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Olympic Review – July 28th

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Archery

The men’s team competition was a huge success for the US on Saturday. In the quarterfinals they fell behind Japan but rallied to win 220-219. Then in the semifinals they pulled off a huge upset as the Koreans faltered and the US took advantage to win 224-219. The clutch shooting down the stretch in the semifinal was amazing to watch.

In the final the US fell behind to Italy and rallied late to have a chance at winning. It came down to the final arrow and Italy hit a ten to win the gold medal 219-218. It was tough to lose the gold after knocking off Korea, but the silver was a good result for the US still.

Badminton

In badminton the US team of Howard Bach/Tony Gunawan lost their doubles match to Jae-sung/Yong-dae of Korea 21-14, 21-19. The result leaves the US team in 3rd in their group of four (top two advance).

The next badminton match is against Koo/Tan of Malaysia on Sunday.

Basketball

The US women’s basketball team won their first game against Croatia 81-56 and now is sitting atop the group thanks to the 25 point margin of victory.

The next basketball game is against Angola on Monday. Angola lost 72-50 to Turkey on Saturday and is 2nd to last in the group.

Beach Volleyball

In beach volleyball the pair of Josh Gibb/Sean Rosenthal defeated Chiya/Goldschmidt 21-10, 21-11 to start off their group stage. The pair of Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh had a much closer match but defeated Cook/Hinchley 21-18, 21-19 to start their group stage.

Gibb/Rosenthall next face Fijalek/Prudel of Poland while May-Treanor/Walsh face Kolocova/Slukova of the Czech Republic, both matches on Monday.

Boxing

In boxing Joseph Diaz Jr. started off his bout with Pavlo Ishchenko with an early lead and dominated throughout to win 19-9.  Later in the day the middleweight contender, Terrell Gausha took on Andranik Hakobyan. After a couple of rounds where Gausha was just behind Hakobyan he came out firing in the 3rd and with 10 seconds left took complete control knocking Hakobyan down twice and leading to the bout being stopped. Diaz Jr. advances to face Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba on Wednesday while Terrell Gausha will face Vijender Singh of India on Wednesday.

Cycling

In the men’s road race Taylor Phinney nearly got a medal as he finished in 4th. The rest of the competitors were back in the field. Timmy Duggan-88th, Tyler Farrar-33rd, Chris Horner-93rd, and Tejay van Garderen-104th.

Equestrian

In the 1st day of Equestrian Eventing Karen O’Connor was the top US competitor with a score or 48.2. Boyd Martin was next with a score of 50.7, and Tiana Courdray was after that with a score of 52. Those scores are on the better half of scores so far.

Fencing

In women’s individual foil the US saw Nzingha Prescod fall 15-10 to Aida Mohamed and Nicole Ross fall 15-8 to Ines Boubakri, both in the round of 32. Lee Kiefer knocked off Monica Patterson of Canada 15-10 in the round of 32 and Gil Ok Jung of Korea 15-13 in the round of 16. Kiefer lost to Arianna Errigo 15-10 in the quarterfinals.

Gymnastics

The US men had a great afternoon in gymnastics and qualified 1st for the team finals with a score of 275.342. Danell Leyva qualified for the individual all-around in 1st with a score of 91.265 while John Orozco was 4th with a score of 90.597. Four Americans made individual apparatus finals: Jake Dalton in floor, Jonathan Horton in horizontal bar, Danell Leyva in horizontal bar and Sam Mikulak in vault.

Rowing

In rowing the US had mixed success.
Men’s Single Sculls – Ken Jurkowski qualified for the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Men’s Pair – Tom Peszek/Silas Stafford failed to qualify for the semifinals and are in the repechage on Monday.
Men’s Lightweight Four – The crew failed to qualify for the semifinals and are in the repechage on Sunday.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls – The crew failed to qualify for the semifinals and are in the repechage on Monday.
Men’s Eight – The crew won their heat and qualified for the final on Wednesday.
Women’s Single Sculls – Generva Stone qualified for the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Women’s Pair – Sara Hendershot/Sarah Zelenka qualified for the final on Wednesday.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls – The crew failed to qualify for the final and are in the repechage on Monday.

Shooting

In the men’s 10m air pistol competition neither competitor made the final. Daryl Szarenski finished 23rd with 575 points and Jason Turner finished 34th with 569 points.

In the women’s 10m air rifle position both competitors finished with 397 points and qualified for the final. In the final Jamie Gray performed slightly better and finished 5th with a score of 499.7. Sarah Scherer finished 7th with a score of 499.

Soccer

The US dominated Colombia and won 3-0 behind goals by Rapinoe, Wambach, and Lloyd. This puts the US atop the group with six points and a goal differential of +5. The US has locked up a spot in the quarterfinals, but could still finish 2nd or 3rd in the group if North Korea beats them and France wins. Then it would come down to goal differential to rank the teams.

Next up is North Korea on Tuesday.

