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Arena Pro Swim Series This Weekend in Mesa, Arizona

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Stop four of seven on the Arena Pro Swim Series is this weekend in Mesa, Arizona. Things start on Thursday with the men’s and women’s events in the 200m freestyle, the 100m breaststroke, the 100m butterfly, and the 400m medley.

Headlining the women’s 200m freestyle is Katie Ledecky, who has the won the first three races of the series, Missy Franklin, who has two seconds and a third, and Allison Schmitt who finished third in both of the races she took part in.

In the men’s 200m freestyle Connor Dwyer has won both of the races he entered so far this season while Ryan Lochte and Townley Haas came in second in their only races. Michael Phelps has a tenth and fourth place finish to show after his first two races of the year.

Over in the women’s 100m breaststroke the top American contenders include Katie Meili, who won the event in Austin, Micah Lawrence, who came in second in Minneapolis, Andee Cottrell, who was third in Minneapolis, and Molly Hannis, who has a second and third in her two races this year.

The men’s 100m breaststroke doesn’t feature many of the top finishers so far this season but one of the top contenders will be Andrew Wilson who won this event in Austin.

Both Kelsi Worrell, first in Minneapolis, and Dana Vollmer, second in Minneapolis and Austin, are strong contenders in the women’s 100m butterfly while in the mens 100m butterfly Giles Smith has three top five finishes including a win in Minneapolis.

Finally in the women’s 400m medely Becca Mann has notched two runner-ups and a third place finish to start the year while Tyler Clary has a fourth and a second in his two events so far this year.

The preliminaries are in the morning with the final in the evening and then we’ll know the eight event winners from the first day of the Mesa stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

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Olympic Review – August 10th

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Athletics

Things started with the men’s pole vault final on Friday. Brad Walker skipped the 5.50m height but then went 0-3 at the 5.65 meter height to finish in 13th with no mark in the final.

In the women’s 4x400m relay 1st round the US put up a time of 3:22.09 in the 2nd heat which was the best of the round. The US has now qualified for Saturday’s final. The team on Friday consisted of Keshia Baker, Francena McCorory, Diamond Dixon and DeeDee Trotter.

In the men’s 4x100m relay 1st round the US set a national record with a time of 37.38 and were the fastest in the round by .01 seconds over Jamaica.  Things will be different tomorrow when Usain Bolt steps into the team, but the US will have a stronger team as well. The 1st round team consisted of Jeffery Demps, Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons and Justin Gatlin.

In the women’s 5000m final Molly huddle finished in 11th (15:20.29) while Julie Culley finished 14th (15:28.22).

Next in the women’s 4x100m relay the US team of Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, and Carmelita Jeter smashed the world record enroute to a gold medal winning 40.82!!

In the women’s 1500m final Shannon Rowbury finished in 6th with a time of 4:11.26. Morgan Uceny had a heartbreaking night as she tripped with a lap to go and did not finish the race.

In the men’s 4x400m relay final the US had a season best time of 2:57.05 but the team of Bryshon Nellum, Joshua Mance, Tony McQuay and Angelo Taylor came in 2nd to a surprising Bahamas team.

Basketball

The US reached the final on Friday when they defeated Argentina 109-83. The US will now face Spain on Sunday for their second consecutive gold medal.

Canoeing

In the men’s K-1 200m competition Tim Hornsby advanced out of the heats with a 36.560, the fastest time among the three sixth-place kayaks. In the semifinals he finished last in his heat, just 1.5 seconds out of 4th. He will be in the B Final on Saturday.

Carrie Johnson was in the women’s K-1 200m on Friday and finished 6th in her heat as well to move into the semifinals. In the semifinals she also finished last, ending her Olympics.

Cycling

In the women’s BMX semifinals Brooke Crain used a 5th, 4th, and 5th place finish to propel her into 3rd overall in her heat and into the final while Alise Post crashed on the last run and missed out on 4th by three points, finishing 6th overall.  In the one-run final Crain finished last. Still this was a result she never could have imagined when the Olympics started.

In the men’x BMX semifinals Connor Fields got 4th on his 1st run but won the next two to move into the final.  David Herman started off well with a 3rd place finish but two 6th place finishes after that, including getting taken out on the last run, left him in 5th with 15 points, four behind fourth. In the men’s final Connor Fields crashed and finished 7th, 25 seconds after the leader.

Diving

In the preliminary round on Friday Nichols McCrory finished in 8th with 480.90 while David Boudia had to sweat it out and finished in 18th with 439.15. Both qualify for the semifinal on Saturday.

Field Hockey

The US women ended their Olympics with more disappointment as they couldn’t hold an early 1-0 lead and fell 2-1 to Belgium in the 11-12 Classification match. The US finished the Olympics in 12th.

Gymnastics

Julie Zetlin scored 24.250 with the ribbon and 24.225 with the clubs to score a 96.675 for the competition and finish in 22nd.

Sailing

Amanda Clark/Sarah Lihan finished last in the women’s 470 medal race, but still ended the Olympics in 9th place.

Swimming

Alex Meyer had a good swim in the men’s 10km open water swim and finished 10th in 1:50:48.2, less than a minute behind the winner.

Taekwondo

The US had disappointment early in taekwondo on Friday when Steven Lopez lost 3-2 to Ramin Azizov of Azerbaijan in the 80kg preliminary round. Azizov lost in the quarterfinals so Lopez did not get a chance at bronze. Paige McPherson started things off with a 5-1 win over Sarah Stevenson of Great Britain in the 67kg preliminary round. She then lost 6-1 to Nur Tartar of Turkey in the quarterfinals, but got a repechage chance when Tartar made the final. In the repechage McPherson beat Andrea St. Bernard of Grenada 15-2 and then defeated Franka Anic of Slovenia 8-3 to win a bronze medal!

Water Polo

In men’s water polo the US lost a tight match to Spain 8-7 in the 5-8 semifinals and will now face Australia on Sunday to determine the 7-8 classification.

Wrestling

Samuel Hazewinkel started Friday vs. Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the 55kg round of 16.  Hazewinkel suffered a tough 3-1, 2-0 loss and was eliminated when Niyazbekov failed to make the final.  In the 74kg round of 16 Jordan Burroughs beat Francisco Daniel Soler Tanco of Puerto Rico 4-0, 6-0 to move into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals were a bit more challenging but Burroughs beat Matthew Gentry of Canada 2-1, 1-1 to move into the semifinals. In the semifinals Burroughs faced a real challenge in two-time world champion Denis Tsargush of Russia. The match went three rounds but Burroughs pulled it out 3-1, 0-2, 2-1 to reach the final.  In the final Burroughs claimed a gold with a tight 1-0, 1-0 victory over Sadegh Goudarzi of Iran.

