th in the American tournament to qualify. 22-year old Errol Spence had a strong run in Baku before losing in the quarterfinals, qualifying him for London. Terrell Gausha, a 24-year old, was unseeded in the USA Olympic Trials but went all the way, winning the tournament. He then went to the American tournament and proceeded to win that as well. He’s definitely carrying a lot of momentum into London. Marcus Browne was able to make the 3rd round in Baku, but a loss there cost him a chance to qualify for London. Browne then went to the American tournament and was able to qualify, winning the Light heavyweight division. Michael Hunter, America’s Heavyweight, earned his spot in a similar manner by winning the American qualifying tournament too. The final member of the American team, the Super Heavyweight Dominic Breazeale, is surprisingly a former quarterback at Northern Colorado. Breazeale qualified when he finished 3rd at the American tournament.
On the women’s side, Marlen Esparza, who despite being only 22, has already won a bronze medal at a world championship six years ago, made the quarterfinals of the world championship this year to make the Olympics. Quanitta Underwood lost in the Round of 16 at the world championship by a single point to Ingrid Egner of Norway. She was rewarded for her strong performance by receiving an invitation to the Olympics. Claressa Shields, only 17 and still in high school, was knocked out in the 2nd round at the world championship by Savannah Marshall of England (who went on to win the tournament) but was still able to qualify for the Olympics thanks to advancing as far as anyone else from the Americas.
Once again it looks like Rau’shee Warren will be the best chance the US has at a medal, being the only one to medal at the World Championships during the last year. Hopefully some of the other boxers from the US can make a good run at the games as well echoing something many great American boxers have done over the years.
Beach Volleyball has become a more popular sport in America over the last decade for.. well… I guess obvious reasons. It doesn’t hurt that Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are two time defending gold medalists. Can they win it one more time though, or has their prime passed?
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of eight athletes, four men and four women. All of the men are going to their second Olympics. Two of the women are first time Olympians while Walsh is a three time Olympian and May-Treanor is going to her fourth.
The tournament will begin with the teams divided into six four-team pools for round robin play. All the group winners and runner-ups will advance to the Round of 16. Two of the 3rd place finishers will get automatic spots for the Round of 16 while the other four will battle for the other two spots. After that it is a straight knockout tournament.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Sunday July 29th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Monday July 30th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Tuesday July 31st
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches
Friday August 3rd
4 AM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Round of 16
Saturday August 4th
4 AM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Round of 16
Tuesday August 7th
12 PM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Semifinals
Wednesday August 8th
1 PM – Women’s Bronze Medal Match
4 PM – Women’s Gold Medal Match
Thursday August 9th
1 PM – Men’s Bronze Medal Match
4 PM – Men’s Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
The US is home to the defending champions in both the Women’s and the Men’s event. The women’s title was of course won by May-Treanor and Walsh and the men’s title was won by Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal made it to the quarterfinals in 2008.
In 2004 May-Treanor and Walsh won again and the other US women’s team won the bronze. The top men’s team that year made it to the quarterfinals. Back in 2000 the men’s team of Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana won gold while Misty May’s team was the top women’s team for the US advancing to the quarterfinals.
So if the past is any indication the US should be a strong competitor for medals in both the women’s and the men’s tournament. It will be interesting to see if May Treanor and Walsh can win one last gold medal as they are now eight years removed from their first gold medal.
Table Tennis is not a sport that is dominated by Americans, in fact no American has ever medaled in Table Tennis. The field is stacked with great players from Asia. Only one medal has left the Far East, the Men’s Team Silver in 2008 which went to Germany.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of four athletes. Timothy Wang will compete in Men’s Singles while Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang will compete in Women’s Singles. Hsing and Zhang will team with Erica Wu to compete in Women’s Team. All are first time Olympians.