Swimming

Men’s 400m Individual Medley – Ryan Lochte grabbed the gold while Michael Phelps missed out on a medal in 4th.
Women’s 100m Butterfly – Dana Vollmer set an Olympic record in the heats and qualified first for the final. Claire Donahue qualified for the final in 5th.
Men’s 400m Freestyle – Peter Vanderkaay finished with the bronze medal while Conor Dwyer finished 5th.
Women’s 400m Individual Medley – Elizabeth Beisel set an American record while grabbing the silver, Caitlin Leverenz finished 6th.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke – Brendan Hansen grabbed the 8th qualifying spot for the final, Eric Shanteau didn’t advance to the final.
Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – The US finished with the bronze medal.

Table Tennis

In table tennis Timothy Wang’s tournament ended in the preliminary round with a loss to Kim Song-Nam 11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4. Lily Zhang lost her match in the 1st round to Cornelia Molnar 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5.

Ariel Hsing won her 1st round match over Yadira Silva 11-5, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 and will face Ni Xialian of Luxembourg on Sunday in the 2nd round.

Tennis

Ryan Harrison – lost 7-5, 6-3 to Santiago Giraldo
John Isner – won 7-6, 6-4 over Olivier Rochus, will face Malek Jaziri next in round of 32
Donald Young – lost 6-4, 6-4 to Andreas Seppi
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan – won 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 over Bellucci/Sa
Andy Roddick/John Isner – lost 6-2, 6-4 to Melo/Soares
Christina McHale – lost 6-4, 7-5 to Ana Ivanovic
Serena Williams – won 6-3, 6-1 over Jelena Jankovic, will face Urszula Radwanska next in round of 32

Volleyball

The US beat Korea 25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21. They are 2nd in the group behind China based off of points won ratio (1.338 to 1.159). They next face Brazil on Monday.

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Olympic Preview – July 29th

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Sunday’s competitions will start at 4 AM ET with the qualification rounds for the women’s skeet shooting and the women’s 10m air pistol shooting. It won’t wrap up until Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers wrap up their beach volleyball match that won’t start until 5 PM ET.

As always follow me on twitter for the most current information and coverage.  If you have any questions feel free to shoot them my way and I will attempt to help you!

It appears almost everything is available online at nbcolympics.com with the exception of the qualifying rounds for shooting.

All times mentioned from now on are ET.

Archery

The wommen’s team competition will take place on Sunday, and the US is in great position as the 2nd seeded team. The US won’t begin competition until the quarterfinals begin at 10 AM. In the quarterfinals the US will either take on #7 China or #10 Italy, depending on who wins the round of 16 matchup. If the US wins they will move on to the semifinals at 11:40 AM, likely against #3 Taipei. If the US were to lose in the semifinals they would play in the bronze medal match at 12:33 PM. If they were to win the semifinal they would play for gold at 1:01 PM.

The format will involve each team of three athletes shooting four sets of six arrows (two per person). Highest total over 24 arrows wins. The tiebreaker is a three-arrow sudden death shoot-off. If that is tied the closest arrow to the middle is the winner.

NBC Sports Network will show archery from 3:45 PM – 4:15 PM.

10 AM – Women’s Team Archery – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM – Women’s Team Archery – Semifinals
12:33 PM – Women’s Team Archery – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM – Women’s Team Archery – Gold Medal Match

Badminton

The US will see their badminton men’s doubles pair continue their tournament at 9:15 AM when Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan take on Koo/Tan of Malyasia. Koo/Tan won their match on Saturday so they are tied for first in the group while Bach/Gunawan are in 3rd. If they want to advance from the group this is probably a must-win match.

NBC Sports Network should have coverage from 1:50 to 2:15 PM.

9:15 AM – Men’s Badminton – Howard Bach/Tony Gunawan vs. Koo/Tan – Group Stage

Basketball

The US men’s basketball team will be starting their group stage on Sunday when they take on France in the first of five group stage games. France is a team with some NBA talent including Tony Parker. Unfortunately the 2nd group of “stars” is Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf. France just doesn’t seem to have the talent to hang with the US, so expect a pretty good US exhibition.

The match will be on NBC Sports Network and the special basketball channel from 9:30-11:45 AM. It will be replayed on the specialty channel from 1:30 to 3 PM.

9:30 AM – USA Men’s Basketball vs. France

Beach Volleyball

The 2nd day of beach volleyball will see April Ross/Jennifer Kessy get things going at 4 PM when they face Zonta/Galay of Argentina and Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers start their gold medal defense at 5 PM when they fave Asahi/Shiatroi of Japan. The US will hope to have a day as strong as Saturday when their pairs both won in two sets.

The beach volleyball matches are available on NBC, live, from 4 to 6 PM.