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Olympic Preview – August 10th

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The day will get started at 3:30 AM when the women’s field hockey team faces Belgium in the 11-12 classification match. It ends with the men’s basketball team taking on Argentina in a 4 PM game that won’t end til after 5:30 PM, the time that Steven Lopez hopes to be going for a gold medal in taekwondo. Lopez could be looking at a long day since he starts at 4:15 AM.

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 LIVE online at nbcolympics.com.

All times mentioned from now on are ET.

Athletics

Friday’s athletics competition will start with the men’s pole vault final at 2 PM.  Brad Walker, who cleared 5.60m in the qualification round, is the only American in the final and his 5.90m season best puts him in 4th. His 6.04m personal best is the 2nd best in the competition. Walker is a definite medal candidate int he final.

At 2:21 PM the women’s 4x400m relay competition will begin and the 2nd heat of the 1st round features the US. The US has a season best of 3:21.18 and national record of 3:15.51. A top three finish will move them into the final on Saturday.

At 2:53 PM the men’s 4x100m relay will get underway with the US in the 2nd heat of the 1st round.  The US has a season best of 38.30 and a national record of 37.40.

Next at 3:05 PM the women’s 5000m final will be held. Molly Huddle (PB 14:44.76, SB of 15:02.26) and Julie Culley (PB and SB of 15:05.38) will be in the field for the US as they look to pull of a big upset and medal.  Huddle ran her season best 15:02.26, 8th in round 1, while Culley ran her season best 15:05.38 to qualify in 12th.

At 3:40 PM the women’s 4x100m relay final will take place. The US ran a season best 41.64 in the 1st round to finish in 1st. The national record is 41.47.

At 3:55 PM the women’s 1500m final will be held with Morgan Uceny (PB 4;00.06, SB 4:01.59) and Shannon Rowbury (PB 4:00.33, SB 4:05.11) representing the US. Uceny was 13th in the semifinals with a time of 4:05.34 while Rowbury finished 15th with a time of 4:05.47.

Finally at 4:20 PM the men’s 4x400m relay final will take place. The US was tied with the Bahamas with a time of 2:58.87 in the 1st round, a season best. The national record is a 2:54.29, also a world record.

The women’s 5000m final will be shown LIVE (ET/CT) on NBC from 3-3:30 PM. The rest of the events will be shown on NBC in primetime from 8 PM – 12 AM.

2 PM – Men’s Athletics – Pole Vault – Final
2:21 PM – Women’s Athletics – 4x400m Relay – Round 1 – Heat 2
2:53 PM – Men’s Athletics – 4x100m Relay – Round 1 – Heat 2
3:05 PM – Women’s Athletics – 5000m – Final
3:40 PM – Women’s Athletics – 4x100m Relay – Final
3:55 PM – Women’s Athletics – 1500m – Final
4:20 PM – Men’s Athletics – 4x400m Relay – Final

Basketball

The US is two wins from gold and will try to reach the final when they face Argentina in the semifinals at 4 PM. The US got here by beating Australia 119-86 while Argentina beat Brazil 82-77.  This was the matchup in the final group stage match with the US winning 126-97.

The basketball game will be on the NBC Sports Network LIVE from 3:30-6 PM.

4 PM – Men’s Basketball – Argentina – Semifinals

Canoeing

Tim Hornsby is the US competitor in the K-1 (Kayak, one man) 200m sprint event. He will take part in the heats at 4:37 AM in heat 2. If he finishes in the top five in his heat or with the best sixth place time he’ll make the semifinals at 6:16 AM. In the semifinals he’ll need to finish in the top four to make the A Final, otherwise it’ll be the B Final for him.

Carrie Johnson will also be going in the women’s K-1 200m. She’ll be in heat 1 at 5:19 AM with the top four moving into the semifinals at  6:51 AM.

Canoeing will be shown from 11-11:30 AM and 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM on NBC.

4:37 AM – Men’s Canoeing – Sprint – K-1 200m – Tim Hornsby – Heats – Heat 2
5:19 AM – Women’s Canoeing – Sprint – K-1 200m – Carrie Johnson – Heats – Heat 1
6:16 AM – Men’s Canoeing – Sprint – K-1 200m – Semifinals
6:51 AM – Women’s Canoeing – Sprint – K-1 200m – Semifinals

Cycling

The Cycling semifinals and finals are on Friday. In the semifinals the heats will have three runs with the top four combined scores from the runs (1 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, etc.) moving into the final. In the final it will be a single race to determine the medals. Brooke Craine and Alise Post are in the women’s semifinals, 1st heat, at 10 AM. Connor Fields is in the 1st men’s heat at 10:08 AM while David Herman will be in the 2nd men’s heat at 10:12 AM.  The women’s final will be held at 11:30 AM with the men’s final following at 11:40 AM.

The cycling will be shown in the primetime coverage on NBC from 8 PM – 12 AM.

10 AM – Women’s Cycling – BMX – Brooke Craine and Alise Post – Semifinals – Heat 1
10:08 AM – Men’s Cycling – BMX – Connor Fields – Semifinals – Heat 1
10:12 AM – Men’s Cycling – BMX – David Herman – Semifinals – Heat 2
11:30 AM – Women’s Cycling – BMX – Final
11:40 AM – Men’s Cycling – BMX – Final

Diving

The final men’s diving event will get underway on Thursday with the men’s 10m platform starting the preliminary round at 2 PM.  Nicholas McCrory and David Boudia will be the two US competitors. If they reach the top 18 of the 32 divers they’ll advance to the semifinals on Saturday morning.

The diving will be shown in the primetime coverage on NBC from 8 PM – 12 AM.

2 PM – Men’s Diving – 10m Platform – Preliminary Round

Field Hockey

After a disappointing finish to the group stage the US will be hoping to avoid finishing last in the field hockey competition when they take on Belgium on Friday at 3:30 AM.  Belgium didn’t get a win in the group stage but did draw twice while the US only got one win, that being over Argentina, who will be in the gold medal match.

The US game will be shown on delay on NBC Sports Network from 8-9:20 AM.

3:30 AM – Women’s Field Hockey – Belgium – 11-12 Classification

Gymnastics

Sitting in 22nd after the first day, Julie Zetlin will complete her Olympics by competing with the ribbon at 7 AM (6th up) and the clubs at 8:18 AM (5th up).

No scheduled coverage of the gymnastics.

7 AM – Women’s Gymnastics – Rhythmic – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 3
8:18 AM – Women’s Gymnastics – Rhythmic – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 4

Sailing

Amanda Clark/Sarah Lihan are in the women’s 470 medal race where they enter in 9th position. If they do well in the 8 AM race they could theoretically finish as high as 5th, though 6th-8th is a more likely goal.