Information is a bit hard to find but it appears the Individual competition is a best-of-7 competition. The team competition appears to consist of four singles matches and a doubles match. The team that wins three of the five matches advances. Both competitions are a purely knockout tournament.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
4 AM – Women’s Singles – Preliminary Round
4:45 AM – Men’s Singles – Preliminary Round
6:15 AM – 9:30 AM – Women’s Singles – 1st Round
11 AM – 2 PM – Men’s Singles – 1st Round
3:30 PM – Women’s Singles – 2nd Round
Sunday July 29th
4 AM – Women’s Singles – 2nd Round
6 AM – 8:30 AM – Men’s Singles – 2nd Round
1 PM – Women’s Singles – 3rd Round
Monday July 30th
5 AM – Men’s Singles – 3rd Round
10:30 AM – Women’s Singles – 4th Round
2 PM – Men’s Singles – 4th Round
Tuesday July 31st
5 AM – Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
11 AM – Women’s Singles – Semifinals
3 PM – Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
Wednesday August 1st
5 AM – Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
9:30 AM – Women’s Singles – Bronze Medal Match
10:30 AM – Women’s Singles – Gold Medal Match
Thursday August 2nd
5 AM – Men’s Singles – Semifinals
9:30 AM – Men’s Singles – Bronze Medal Match
10:30 AM – Men’s Singles – Gold Medal Match
Friday August 3rd
5 AM – 9:30 AM – Women’s Team – 1st Round
Saturday August 4th
9:30 AM – 2 PM – Women’s Team – Quarterfinals
Sunday August 5th
2 PM – Women’s Team – Semifinals
Monday August 6th
5 AM – Women’s Team – Semifinals
Tuesday August 7th
6 AM – Women’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
10:30 AM – Women’s Team – Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
In 2008 the US’s Men’s Singles player lost in the Preliminary Round while in 2004 the US had an athlete in the 2nd Round. The women had a lot more success in Beijing as Wang Chen, a former Chinese Table Tennis player, made it to the quarterfinals. Additionally the women’s team was able to get into the playoff round for the bronze medal, though they didn’t medal. In 2004 the women had one competitor into the 3rd Round.
It would be surprising to see the US advance far in any of the competitions, but their best chance might come with the Women’s Team.
First of all… who knew that badminton had an n before the t?!!? I sure didn’t… surprise surprise. Hopefully I can spell it right from now on. The US does not have a glorious history in badminton, never having medaled.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of three athletes. Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan will compete in men’s doubles and Rena Wang will compete in women’s singles.
Badminton in the Olympics is played best of three games, each game to 21 points (must win by two). If a game reaches 30 points it is automatically over.
The tournament will begin with a round robin group stage for both Men’s Doubles and Women’s Singles play. In Doubles play there will be four groups of four with the top two teams moving on to the quarterfinals. In singles play there will be 16 groups of four with the four group winners moving on to the Round of 16.
All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
3:30 AM – 1:30 PM – Men’s Doubles Group Stage, Women’s Singles Group Stage
Sunday July 29th
3:30 AM – 1:30 PM – Men’s Doubles Group Stage, Women’s Singles Group Stage
Monday July 30th
3:30 AM – 1:30 PM – Men’s Doubles Group Stage, Women’s Singles Group Stage
Tuesday July 31st
3:30 AM – 1:30 PM – Men’s Doubles Group Stage, Women’s Singles Group Stage
Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – 12 PM – Women’s Singles Round of 16
Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals
7:30 AM – Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
Friday August 3rd
4 AM – Women’s Singles Semifinals
Saturday August 4th
4 AM – Men’s Doubles Semifinals
8:30 AM – Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Match and Gold Medal Match
Sunday August 5th
4 AM – Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match
8 AM – Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
Howard Bach is the only competitor to return to the Olympics for the US, having been to Athens and Beijing. In 2008 he reached the quarterfinals with Bob Malaythong before losing to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China. In 2004, paired with Kevin Qi Han, Bach reached the round of 16 before losing to Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard-Hansen of Denmark.
In 2008 the Women’s Singles athlete from the US failed to advance out of the Round of 64, while no Women’s Singles athlete made the Olympics in 2004. It appears no woman has ever even won a set in the singles competition at the Olympics for the US. The best finish ever by a Men’s Doubles team was in 2008 with the quarterfinal appearance.