4 PM – Women’s Beach Volleyball – April Ross/Jennifer Kessy vs. Zonta/Gallay – Group Stage
5 PM – Men’s Beach Volleyball – Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers vs. Asahi/Shiratori – Group Stage

Boxing

In Lightweight boxing, US-boxer Jose Ramirez will start things off with a bout against Rachid Azzedine of France in the round of 32 at 4:30 PM. Then at 5 PM the welterweight fighter, Errol Spence, takes on Myke Ribeiro de Carvalho of Brazil in the round of 32. After a great day of boxing for the US on Saturday they will be looking to move two more boxers into the round of 16 on Sunday.

Boxing will be taking center stage on CNBC from 8:30 til 11:30 AM and from 3:30 to 6:30 PM. So both US matches will be available live on there.

4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Jose Ramirez vs. Rachid Azzedine – Round of 32
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Errol Spence vs. Myke Ribeiro de Carvalho – Round of 32

Canoeing

Canoeing will get started on Sunday with some slalom competition and the US has competitors in both of the events. In these events the 12 best combined times from the two heats advance. At 8:30 AM the C-1 heats will begin with Casey Eichfeld in the mix. He’ll have his first run at 8:42 AM and his 2nd run at 10:59 AM. At 9:30 AM the K-1 heats begin with Scott Parsons the US competitor. His first run is at 10:01 AM and his 2nd run will be at 12:18 PM.

Canoeing will be featured on NBC’s late night coverage from 12:35 PM to 1:35 AM Sunday night.

8:42 AM – Men’s Canoeing – Slalom – C-1 – Heats – Casey Eichfeld – Run 1
10:01 AM – Men’s Canoeing – Slalom – K-1 – Heats – Scott Parsons – Run 1
10:59 AM – Men’s Canoeing – Slalom – C-1 – Heats – Casey Eichfeld – Run 2
12:18 PM – Men’s Canoeing – Slalom – K-1 – Heats – Scott Parsons – Run 2

Cycling

The women’s road race will start at 5 AM in The Mall in London. Kristin Armstrong, Amber Neben, Shelley Olds, and Evelyn Stevens will be the competitors for the US. The race will be 140km (87 miles) long.

Cycling will be part of NBC’s coverage starting at 7 AM and finishing at 11 AM.

7 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Road Race

Diving

The diving competition gets underway with the women’s synchronized 3m springboard competition at 10 AM. With only eight competitors they will head straight to the final. Kelci Bryant/Abigail Johnston is the team for the US. There will be five rounds of diving with the highest total score being the winner.

NBC will be covering the diving tape-delayed during their primetime coverage from 7 PM to 12 PM.

10 AM – Women’s Diving – Synchronized 3m Springboard – Final

Equestrian

The equestrian competition continues on Saturday with the second day of the dressage portion of the eventing competition. The US will have Will Coleman going at 6:20 AM and Phillip Dutton going at 9:38 AM.

The dressage portion will involve scores between zero and ten for ten required elements. An average of the judges will be taken to give a score between zero and a hundred. The number of penalties is equal to 1.5 times the gap between the score and a perfect 100. The three best riders during the eventing competition will be combined to form the team score so we will begin to see how that comes together as well.

Equestrian coverage will be available on NBC Sports Network from 2:15-3 PM.

6:20 AM – Equestrian – Eventing – Dressage Day 2 – Will Coleman
9:38 AM – Equestrian – Eventing – Dressage Day 2 – Phillip Dutton

Fencing

The individual sabre competition is tomorrow and the US will start things off at 7:10 when James Williams faces Nikolay Kovalev and Daryl Homer faces Tiberiu Dolniceanu in the round of 32. Twenty minutes later Tim Morehouse gets his competition underway in a matchup with Veniamin Reshetnikov. The men will be hoping to advance through the competition which takes place in its entirety tomorrow. The starting times for the various rounds can be found below.

There is no scheduled fencing coverage on TV.

7:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – James Williams vs. Nikolay Kovalev – Round of 32
7:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Daryl Homer vs. Tiberiu Dolniceanu – Round of 32
7:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Tim Morehouse vs. Veniamin Reshetnikov – 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

Field Hockey

The women’s field hockey competition starts tomorrow when the Americans face off in a tough starting match with the Germans tomorrow at 4:15 PM. The Americans have continued to grow their field hockey team, but a challenge like Germany will be a tough way to start the games.

This game will be live on NBC Sports Network from 4:15-5:45 PM.

4:15 PM – Women’s Field Hockey vs. Germany – Group Stage

Gymnastics

The US women have been placed into Subdivision 3 and will begin their round at 9:45 AM. Four of the five athletes will compete on each of the four apparatus. The top eight total team scores advance to the team final, the top 24 individual total scores advance to the individual all-around final (maximum of two per country), and the top eight on each apparatus advance to the individual apparatus final (maximum of two per country). The US will have no problem qualifying for the team final and Gabrielle Douglas and Jordyn Wieber should be the two in the individual-all around final. The apparatus final spots will be the most hotly contested.

The US gymnastics round will be part of NBC’s primetime coverage from 7 PM – 12 AM on tape delay.