No scheduled coverage of the sailing.

8 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Medal Race

Swimming

The final swimming event in London will be the men’s 10km open water swim. Alex Meyer will represent the US in this event.

The swimming will be covered on NBC from 11:30-11:45 AM, 12:30-12:45 PM and 1:15-1:30 PM.

7 AM – Men’s Swimming – 10km Open Water

Taekwondo

The first one up in taekwondo on Friday is Steven Lopez who will face Ramin Azizov of Azerbaijan in the 80kg preliminary round at 4:15 AM. Paige McPherson will start next at 5:30 AM when she faces Sarah Stevenson of Great Britain in the 67kg preliminary round. If either wins they’ll move into the following rounds which start at the times listed below.

Taekwondo will be covered from 10:20-10:45 AM on NBC Sports Network and will be included in coverage on CNBC from 5-8 PM.

4:15 AM – Men’s Taekwondo – 80kg – Steven Lopez vs. Ramin Azizov – Preliminary Round
5:30 AM – Women’s Taekwondo – 67kg – Paige McPherson vs. Sarah Stevenson – Preliminary Round
10 AM – Women’s Taekwondo – 67kg – Quarterfinals
10:15 AM – Men’s Taekwondo – 80kg – Quarterfinals
12 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 67kg – Semifinals
12:15 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 80kg – Semifinals
3 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 67kg – Repechage & Bronze Medal Finals
3:15 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 80kg – Repechage & Bronze Medal Finals
5:15 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 67kg – Gold Medal Final
5:30 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 80kg – Gold Medal Final

Water Polo

In men’s water polo the US will now face Spain in the 5-8 semifinal to determine if they finish 5th/6th or 7th/8th. The match at 9:20 AM features the Americans who finished 4th in their group with the Spanish who finished 3rd in their group.

The water polo match will be LIVE on NBC Sports Network from 9:20-10:20 AM.

9:20 AM – Men’s Water Polo – Spain – Semifinal 5-8

Wrestling

The men’s freestyle competition starts Friday with Samuel Hazewinkel facing Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the 55kg round of 16.  In the 74kg round of 16 Jordan Burroughs will face Francisco Daniel Soler Tanco of Puerto Rico at 9:10 AM.  If either wins they’ll move into the following rounds at the times listed below.

There will be wrestling coverage from 10:45-11:45 AM on NBC Sports Network and 2:15-3 and 3:30-4 PM on NBC.

8:20 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Samuel Hazewinkel vs. Daulet Niyazbekov – Round of 16
9:10 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 74kg – Jordan Burroughs vs. Francisco Daniel Soler Tanco – Round of 16
9:10 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Quarterfinals
9:10 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 74kg – Quarterfinals
10 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Semifinals
10:20 AM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 74kg – Semifinals
12:45 PM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Bronze Finals
12:54 PM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 74kg – Bronze Finals
2:03 PM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Gold Final
2:50 PM – Men’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 74kg – Gold Final

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Olympic Review – August 9th

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Athletics

Entering day 2 Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee were 1-2 in the decathlon. They started the day in the 110m hurdles where Trey Hardee ran a personal best 13.54 (1035) and Ashton Eaton ran a 13.56 (1032). They continued to be 1-2 in the overall standings after the hurdles.

Then the women’s high jump qualification round started with Brigetta Barrett (1.93m) and Chaunte Lowe (1.93m) making the final while  Amy Acuff (1.90m) came up a bit short. The final will be on Saturday.

Next in the men’s decathlon discus throw Ashton Eaton threw 42.53m (716) and Trey Hardee threw 48.26m (716). Through seven events they continued to lead the decathlon.

Next up was the 1st round of the men’s 4x400m relay. The US team of Maurice Mitchell, Joshua Mance, Tony McQuay, and Bryshon Nellum easily qualified finishing 2nd in 2:58.87, a season best. This was remarkable considering that Maurice Mitchell BROKE HIS LEG halfway through his 400m. Incredibly he still finished in 46.1, 5th fastest of anyone in his leg. The team will be in the final on Friday.

Next the decathlon headed to the pole vault where Ashton Eaton cleared 5.20m (972) and Trey Hardee cleared 4.80m (849) to maintain their top two rankings with two events to go.

To start the afternoon off the decathlon headed to the javelin where Ashton Eaton threw a personal best 61.96m (767) and Trey Hardee threw a season best 66.65m (838). These scores meant Eaton and  Hardee would head to the 1500m still in the 1-2 positions they started in.

Then the men’s triple jump final will begin with Will Claye and Christian Taylor in the field.  Will Claye got out to an early lead with a 17.54m on his second jump. Christian Taylor struggled and went into his third jump needing a top eight mark to reach the final three jumps. He pulled it off with a 17.15m jump that placed him in 5th. In Taylor’s fourth jump he went 17.81m to take the lead from Claye and never relinquished it as he won gold with Claye getting silver.

Then in the women’s 800m semifinal Alice Schmidt (4th – 2:01.63) and Geena Gall (8th – 2:05.76) did not make the final while Alysia Johnson Montano (4th – 1:58.42) grabbed the final spot based on time.

Next up was the men’s 800m final where Duane Solomon (4th – 1:42.82) and Nick Symmonds (5th – 1:42.95) both ran personal bests but couldn’t medal in a race that saw the world record fall and everyone but one runner finish in a personal best. And that runner finished in a season best!

Then the women’s 4x100m relay began with the 1st round. Tianna Madison, Jeneba Tarmoh, Bianca Knight, and Lauryn Williams made up for the team for the US and finished in a season best 41.64 to head into the final on Friday the heavy favorite.

Next in the men’s 200m final Wallace Spearmon ran a season best 19.90 but came up just short of a medal with a 4th place finish just .06 seconds behind bronze.

Finally in the 1500m portion of the decathlon Ashton Easton finished in 4:33.59 (721) while Trey Hardee finished in a personal best 4:40.94 (674) to slam home any chance of falling to the bronze medal. The final result had Ashton Eaton winning gold in the decathlon with 8869 points and Trey Hardee won a silver with a season best 8671.

Basketball

In the women’s basketball semifinals the US struggled with Australia 22-20 after one quarter and 47-43 after the 1st half. A strong 3rd quarter gave them a 65-59 lead and they held on to win somewhat comfortably 86-73. The win put the US into the gold medal game against France on Saturday.

Boxing

Looking for a gold, and the first ever women’s boxing gold medal for the US, Claressa Shields beat Nazezda Torlopova of Russia 19-12 to take home a gold medal in the middlewight division. Shields, a 17-year-old became the youngest boxer to win a gold medal in 88 years. The victory gave the US a positive end to an otherwise unremarkable run in London.