There might be some hope for the Bach-Gunawan combination as the two won the 2005 World Badminton Championship. Additionally Gunawan in his younger days competed for Indonesia and won the 2000 Men’s Doubles gold medal. Rena Wang is only 20 so she will be getting a good experience to build on at such a young age, and if she could even win a set for the US it would be a historic accomplishment.
The United States has a somewhat rich history in archery, but has struggled in the last few years. Three men and three women will attempt to turn that around in London.
The Team:
The team is made up of three men and three women who will compete both individually and as a team. Brady Ellison took part in the 2008 Olympics and Jennifer Nichols is in her 3rd Olympics having taken part in the 2008 and 2004 Olympics. Khatuna Lorig competed in 3 Olympics (92, 96, and 2000) before becoming a US Citizen and took part in the Beijing games, making this her 5th Olympics!
Women:
Miranda Leek Khatuna Lorig*
Jennifer Nichols**
* – Was on team in 2008 – Beijing
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
Schedule:
The individual competitions will begin with a Ranking Round to set the seeds for the knockout portion of the tournament. After the knockout bracket is set (1v64, 2v63 and so on) the competitors will face off in five-set matches. Each set consists of three arrows. Win three sets and you are through.
The team competitions will be seeded using the combined scores of the team members from the Ranking Round, the top 4 teams on each side getting a bye with teams 5-12 matching up. In the team competition it is only total points that matters, not sets.
July 27
4 AM ET – Men’s Ranking Round
8 AM ET – Women’s Ranking Round
July 28
4 AM ET – Men’s Team – Round of 16
10 AM ET – Men’s Team – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM ET – Men’s Team – Semifinals
12:33 PM ET – Men’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM ET – Men’s Team – Gold Medal Match
July 29
4 AM ET – Women’s Team – Round of 16
10 AM ET – Women’s Team – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM ET – Women’s Team – Semifinals
12:33 PM ET – Women’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM ET – Women’s Team – Gold Medal Match
July 30-August 1
4 AM ET – 11:05 ET – Rounds of 64 for both genders followed by rounds of 32, some men and some women will go on each day.
August 2
4 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Round of 16
9 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Quarterfinals
9:52 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Semifinals
10:21 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Bronze Medal Match
10:37 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Gold Medal Match
August 3
4 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Round of 16
9 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Quarterfinals
9:52 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Semifinals
10:21 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Bronze Medal Match
10:37 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
Men:
Brady Ellison: In 2008 he had a great Ranking Round and ended up seeded 15th. Despite the high seed he was knocked out in the Round of 32 by 47th-seed Jay Lyon of Canada.
As a team in 2008 the US ended up seeded 10th after the Ranking Round and lost in the Round of 16 to 7th seeded Chinese Taipei.
The US won five of the first seven medals in men’s individual archery, but haven’t won gold since Justin Huish in Atlanta. Vic Wunderle was the last American to medal, winning silver in 2000.
The team won their first gold medal in 1996 and followed that up with a bronze in 2000, but haven’t been on the medal stand since then.
Brady Ellison is the two-time defending FITA Archery World Cup champion, though that competition is a weaker field than the Olympics.
Women:
Jennifer Nichols: In 2008 she ended up the 24th seed after the Ranking Round and was knocked out in the Round of 32 by 9th seeded Nami Hayakawa of Japan. In 2004 she was the 19th seed and advanced to the Round of 16 before losing to Yun Mi-Jin of South Korea.
Khatuna Lorig: In 2008 she was the 26-seed after the Ranking Round but pulled off upsets in the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 to advance all the way to the quarterfinals. She lost in the quarterfinals to Yun Ok-Hee of South Korea. Back in 1992 she won a bronze medal in archery as a member of the Unified Team.
There was no US women’s team in Beijing, but in 2004 the women’s team was seeded 9th and lost to Greece in the Round of 16.
The US women won the first two women’s individual archery gold medals, but none since Luann Ryon in Montreal (1976), the last medal for the US in the sport.
The women’s team did win bronze in 1988, the first year of that competition.
South Korea is the dominant country of archery having won every women’s team gold medal, four of the six men’s team gold medals, and six straight women’s individual gold medals (interrupted in 2008 by China).