9:45 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 3

Rowing

Their will be only three events for the US in rowing on Sunday. First up at 4:40 AM the men’s lightweight four crew will face a repechage to try and grab one of three spots left in the semifinals. Their competitors will be Italy, Czech Republic, and Poland. Based off of the times from the heats, the US would not qualify as they were a full six seconds behind the 2nd-worst time. Expect a much much better performance tomorrow.

At 5:40 AM the women’s lightweight double sculls heats will begin with Kristin Hedstrom/Julie Nichols in heat 2. It appears only the top two will advance to the semifinals while the repechages will take the rest.

Finally at 6:50 AM the women’s eight heats will begin. The US is in heat 1 and should be a strong competitor. They will need to win their heat to advance directly to the final.

The rowing heats will be covered on tape delay from 3:40-4 PM on NBC.

4:40 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Repechage
5:40 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Heats
6:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Eight – Heats

Sailing

Sailing will start on Sunday and the US has several teams who will begin. First at 7 AM Zach Railey will begin his quest in the finn competition with race 1 and will continue with race 2 at 8:40 AM. Next at 8:30 AM we will see Brian Faith and Mark Mendelblatt begin the star competition with race 1, followed by race 2 at 10:10 AM.

The final event of the day will be the first round robin race for Debbie Capozzi, Anna Tunnicliffe and Molly Vandemoer in the elliot 6m event. They will face off against a crew from Denmark at 10:35 AM.

NBC will not be covering any of the sailing on TV.

7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 1
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 1
8:40 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 2
10:10 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 2
10:35 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Denmark – Round Robin

Shooting

Two competitions will start and two champions will be crowned on Saturday when the women’s 10m air pistol and the women’s skeet competitions take place. Kimberly Rhode will be in the skeet competition while Sandra Uptagrafft is the competitor in the 10m air pistol.

The qualification round will involve 40 shots in the air pistol. Each shot is scored to a maximum of 10 and the top eight shooters move on to the final. In the final there are only 10 additional shots (these scored to a maximum of 10.9) and the score is added to the qualification score to provide the final score.

In the skeet competition the qualifier is three rounds of 25 shots with the top six moving on. The final will be another 25 shots with the top combined score being the winner. In skeet you either hit the target or you don’t.

The shooting will be covered from 1:30-1:50 on NBC Sports Network.

This is one event where the qualification rounds will not be shown online at all, just the final rounds.

4 AM – Women’s Shooting – Skeet – Qualification
4 AM – Women’s Shooting – 10m Air Pistol – Qualification
6:45 AM – Women’s Shooting – 10m Air Pistol – Final
9 AM – Women’s Shooting – Skeet – Final

Swimming

The swimming competition will be busy on Sunday with eight events going, four of them ending in medals.

First at 5 AM the women’s 100m backstroke will get us underway with Rachel Bootsma in heat 5 and Missy Franklin in heat 6. They will be looking to be in the top 16 to advance to the afternoon semifinals.

Next at 5:20 AM the men’s 200m freestyle will feature Ricky Berens and Ryan Lochte head-to-heat in heat 5 both just needing a top 16 spot to move on to the afternoon semifinals.

Then at 5:43 AM the women’s 100m breaststroke will start. American Breeja Larson is in heat 5, and American Rebecca Soni is in heat 6. Again in this competition all that is necessary is a top 16 for a spot in the afternoon semifinals.

A similar story is true at 6:03 AM when Nick Thoman in heat 4 and Matthew Grevers in heat 6 will look for the top 16 spots to advance to the afternoon semifinals in the men’s 100m backstroke.

Finally a more urgent race will take place at 6:23 AM when the women’s 400m freestyle heats take place. Chloe Sutton is in heat 3 and Allison Schmitt is in heat 5. Only the top eight move on to the afternoon final.

The morning session will end with the dazzling men’s 4x100m freestyle relays. The US is in heat 2 and will be looking to finish in the top eight to lock up a spot in the afternoon final.

In the afternoon at 2:30 PM the women’s 100m butterfly final will take place with Claire Donahue and Dana Vollmer both in the final. Vollmer has been dominant so far and is the gold medal favorite.

Next at 2:37 PM we’ll see the men’s 200m freestyle semifinals, likely featuring Ricky Berens and Ryan Lochte. The top eight will move on to the final on Monday.

Then at 2:50 PM we’ll see the women’s 100m breaststroke semifinals with Breeja Larson and Rebecca Soni the Americans in competition. The top eight will move on to the final on Monday.

At 3:11 PM we’ll see another final as the men’s 100m breaststroke will take place with American Brendan Hansen just squeaking into the field.

Next at 3:18 PM the women’s 400m freestyle final will start possibly featuring Americans Chloe Sutton and Allison Schmitt.

The first of 2 more semifinal events will start at 3:28 PM with the men’s 100m backstroke, Nick Thoman and Matthew Grevers the Americans vying for a top eight spot and a trip to Monday’s final.