Cycling

The US had three riders in the Men’s BMX quarterfinals on Thursday. Connor Fields was in the 2nd heat and won the first three runs to advance to the semifinals on Friday. David Herman and Nicholas Long were in the 3rd and heat and involved in a major crash on the 1st run. Long finished 7th and Herman came in 8th with a DNF, though both were able to continue the competition. What started then was a big push for getting back into qualifying position. Herman finished 3rd, 4th, and 1st in the next three runs while Long finished 4th, 5th, and 2nd. They went into the final run knowing it would take help to get both of them through. Long won the final run but didn’t advance as Herman finished 2nd and Roger Rinderknecht of Switzerland finished 3rd. Herman and Rinderknecht finished with 18 points and Long had 19. David Herman and Connor Fields will be in the semifinals on Friday.

Diving

The women’s 10m platform semifinal was on Thursday morning and a disappointing showing by Brittany Viola (300.50) and Katie Bell (296.80) left them both outside the top 12 with Viola finishing 15th and Bell finishing 16th.

Equestrian

The US had one last chance to medal in the grand prix freestyle portion of the individual dressage competition. Steffen Peters on Ravel finished with a 77.286% in 17th place to end that chance.

Gymnastics

In rhythmic gymnastics on Thursday Julie Zetlin competed with the ball and the hoop during the first day. She scored a 24.450 with the ball and a 23.750 with the hoop to find herself in 22nd after the 1st day. She’ll compete with the clubs and the ribbon on Friday.

Sailing

The sail-off with the Netherlands was cancelled on Thursday as the winds were non-existent. The decision was made to award the US 5th place based off their group stage performance instead of trying to make up the race later.

Soccer

The US went for their 3rd straight gold medal in women’s soccer against Japan on Thursday and behind a Carli Lloyd brace (8′ and 54′) the US got out to a 2-0 lead. Japan came back and scored in the 63rd minute and had a lot of chances to tie things up, but Hope Solo and the US held and won the game 2-1.

Swimming

In an incredible women’s 10km open water swim Haley Anderson swam stroke for stroke with the leaders and pushed with Eva Risztov of Hungary at the end to pull away. In the end Anderson came up just .4 seconds short of gold, but took a silver in an amazing event.

Taekwondo

To star the day of Terrence Jennings, in the men’s 68kg competition, lost to Servet Tazegul of Turkey 8-6 in the preliminary round. Tazegul went on to win gold so Jennings got a repechage chance. He took advance defeating Hryhorii Husarov 3-2 and Diogo Silva 8-5 to win a bronze medal!

Diana Lopez started the women’s 57 kg competition in the preliminary round losing 1-0 to Yuzhuo Hou of China. Hou made the final, taking silver, so Lopez got into the repechage bracket. Unfortunately her chance to medal ended with a 9-4 loss to Suvi Mikkonen.

Volleyball

In the women’s volleyball tournament the US moved into the final by sweeping Korea 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.  The win moved the US into a final rematch with Brazil for the gold medal.  Brazil finished 4th in the group stage, including a 25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21 loss to the US, but has played well in the knockout round to reach Saturday’s final. This one should be a fantastic exciting battle.

Water Polo

The US and Spain had tied in the group stage after a late Spain rally but Thursday’s gold medal match turned out a bit differently. Backed by a 8-1 run the US took an 8-2 lead early in the 4th quarter and held on to win their first gold by defeating Spain 8-5.

Wrestling

The final day of women’s wrestling started with Ali Sue Bernard losing to Jenny Fransson of Sweeden 3-0, 3-1 in the 72kg qualification round. The other US wrestler was Kelsey Campbell who lost 1-0, 1-0 to Saori Yoshida of Japan in the 55kg round of 16. Yoshida won gold so Campbell got a repechage chance but was defeated 4-0, 1-0 by Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan in the repechage match.

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Olympic Preview – August 9th

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The day will get started at 4:15 AM when Terrence Jennings faces Servet Tazegul in the 68kg men’s taekwondo preliminary round. It ends either around 4:20 PM when the decathlon gets to the 1500m. If the US has a competitor in the taekwondo gold medal matches it would end with that.

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 LIVE online at nbcolympics.com.

All times mentioned from now on are ET.

Athletics

Entering day 2 Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee are 1-2 in the decathlon. They’ll start their second day with both of them running in the 4th heat of the 110m hurdles at 4:24 AM.  Eaton has a PB of 13.35 and a SB of 13.70 while Hardee has as a PB and SB of 13.61.

At 4:30 AM the women’s high jump qualification round starts with Brigetta Barrett (PB & SB 2.01m), Chaunte Lowe (PB 2.05m and SB 2.02m) and Amy Acuff (PB 2.01m and SB 1.95m) all competing at 4:30 AM.

In the men’s decathlon discus throw Ashton Eaton (PB 47.36m, SB 46.54m) and Trey Hardee (PB 52.68m, SB 49.05m) in the 2nd group at 6:10 AM.

Next up is the 1st round of the men’s 4x400m relay. The second heat at 6:45 AM will feature the US team which has a SB of 3:00.02 and a NR of 2:54.29.

At 7:55 AM the decathlon will head to the pole vault where Ashton Eaton (PB & SB 5.30m) and Trey Hardee (PB & SB 5.30m) will be in Group A.

To start the afternoon off the decathlon heads to the javelin where Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee will be trying to finish off the competition strong at 1:30 PM.

At 2:20 PM the men’s triple jump final will begin with Will Claye (PB&SB 17.70m) and Christian Taylor (PB 17.96m, SB 17.63m) will be in the field.  There is a real chance these two could go 1-2 in the final.

Then in the women’s 800m semifinal Alice Schmidt at 2:30 PM (PB 1:58.61, SB 1:59.46), Alysia Johnson Montano at 2:38 PM (PB 1:57.34, SB 1:57.37) and Geena Gall at 2:46 PM (PB&SB 1:59.24) will all try to finish in the top two in their heat and make the final.

Next up is the men’s 800m final at 3 PM where Duane Solomon (PB&SB 1:43.44) and Nick Symmonds (PB 1:43.76, SB 1:43.78) are looking to medal.

At 3:20 PM the women’s 4x100m relay begins with the 1st round. The US team is in heat 1 with a SB of 42.19 and a NR of 41.47.

Next at 3:55 PM the men’s 200m final will begin with Wallace Spearmon (PB 19.65, SB 19.95) the only American in the final. It will be a big challenge for him to beat Usain Bolt but he might be able to medal still.

At 4:20 PM the decathlon will end with the 1500m heats. Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee will look to wrap up medals.

NBC will cover athletics from 12-12:45 PM, and again in primetime from 8 PM – 12 AM.