The second is the women’s 100m backstroke held at 3:49 PM. This is where Missy Franklin might shine and Rachel Bootsma should also be in the field. The top eight will move on to Monday’s final.

The afternoon will end with the 4 PM final of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. It should be an incredibly fast race and will be very entertaining.

Swimming will be covered on tape delay from 11-11:45 AM and 1:30-2 PM (heats) and the afternoon session will be shown during primetime 7 PM-12 AM. All of it will be tape delayed.

5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Heats
5:20 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Heats
5:43 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Heats
6:03 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Heats
6:23 AM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Heats
6:56 AM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle – Heats
2:30 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Final
2:37 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:50 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:11 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Final
3:18 PM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Final
3:28 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:49 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Semifinals
4 PM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle – Final

Table Tennis

The table tennis competition for the US is down to one individual, Ariel Hsing. She will have her 2nd round match against Xia Lian Ni of Luxembourg at 5 AM. If she wins that match she will face Li Xiaoxia of China in the 3rd round at 4 PM.

There will be no table tennis on TV on Sunday.

5 AM – Women’s Table Tennis – Singles – Ariel Hsing vs. Xia Lian Ni – 2nd Round
4 PM – Women’s Table Tennis – Singles – 3rd Round

Tennis

The first match of the day will feature Varvara Lepchenko taking on Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay in the round of 64 at 6:30 AM. Next up the final men’s singles player, Andy Roddick, will take on Martin Klizan of Slovakia in the round of 64 at 8:30 AM.

Then at 9 AM the women’s singles competition will feature Venus Williams taking on Sara Errani of Italy in the round of 64. Finally at 12:30 PM Venus Williams will be back on the court with Serena Williams in the doubles competition taking on Cristea/Halep of Romania in the round of 32.

Bravo is the home for tennis coverage and will be on live from 7 AM to 3 PM.

6:30 AM – Women’s Tennis – Singles – Varvara Lepchenko vs. Veronica Cepede Royg – Round of 64
8:30 AM – Men’s Tennis – Singles – Andy Roddick vs. Martin Klizan – Round of 64
9 AM – Women’s Tennis – Singles – Venus Williams vs. Sara Errani – Round of 64
12:30 PM – Women’s Tennis – Doubles – Venus and Serena Williams vs. Cirstea/Halep – Round of 32

Volleyball

The men’s US Volleyball team will start their group stage when they take on Serbia in their first game of the group stage. The US men are looking to defend their gold medal from Beijing.

The Volleyball match will be available live on NBC from 11:45 AM – 1:30 PM.

11:45 AM – USA Men’s Volleyball vs. Serbia

Water Polo

The US men will start their group stage with a match against Montenegro at 2:40 PM.

The game will be televised on NBC from 2:40-3:40 PM.

2:40 PM – USA Men’s Water Polo vs. Montenegro – Group Stage

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Olympic Preview – July 28th

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As the first full day of the Olympics gets going there will be American athletes competing in events all over London.  The first athletes to start will be competing in women’s shooting at 3:15 AM ET and the last to start will be beach volleyball that won’t start until 6 PM ET, almost 15 hours later. We’ll go event by event to talk about what they will be doing.

As always follow me on twitter for the most current information and coverage.  If you have any questions feel free to shoot them my way and I will attempt to help you!

It appears almost everything is available online at nbcolympics.com with the exception of the qualifying rounds for shooting.

All times mentioned from now on are ET.

Archery

The men’s team competition will take place on Saturday. As the 4th seeded team the US won’t begin competition until the quarterfinals begin at 10 AM. In the quarterfinals the US will either take on #5 Japan or #12 India, depending on who wins the round of 16 matchup. If the US wins they will move on to the semifinals at 11:40 AM, likely against #1 South Korea. If the US were to lose in the semifinals they would play in the bronze medal match at 12:33 PM. If they were to win the semifinal they would play for gold at 1:01 PM.

The most likely outcome on Saturday for the US is winning in the quarterfinals, losing to an amazing Korean team in the semifinals, and then playing for the bronze against France or China.

The format will involve each team of three athletes shooting four sets of six arrows (two per person). Highest total over 24 arrows wins. The tiebreaker is a three-arrow sudden death shoot-off. If that is tied the closest arrow to the middle is the winner.

NBC Sports Network will show archery from 11:15 AM – 12 PM and then some more at 5:45 until 7 PM.

10 AM – Men’s Team – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM – Men’s Team – Semifinals
12:33 PM – Men’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM – Men’s Team – Gold Medal Match

Badminton

The US will see their badminton competitors get underway at 3:50 PM when Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan take on Jung Jage-sung and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea. Jae-sung/Yong-dae are the 2nd seed in the badminton tournament. The competition does begin with a group stage where the top two move on, so Bach/Gunawan will continue to have a chance even if they do suffer defeat.

MSNBC should have coverage from 4 to 4:30 PM.