4:24 AM – Men’s Athletics – Decathlon – Trey Hardee and Ashton Eaton – 110m Hurdles – Heat 4
4:30 AM – Women’s Athletics – High Jump – Qualification
6:10 AM – Men’s Athletics – Decathlon – Discus Throw
6:45 AM – Men’s Athletics – 4x400m Relay – Round 1 – Heat 2
7:55 AM – Men’s Athletics – Decathlon – Pole Vault
1:30 PM – Men’s Athletics – Decathlon – Javelin Throw
2:20 PM – Men’s Athletics – Triple Jump – Final
2:30 PM – Women’s Athletics – 800m – Alice Schmidt – Semifinal – Heat 1
2:38 PM – Women’s Athletics – 800m – Alysia Johnson Montano – Semifinal – Heat 2
2:46 PM – Women’s Athletics – 800m – Geena Gall – Semifinal – Heat 3
3 PM – Men’s Athletics – 800m – Final
3:20 PM – Women’s Athletics – 4x100m Relay – Round 1 – Heat 1
3:55 PM – Men’s Athletics – 200m – Final
4:20 PM – Men’s Athletics – Decathlon – 1500m

Basketball

At 12 PM the US women will take on Australia in the semifinals. The US beat Canada 91-48 in the quarterfinals while Australia beat China 75-60. Australia went 4-1 in the group stage while the US was undefeated.  This matchup has been a traditional gold medal matchup in past Olympics.

The basketball game will be LIVE on the NBC Sports Network from 12-2 PM.

12 PM – Women’s Basketball – Australia – Semifinals

Boxing

In the gold medal bout Claressa Shields will be facing Nazezda Torlopova of Russia. Shields is coming off a 29-15 semifinal win while Torlopova squeaked out a 12-10 semifinal win.

Boxing will be shown from 5-8 PM on CNBC.

12:15 PM – Women’s Boxing – Middleweight – Claressa Shields vs. Nadezda Torlopova – Gold Medal Final

Cycling

Connor Fields will be the first BMXer up for the US on Thursday at 10:03 AM in heat 2. The heats are held as five-run races. After each race points are given to the riders based on positions. After three runs the top-two move into the semifinals. After the next two runs the top-two again move into the semifinals. Nicholas Young and David Herman are in the 3rd heat which starts at 10:06 AM. If the heats went according to the seeding runs all three would move into the quarterfinals.

BMX will be shown on NBC’s primetime coverage from 8 PM – 12 AM.

10:03 AM – Men’s Cycling – BMX – Connor Fields – Quarterfinals – Heat 2
10:06 AM – Men’s Cycling – BMX – Nicholas Young and David Herman – Quarterfinals – Heat 3

Diving

The women’s 10m platform semifinal will start at 5 AM with Brittany Viola going 5th and Katie Bell going 10th. If they finish in the top 12 they’ll make the final later in the day at 2 PM.

NBC will cover the diving in their primetime coverage from 8 PM – 12 AM.

5 AM – Women’s Diving – 10m Platform – Semifinal
2 PM – Women’s Diving – 10m Platform – Final

Equestrian

The US has one last chance to medal in equestrian as Steffen Peters on Ravel rides at 8:45 AM in the grand prix freestyle. If Peters could have a top three ride on Thursday he would win a medal.

The final will be shown LIVE on MSNBC from 9-11 AM.

8:45 AM – Equestrian – Dressage – Steffen Peters on Ravel – Grand Prix Freestyle

Gymnastics

In rhythmic gymnastics on Thursday Julie Zetlin will be competing in the individual all-around. She’ll start 18th on rotation 1 at 7 AM with the ball and be 17th on rotation 2 at 8:18 AM on the hoop. She’ll complete the competition on Friday.

There will be no TV coverage of the gymnastics.

7 AM – Women’s Gymnastics – Rhythmic – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 1
8:18 AM – Women’s Gymnastics – Rhythmic – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 2

Sailing

The only sailing event going on for the US on Thursday is a battle against the Netherlands in the elliott 6m competition. This race will determine if the US finishes 5th/6th or 7th/8th. It’s a best of 5 competition with match 1 at 7 AM, match 2 at 7:30 AM, match 3 at 8 AM, match 4 (if necessary) at 8:30 AM, and match 5 (if necessary) at 9 AM.

There will be no TV coverage of the sailing.

7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Sail Off 5-8 – Match 1
7:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Sail Off 5-8 – Match 2
8 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Sail Off 5-8 – Match 3
8:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Sail Off 5-8 – Match 4
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Sail Off 5-8 – Match 5

Soccer

The US will be going for back-to-back-to-back gold medals in women’s soccer when they face Japan at 2:45 PM. Japan defeated the US in penalty shots last year in the world cup. Japan had a much tougher road to the final defeating Brazil 2-0 and France 2-1.  They defeated Canada 2-1 in the group stage before drawing both of their remaining matches at 0-0.

The soccer game will be shown LIVE on the NBC Sports Network from 2:30-5 PM.

2:45 PM – Women’s Soccer – Japan – Gold Medal Match

Swimming

The final event in the women’s swimming program is the 10km open water swim which begins at 7 AM. Haley Anderson is the US swimmer competing in the event.

The swimming will be shown on NBC from 11:45 AM – 12 PM and 12:45-1 PM.

7 AM – Women’s Swimming – 10km Open Water

Taekwondo

At 4:15 AM Terrence Jennings will begin the taekwondo competition for the US. Jennings is in the men’s 68kg competition and will be facing Servet Tazegul of Turkey in the preliminary round. Diana Lopez will start the women’s 57 kg competition in the preliminary round with a match against Yuzhuo Hou of China. If either wins their first match they will move into the quarterfinals around 10 AM. If they lose to a finalist at any point they will be in the repechage competition later in the day.

The semifinals will be shown on MSNBC from 1:30-2:30 PM.

4:15 AM – Men’s Taekwondo – 68kg – Terrence Jennings vs. Servet Tazegul – Preliminary Round
7:30 AM – Women’s Taekwondo – 57kg – Diana Lopez vs. Yuzhuo Hou – Preliminary Round
10 AM – Women’s Taekwondo – 57kg – Quarterfinals
10:15 AM – Men’s Taekwondo – 68kg – Quarterfinals
12 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 57kg – Semifinals
12:15 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 68kg – Semifinals
3 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 57kg – Repechage & Bronze Medal Finals
3:15 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 68kg – Repechage & Bronze Medal Finals
5:15 PM – Women’s Taekwondo – 57kg – Gold Medal Final
5:30 PM – Men’s Taekwondo – 68kg – Gold Medal Final

Volleyball

In the women’s volleyball competition the US, 3-0 victors over the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals, will face Korea in the semifinals at 10 AM. Korea beat Italy 3-1 in the quarterfinals and lost 25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 to the US in the group stage.