3:50 PM – Howard Bach/Tony Gunawan vs. Jae-sung/Yong-dae – Group Stage

Basketball

The US women’s basketball team will be starting their group stage on Saturday as well when they take on Croatia in the first of five group stage games. Croatia is playing in their first Olympics after they finished 5th at the 2011 EuroBasket, their best ever finish. They should be an easy first win for the US as Croatia is ranked 31st in the world currently.

The match will be on NBC and the special basketball channel.

11:45 AM – Women’s Group Stage vs. Croatia

Beach Volleyball

The first competitors to get underway for the US will be Josh Gibb and Sean Rosenthal at 5 PM when they take on Chiya/Goldschmidt of South Africa. At 6 PM Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will begin their quest for a 3rd straight gold medal when they take on Cook/Hinchley of Australia. The US teams are expected to win both of these matches.

The beach volleyball matches are available on NBC live (men’s match) and on tape delay in the evening (women’s match).

5 PM – Men’s Beach Volleyball – Josh Gibb/Sean Rosenthal vs. Chiya/Goldschmidt – Group Stage
6 PM – Women’s Beach Volleyball – Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh vs. Cook/Hinchley – Group Stage

Boxing

The draw is in for boxing. The US competitor in bantamweight, Joseph Diaz Jr., will start things off right away at 8:30 AM when he faces Pavlo Ishchenko of Ukraine.  Later in the day the middleweight contender, Terrell Gausha will take on Andranik Hakobyan of Armenia at 5:15 PM. Both competitors will be looking to move on to the round of 16 on next week.

Boxing will be taking center stage on CNBC from 8:30 til 11:30 and from 3:30 to 6:30.

8:30 AM – Men’s Bantamweight – Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Pavlo Ishchenko – Round of 32
5:15 PM – Men’s Middleweight – Terrell Gausha vs. Andranik Hakobyan – Round of 32

Cycling

The men’s road race will start at 5 AM in The Mall in London. Timmy Duggan, Tyler Farrar. Chris Horner, Taylor Phinney and Tejay van Garderen will be the competitors for the US. Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins will be a part of the field and is expected to help push 2011 World Road Race Champion Mark Cavendish to a Great Britain gold. The race will be 250km (155.3 miles) long.

Cycling will be part of NBC’s coverage starting at 5 AM and finishing at 11 AM.

5 AM – Men’s Road Race

Equestrian

The equestrian competition gets started on Saturday at 5 AM when the first day of the dressage portion of the eventing competition begins. I don’t have any information on the order of riders, but the US will have Will Coleman, Riana Coudray, Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin, and Karen O’Connor participating. The dressage portion will involve scores between zero and ten for ten required elements. An average of the judges will be taken to give a score between zero and a hundred. The number of penalties is equal to 1.5 times the gap between the score and a perfect 100. The three best riders during the eventing competition will be combined to form the team score so we will begin to see how that comes together as well.

Equestrian coverage will be available on NBC Sports Network at 1:45 for an hour til 2:45.

5 AM – Eventing – Dressage Day 1

Fencing

Three fencers will see their Olympics begin on Saturday at 5:30 AM with the women’s individual foil competition taking place. Those three are Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, and Nicole Ross.  Their are only six matches in the round of 64, none of which will involve US competitors, so the US won’t see their day begin until 6:50 AM with the round of 32. We know that the Nzingha Prescod will be facing Aida Mohamed in the round of 32 at 7:20 AM and Nicole Ross will be facing Ines Boubakri at the same time. Lee Kiefer will take on the winner of Anna Bentley and Monica Peterson, the time is unclear at this point. The schedule for the further rounds are below. None of the US competitors would meet until the semifinals.  The earliest the the US competitors would face a medalists from last year’s World Fencing Championship is the quarterfinals (Nicole Ross and Nzingha Prescod) and the semifinals (Lee Kiefer).

Fencing will be covered from 9-9:30 and from 4:30-5 on MSNBC.

6:50 AM – Women’s Individual Foil – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Women’s Individual Foil – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Individual Foil – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Women’s Individual Foil – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Women’s Individual Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Individual Foil – Gold Medal Match

Gymnastics

The US men have been placed into Subdivision 2 and will thus begin their round at 10:30 AM. Each of the five athletes will compete on each of the five apparatus. The top eight total team scores advance to the team final, the top 24 individual total scores advance to the individual all-around final (maximum of two per country), and the top eight on each apparatus advance to the individual apparatus final (maximum of two per country). The US will see fierce competition between the five gymnasts (Jake Dalton, Jonathan Horton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak and John Orozco) for the two individual all-around final spots but should qualify for the team final with ease.

The US gymnastics round will be part of NBC’s primetime coverage on tape delay.

10:30 AM – Men’s Artistic – Qualification – Subdivision 2

Rowing

Eight of the US rowing teams will start their competition on Saturday when they compete in the heats for their events.