They volleyball match will be shown LIVE (ET/CT) on NBC from 10-11:45 AM.

10 AM – Women’s Volleyball – Korea – Semifinals

Water Polo

In the women’s water polo gold medal final the US will take on Spain at 3 PM. The US beat Australia 11-9 in the semifinals while Spain beat Hungary 10-9 in the other semifinal. Both teams are undefeated with their group stage match ending in a 9-9 tie after the US gave up a 9-6 lead with three minutes to go.

The water polo match will be shown LIVE (ET/CT) on NBC from 3-4 PM.

3 PM – Women’s Water Polo – Spain – Gold Medal Final

Wrestling

In the final day of women’s wrestling Ali Sue Bernard will start the day off at 8:07 AM when she faces Jenny Fransson of Sweeden in the 72kg qualification round. Kelsey Campbell will go next at 8:14 AM when she faces Saori Yoshida of Japan in the 55kg round of 16. If either woman wins her match she’ll move into the next rounds which start at the times listed below. If they lose to a finalist in their tournament they will get a chance at bronze in the repechage bracket.

There will be coverage on the NBC Sports Network from 10:45 AM – 12 PM, 2-2:30 PM, and 5-6 PM.

8:07 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Ali Sue Bernard vs. Jenny Fransson – Qualification
8:14 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Kelsey Campbell vs. Saori Yoshida – Round of 16
9:03 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Round of 16
9:10 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Quarterfinals
9:38 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Quarterfinals
10:06 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Semifinals
10:20 AM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Semifinals
12:45 PM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Repechage & Bronze Finals
12:54 PM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Repechage & Bronze Finals
2:03 PM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 55kg – Gold Final
2:48 PM – Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle – 72kg – Gold Final

Archery, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Daily Olympic Reviews, Equestrian, Field Hockey, Gymnastics, Judo, London 2012, Olympics, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo

Olympic Review – August 2nd

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Archery

Khatuna Lorig took part in the women’s individual competition on Thursday starting with the round of 16.  In the round of 16 she took on Ming Cheng of China. She got out to a 3-3 tie after three sets before winning the final two to advance 7-3 (29-26, 27-27, 26-28, 30-28, 26-25). She moved into the quarterfinals where she took on Berengere Schuh of France. After trading sets to start Khatuna Lorig seized control and won the match in sets three and four. She advanced 6-2 (27-25, 25-26, 26-29, 25-24). In the semifinals Lorig took on Bo Bae Ki of Korea. Lorig gave it a great try and only lost the total score 107-105 but lost the match 6-2 (28-28, 29-28, 23-23, 27-26). Relegated to trying to win a bronze medal Lorig took on Mariana Avitia of Mexico. Avitia was up 4-0 quickly but Lorig almost got a comeback going before being derailed by a 6 in set 4. She lost 6-2 (30-27, 24-22, 24-25, 26-24). It was a tough result for Lorig who came close to a medal in her 5th Olympics but ended up just short.

Basketball

It was a record setting night for the US in basketball. The US set records for 3 point field goals (29) and points by a US player (37 by Carmelo Anthony) in an Olympic record 156-73 victory over Nigeria. The 83 point win is not an Olympic record (100) but is astounding. The US has an incredible +157 point differential after 3 games. They next face 4th place Lithuania on Saturday.

Beach Volleyball

In the first match of the day April Ross/Jennifer Kessy took on Baquerizo McMillan/Fernandez Steinerl of Spain. The two teams were 1-2 in the group and guaranteed of advancing to the knockout round. They played an extremely competitive game that should prepare both teams for the knockout round. Ross/Kessy advanced after being tested, 21-19, 19-21, 19-17.

In the second match Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers took on Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala of the Czech Republic. The US needed a win or a high scoring loss to advance to the knockout round. They did just that winning 21-13, 21-15 to go 3-0 in the group stage and win group B.

Boxing

Jose Ramirez got things underway for the US on Thursday when he faced Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan in the lightweight round of 16. He fought a hard match and didn’t fold but was defeated 15-11.  Next in the middleweight round of 16 Terrell Gausha took on Vijender of India. Guasha fell behind by a point in the 1st round and drew the two remaining rounds to lose the match 16-15. He brought a lot of energy to the match and it’s sad to see him exit this quickly.

Equestrian

The only US rider to compete in the dressage competition on Thursday was Jan Ebeling on Rafalca. Ebeling had a good routine and scored a 70.243, good enough for 13th after day 1.

Fencing

In the women’s team foil event on Thursday the US didn’t really have many close matches. In their first match they took on Korea in the quarterfinals and were soundly beaten 45-31. That sent them into the classification bracket for 5th through 8th spots. The US beat Japan 44-22 in the first match before losing to Poland 45-39 in the 5-6 Placement match.  They finished 6th in the competition.

Field Hockey

In a crucial game in the group stage of field hockey the US gave up a first half goal to Australia and never could score despite several opportunities. The loss knocked the US to 1-2 and put them in a tight situation when it comes to qualifying from the group. The US is now in 5th with 3 points while Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and Germany all have 6 points.  Even with two wins from their remaining two games the US will probably come up just short unless some ties happen. They next play New Zealand on Saturday.

Gymnastics

The women’s gymnastics individual all-around was Wednesday and Gabby Douglas and Alex Raisman were the US gymnasts who took on the Russians. In a battle for the top Gabby Douglas and Victoria Komova made very few mistakes as they traded great routines. It all came down to the floor routine. Needing a score over 15.3 Victoria Komova put on what has to be the floor routine of her life, it was a beauty. It wasn’t quite enough though and she lost the gold medal to Gabby Douglas.  The other battle was between Alex Raisman and Aliya Mustafina. Raisman came out and put up decent scores on both the uneven bars and balance beam, dropping points for some mistakes on the balance beam. She seemed to be in position to win the bronze though, and was until the floor routine. On the floor routine, needing 15.133 to tie,  she hit a 15.133 after leaving a move out of her final pass. She did not get a bronze medal though as the tiebreaker is the total after dropping the worst score. Mustafina’s score was marred by falling off the balance beam so she won the tiebreaker for 3rd and got the bronze.

Judo

It was a historic day for the United States in judo. Early on Kyle Vashukulat faced Ramziddin Sayidov of Uzbekistan in the 100kg round of 32.  Vashukulat was beaten by an ippon for Sayidov to end the American’s day pretty early.

Attention then turned to Kayla Harrison is in the women’s 78kg event. She started things off in the round of 16 against Vera Moskalyuk of Russia getting an ippon in just 56 seconds. In the quarterfinals she took on Abigel Joo of Hungary. After falling behind when Joo got a Waza-ari, Harrison rallied when Joo seemed to be injured. Joo was limping around the ring but Harrison couldn’t afford to take mercy on her and didn’t, getting an ippon to end the match.