Things will get under way at 4:30 AM when the women’s pair competition begins. Sara Hendershot/Sarah Zelenka will be in heat 1. The best boats in that heat will qualify for the final on Wednesday while the rest will compete in a repechage on Monday.

At 4:50 AM the women’s quadruple sculls begins and the US will be in heat 1. The same scenario of only the best boats reaching the final automatically and the others competing on Monday is in play here.

In men’s eight, which starts at 5:10, the US is in heat 1 and will again face the same format as the other rowers on Saturday.

In men’s lightweight four we finally see more than two heats!  The US is once again in the first heat at 6 AM but the format is a little different. The top three boats qualify for the semifinals on Tuesday while the bottom two in the US heat will take part in the repechage on Sunday.

The men’s quadruple sculls teams will start at 6:30 AM and is in heat 1 facing the same scenario as the lightweight four team, with the repechage being on Monday and the semifinal on Wednesday.

The men’s pair team of Thomas Peszek/Silas Stafford will start at 7 AM and feature the same format as the previous event. The difference is that the pair’s team is in heat 2 which only has four competitors, so only one will be sent to the repechage instead of two.

In men’s single sculls, at 7:30 AM, Ken Jurkowski will be one of 33 competitors, so the event is quite different! Jurkowski is in heat 6 of the event and will need to finish in the top four of five to move on to the quarterfinals on Tuesday. If he finishes 5th he would head to either semifinals E/F which are used to seed finals E and F for determining placement way down the line or a repechage for a 2nd chance at the quarterfinals. The Olympic site indicates the later, but the numbers don’t make any sense for how it would work so I’m leaning towards the former. Hopefully it doesn’t matter!

Finally in women’s single sculls at 8:30 AM heat 5 will feature Gevvie Stone. In this event it seems the top four will move on to the quarterfinals on Tuesday while a couple repechages will be held on Sunday for the eight boats who don’t qualify from the heats directly.

The rowing heats will be covered on tape delay from 2:30 to 3 on NBC.

4:30 AM – Women’s Pair – Heats
4:50 AM – Women’s Quadruple Sculls – Heats
5:10 AM – Men’s Eight – Heats
6 AM – Men’s Lightweight Four – Heats
6:30 AM – Men’s Quadruple Sculls – Heats
7 AM – Men’s Pair – Heats
7:30 AM – Men’s Single Sculls – Heats
8:30 AM – Women’s Single Sculls – Heats

Shooting

Two competitions will start and two champions will be crowned on Saturday when the women’s 10m air rifle and the men’s 10m air pistol competitions take place. Daryl Szarenski and Jason Turner will take part in the 10m air pistol competition while Jamie Gray and Sarah Scherer take part in the 10m air rifle event. The qualification round will involved 60 shots in the air pistol and 40 in the air rifle. Each shot is scored to a maximum of 10 and the top 8 shooters move on to the final.

In the final there are only 10 additional shots (these scored to a maximum of 10.9) and the score is added to the qualification score to provide the final score.

The shooting will be covered from 6-6:45 on NBC Sports Network.

I don’t think the qualification rounds will be shown online at all, just the final rounds.

3:15 AM – Women’s 10m Air Rifle – Qualification
6 AM – Women’s 10m Air Rifle – Final
7 AM – Men’s 10m Air Pistol – Qualification
10:30 AM – Men’s 10m Air Pistol – Final

Soccer

After a successful start to their Olympic campaign, the US women will look to solidify their position atop Group G when they take on Colombia Saturday. A win by the US, which is expected, would likely lock them into the quarterfinals and move them one step closer to winning Group G and avoiding a potential matchup with Japan in the quarterfinals.

The soccer game will be available at noon on both the NBC Sports Network and the special soccer channel.

12 PM – Women’s Group Stage vs. Colombia

Swimming

The swimming competition gets off to a quick start on Saturday as six events get underway and four medals are awarded.

Starting at 5 AM, we will see the 400m Individual Medley heats. Michael Phelps will be in heat 4, Ryan Lochte in heat 5. The top eight swimmers by time from the heats will move on to the final later in the day.

Next at 5:26 AM the women’s 100m butterfly heats get going with both Claire Donahue and Dana Vollmer in heat 6. The top 16 qualify for the semifinals later in the day.

At 5:47 AM the men’s 400m freestyle begins with Conor Dwyer and Peter Vanderkaay both in heat 4. In this even the top eight will move on to the final held later in the day.

Then at 6:17 AM the women’s 400m individual medley begins and Caitlin Leverenz will hit the pool first in heat 4 followed by Elizabeth Beisel in heat 5.  Once again the top eight move on to the final later in the day.

Next at 6:52 AM the men’s 100m breaststroke gets underway with Brendan Hansen in heat 4 and Eric Shanteau in heat 5. The top 16 will move on to the semifinals held later in the day.

The morning session ends at 7:16 AM when the 4x100m freestyle relay team will take the pool featuring a combination of Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Lia Neal, Allison Schmitt, and Amanda Weir. The US will be in heat 1 and once again the top eight move on to the final later in the day.