Next in the semifinals Harrison faced Mayra Aguiar of Brazil and sought to become the first American woman to ever appear in the women’s judo final. Harrison picked up a yuko and held on to that lead before getting an ippon late to advance to the gold medal final. In the gold medal final against Gemma Gibbons of Brazil Kayla won two yukos and held that score til the end, defeating the Brit to win the first ever gold medal in judo for the United States.

Rowing

The first boat in competition on Thursday was the US men’s lightweight four crew in Final B. The US game in 2nd among the six boats to finish in 8th place overall.

The second boat was the men’s four. The four boat was in semifinal A/B 2 on Thursday and rowed great,winning their heat, to advance to Final A on Saturday.

Next the US team of Kristin Hedstrom/Julie Nichols in the women’s lightweight double sculls finished 4th in their heat by around 2.5 seconds to Germany. They will now be in Final B on Saturday.

Then Genevra Stone was in Semifinal A/B 2 of the women’s single sculls competition. Stone finished 4th in her heat by a little over 6 seconds and will be in Final B on Saturday.

Finally the women’s eight team went out and won themselves a gold medal with a great row in the final.  They held off a late challenge by Canada to win by over a second and become Olympic champions!

Sailing

Finn – Zach Railey finished 12th and 8th in races 7 and 8. Now in 12th with 68 points, 5 behind 10th and 34 behind 3rd. Races 9 and 10 are on Friday.

Men’s 470 – Stuart McNary/Graham Biehl finished 17th and 22nd in races 1 and 2. Now in 21st place with 39 points, 17 behind 10th. Races 3 and 4 are on Friday.

49er – Erick Storck/Trevor Moore finished 20th and 18th in races 7 and 8. They are now in 13th place with 71 points, 10 behind 10th and 30 behind 3rd. Races 9, 10, and 11 are on Friday.

Star – Mark Mendelblatt/Brian Fatih finished races 7 and 8 in 5th and 10th. They are now in 6th place with 45 points, 23 behind 3rd. Races 9 and 10 are on Friday.

Women’s RS-X – Farrah Hall finished races 5 and 6 in 20th and 22nd. She is now in 20th place with 96 points, 48 behind 10th. Races 7 and 8 are on Saturday.

Men’s RS-X – Robert Willis was black flagged in race 5 and finished race 6 in 28th. He is now in 18th place with 81 points, 22 behind 10th. Races 7 and 8 are on Saturday.

Elliott 6m – The US beat the Netherlands by 3 seconds in a race on Thursday. The US is now 6-3 and in 4th place. They next race last place Sweeden (0-9) and 5th place Great Britain (5-4) on Saturday.

Shooting

The two US in the double trap competition on Thursday came up short in their bid to reach the final. Joshua Richmond scored 131 and finished 16th while Walton Eller scored 126 and finished 22nd. The cutoff score was 137 to be in the top 6.

After day 1 of 25m rapid fire pistol qualification Emil Mielv finds himself in 7th with 292 points and Keith Sanderson is 14th with 288 points. 6th place is currently sitting at 293 points.

Swimming

In the men’s 50m freestyle Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones had fantastic days. They both moved into the semifinals easily and then in the semifinal swam a great race to finish 1st (Jones) and 3rd (Ervin).  They will swim for gold tomorrow.

In the women’s 800m freestyle Katie Ledecky took an early heat and put up a great time and watched it stand. Her time of 8:23.84 was 3rd fastest on the day and got her into Friday’s final. Kate Ziegler has been fighting sickness since she got to London and finished 21st.

In the men’s 100m butterfly Tyler McGill and Michael Phelps made the semifinals and then Michael Phelps swam a statement race, winning the semifinals with a time of 50.86 and finishing .56 seconds ahead of 2nd. Tyler McGill ended up 3rd at 51.61. They will swim for gold on Friday night.

In the women’s 200m backstroke Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Franklin were dominant and moved on easily from the heats and went 1-2 in the semifinals where Elizabeth Beisel went 2:06.18 and Missy Franklin was only .66 seconds behind her. They race for gold on Friday night.

In the afternoon four medals were contested. First of all in the women’s 200m breaststroke final Rebecca Soni swam for history and wrote her name on the record books. She became the first woman ever to break 2:20 in the 200m breaststroke as she finished in 2:19.59. Her time was 1.13 seconds better than 2nd place as she dominated the field to win gold.  Micah Lawrence was no match for her teammates speed and finished 6th.

 

In the men’s 200m backstroke final Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte went head-to-head for a medal. Lochte has been getting all the attention but Ryan Lochte backed up his 1st place time from the semifinals by swimming an Olympic record time of 1:53.41. He won the gold by .37 seconds and Lochte was another .16 seconds back with the bronze medal.

Next in the men’s 200m individual medley final Ryan Lochte dueled with Michael Phelps. Phelps showed why he is considered the greatest ever in this race. There was a lot of speculation that Phelps wasn’t ready for these games and that Lochte was the one to beat. Not so fast. Phelps led wire to wire and beat Lochte by .63 seconds to win the event for the 3rd straight Olympic games!

Finally in the women’s 100m freestyle final the US couldn’t reach the medal stand as Missy Franklin finished 5th, .2 seconds behind bronze, and Jessica Hardy finished 8th.

Tennis

The US was busy on Thursday with five matches across five events.  In men’s singles John Isner took on Roger Federer in the quarterfinals and lost 6-4, 7-6 in a game where he was broken for the first time in London.    In men’s doubles Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan won a quarterfinal match against Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram of Israel 7-6, 7-6 including a long 2nd set tiebreak that turned several times. They will now take on Julien Benneteau/Richard Gasquet of France in the semifinals on Friday.

In women’s singles Serena Williams crushed it against Caroline Wozniacki to win 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Serena advanced to the semifinals where she will face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. In women’s doubles Venus Williams/Serena Williams beat Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-1, 6-1 to move into a semifinal on Friday against Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova of Russia.

Finally in mixed doubles Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan were defeated 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 in a round of 16 match with Sabine Lisicki/Christopher Kas of Germany to end their run in the tournament.

Volleyball

In men’s volleyball the US came back from a dropped first set to defeated Brazil 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-17). The win leaves the US alone on top of the group with a 3-0 record. On Saturday they will take on 3rd place Russia who are 2-1.

Water Polo

In water polo the US men emerged from Thursday alone in first place thanks to Serbia tying Montenegro 11-11. The US did their part too of course,  winning 13-7 over Great Britain. Now alone a top the group at 3-0 the US will take on Serbia on Saturday with the US remaining on top with a win or a draw.