At 2:30 PM, we will see our first medal awarded with the 400m Individual Medley final. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are expected to go head-to-head for the gold.

Next at 2:40 PM the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals get going with both Claire Donahue and Dana Vollmer likely involved. The top eight will move on to Sunday’s final.

At 2:49 PM the men’s 400m freestyle final begins with Conor Dwyer and Peter Vanderkaay both in contention.

Then at 3:09 PM the women’s 400m individual medley final begins. Caitlin Leverenz and Elizabeth Beisel are the two US competitors going for the gold in this event

Next at 3:30 PM the men’s 100m breaststroke semifinals gets underway with Brendan Hansen and Eric Shanteau likely competing. The top eight times qualify for Sunday’s final.

The first day will end at 3:50 PM when the 4x100m freestyle relay team will hope to swim for gold featuring a combination of Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Lia Neal, Allison Schmitt, and Amanda Weir. The US will be in heat 1 and once again the top eight move on to the final later in the day.

Swimming will be covered on tape delay from 1:30 to 2:30 (heats) and the afternoon session will be shown during primetime. All of it will be tape delayed.

5 AM – Men’s 400m Individual Medley – Heats
5:26 AM – Women’s 100m Butterfly – Heats
5:47 AM – Men’s 400m Freestyle – Heats
6:17 AM – Women’s 400m Individual Medley – Heats
6:52 AM – Men’s 100m Breaststroke – Heats
7:16 AM – Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s 400m Individual Medley – Final
2:40 PM – Women’s 100m Butterfly – Semifinals
2:49 PM – Men’s 400m Freestyle – Final
3:09 PM – Women’s 400m Individual Medley – Final
3:30 PM – Men’s 100m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:50 PM – Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Final

Table Tennis

The table tennis competition will start early for the US as Timothy Wang has to play a preliminary round match at 5:30 AM to stay in the competition. Wang will be facing Kim Song Nam of North Korea. If Timothy Wang wins his preliminary round match he will play Lin Ju of the Dominican Republic in the 1st round. Lily Zhang will star her run in the women’s singles competition when she faces Molnar Cornelia of Croatia at 6:15 AM. Finally Ariel Hsing will start her competition at 10:15 AM against Silva Yadira of Mexico. It appears if Zhang wins she would face #25 Kim John Jing of North Korea. If Hsing wins she would face #19 Ni Xialian of Luxembourg in the 2nd round.

NBC Sports Network should have the Wang match live during their coverage from 5 AM to 6 AM.

5:30 AM – Timothy Wang vs. Kim Song Nam – Preliminary Round
6:15 AM – Lily Zhang vs. Molnar Cornelia – 1st Round
10:15 AM – Ariel Hsing vs. Silva Yadira – 1st Round
1:45 PM – Timothy Wang vs. Lin Ju – 1st Round (ONLY IF WINS FIRST MATCH OF DAY)
3:30 PM – Women’s Singles – 2nd Round

Tennis

The US will see three of their four men’s singles competitors get underway on Saturday. Ryan Harrison will be the first at 6:30 AM when he starts against Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo.  Next up will be John Isner at 8:30 AM when he takes on Belarus’ Olivier Rochus. Finally Donald Young will start at 10:30 AM against Italy’s Andreas Seppi.

Two of the four women’s singles competitors will play on Saturday starting with Christina McHale at 6:30 AM against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The other woman to start will be Serena Williams who will also take on a competitor from Serbia, Jelena Jankovic, at 9 AM

None of the US women’s doubles teams will take part in the competition on Saturday, but both of the US men’s teams will. Bob and Mike Bryan will get things underway at 12:30 PM when they start things off with a match against Bellucci/Sa of Brazil. John Isner and Andy Roddick will continue things at 2:30 PM when they face off against another Brazilian duo, Melo/Soares.

Bravo is the home for tennis coverage and will be on live from 7 AM to 3 PM.

6:30 AM – Ryan Harrison vs. Santiago Giraldo – Round of 64
6:30 AM – Christina McHale vs. Ana Ivanovic – Round of 64
8:30 AM – John Isner vs. Olivier Rochus – Round of 64
9 AM – Serena Williams vs. Jelena Jankovic – Round of 64
10:30 AM – Donald Young vs. Andreas Seppi – Round of 64
12:30 PM – Bob Bryan/Mike Brayn vs. Bellucci/Sa – Round of 32
2:30 PM – John Isner/Andy Roddick vs. Melo/Soares – Round of 32

Volleyball

Finally the US Volleyball team will start their group stage when they take on South Korea. South Korea is back at the Olympics after missing out on Beijing. They have finished outside of the top ten at the last two Volleyball World Championships, so the US should be expected to win.

The Volleyball match will be available live on NBC from 3 PM to 5 PM.

3 PM – Women’s Group Stage vs. South Korea

Fencing, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Fencing Preview

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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.