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Olympic Preview – August 2nd

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The day will get started at 4 AM when Khatuna Lorig will face Ming Cheng in her round of 16 archery match and Eller Watson starts the double trap shooting qualification.

It ends at 5:15 PM when the US takes on Nigeria in men’s basketball.

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

Khatuna Lorig is the last competitor for the US in archery at these Olympics. She’ll start her final day of competition by taking on Ming Cheng of China in the round of 16 at 4 AM. If she wins she’ll progress to the quarterfinals and the times the remaining rounds start is shown below.

Archery coverage is available from 2:20-3 PM on NBC Sports Network.

4 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Khatuna Lorig vs. Ming Cheng – Round of 16
9 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Quarterfinals
9:52 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Semifinals
10:21 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Bronze Medal Match
10:37 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Gold Medal Match

Basketball

Already 2-0 and on top of the group by a superior point differential (+74) the US will look to stay on top when they face Nigeria on Thursday. Nigeria is 1-1 having beaten Tunisia by 4. The US beat Tunisia by 47. You decide if this one will be close.

The basketball game will be on NBC Sports Network and the Special Basketball channel from 5:15-7 PM.

5:15 PM – USA Men’s Basketball vs. Nigeria

Beach Volleyball

The first match of the day involving the US features April Ross/Jennifer Kessy taking on Baquerizo McMillan/Fernandez Steinerl of Spain at 11:30 AM. Both groups have locked up the top two spots in the group so both will be in the knockout round. The winner if this match will have the top spot from the group.

At 4 PM Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers will take on Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala. The US is in 1st place with 4 points from the first two matches so they are guaranteed 5 at a minimum (if they lose). That means assuming that the Spaniards win their match against the Japanese Dalhausser/Rogers will be in a 3-way tie if they lose. If that’s the case the top two teams by point ratio would advance. Based on my analysis if there is a sweep by Benes/Kubala the US would have to win 37 points between the two sets to stay have the same point ratio. 38 would keep them ahead. If the US takes a single set their totals from the two other sets would have to be 17 more than Benes/Kubala’s from the set they lost to stay ahead. This is serious statistical analysis! So the US could advance losing something like 21-19, 21-19, or 21-17, 16-21, 21-16.

The women’s beach volleyball match will be on NBC LIVE (CT/ET) from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. the men’s match will be shown in primetime on NBC (8-12 PM).

11:30 AM – Women’s Beach Volleyball – April Ross/Jennifer Kessy vs. Baquerizo McMillan/Fernandez Steinerl – Group Stage
4 PM – Men’s Beach Volleyball – Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers vs. Benes/Kubala – Group Stage

Boxing

There are two boxing bouts involving US boxers on Thursday, and both of them are in the afternoon. First at 4 PM Jose Ramirez will take on Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan in a round of 16 lightweight bout. In the 2nd bout middleweight Terrell Gausha takes on Vijender of India at 4:45 PM.

NBC Sports Network is showing 3-4:45 PM and CNBC is showing boxing from 5-8 PM. Neither is listed as live, so don’t expect the US matches to necessarily be live on there.

4 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Jose Ramirez vs. Fazliddin Gaibnazarov – Round of 16
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Terrell Gausha vs. Vijender – Round of 16

Equestrian

Thursday is the first day of the dressage event in equestrian. The first part is the Grand Prix involving all individuals and teams. The top seven teams will move on from this phase and the top 11 individuals not on a team in the top 7. The US has four riders competing, the top 3 scores combine to form the team score. Only one rider is going on Thursday for the US, Jan Ebeling on Rafalca at 7:15 AM.

There will be equestrian coverage on MSNBC from 1:30-2:30 PM.

7:15 AM – Equestrian – Dressage – Grand Prix Day 1 – Jan Ebeling on Rafalca

Fencing

The women’s team foil event is on Thursday. The US starts off with a quarterfinal match against Korea at 5:30 AM. If they win they’ll move on to the semifinals at 7 AM. The starting times for the rounds are listed below.

Fencing team matches are very exciting. Let’s say the US has fencers A, B, and C. Korea has D, E, and F. In a series of three minute matches we would have the following matchups in some order: AD, BE, CF, AE, BF, CD, AF, BD, CE. The 1st match goes until one team has 5 points or the three minutes are up. The 2nd match goes until one team has 10 points or the three minutes are up, and so on. If either team reaches 45 they are the winner. Otherwise, whoever has the most points after the 9 matches is the winner.

There is no fencing on TV Thursday.

5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil vs. Korea – 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

Field Hockey

In a nice morning game the US women’s field hockey team takes on Australia at 4:45 AM. This battle in group B is between two of the four teams on 3 points a piece. The US has already beaten one of those teams and lost to another. Assuming they beat South Africa this game could place them on a solid 9 points even without beating New Zealand or leave them needing a win against New Zealand to get past 6 points. Only the top two move on. Safe to say this is close to a must win game.

The field hockey match is going to be LIVE on NBC Sports Network from 5:45-7:15 AM.

5:45 AM – Women’s Field Hockey vs. Australia – Group Stage

Gymnastics

The women’s gymnastics individual all-around is on Wednesday at 11:30 AM. Gabby Douglas and Alex Raisman are the two US gymnasts in the all-around. The other four competitors in their rotation are Victoria Komova of Russia, Vanessa Ferrari of Italy, Linlin Deng of China, and Aliya Mustafina of Russia. Komova was the top scorer from the qualifiers and will be a tough competitor to top for the US. Each competitor had one week routine in the qualifiers. Raisman on the uneven bars, Konova and Douglas on the floor.

They gymnastics will be shown on NBC as part of their primetime coverage, 8-12 PM.

11:30 AM – Women’s Gymnastics – Individual All-Around

Judo

Starting off the day at 5:12 AM Kyle Vashukulat will take on Ramziddin Sayidov or Uzbekistan in the 100kg round of 32. If Vashukulat wins he moves into the round of 16 at 5:33 AM. The times for the rest of the rounds is listed below.

Kayla Harrison is in the women’s 78kg event on Thursday. She’ll start off in the round of 16 against Vera Moskalyuk of Russia at 6:15 AM. If she wins she goes into the quarterfinals starting at 6:43 AM. The rest of the times for rounds are listed below.

There will be some judo on TV, MSNBC with some coverage from 4:30-5 PM.

5:12 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Kyle Vashukulat vs. Ramziddin Sayidov – Round of 32
5:33 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Round of 16
6:15 AM – Women’s Judo – 78kg – Kayla Harrison vs. Vera Moskalyuk – Round of 16
6:29 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Quarterfinals
6:43 AM – Women’s Judo – 78kg – Quarterfinals
9 AM – Women’s Judo – 78kg – Repechage & Bronze
9:14 AM – Women’s Judo – 78kg – Semifinals
9:28 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Repechage & Bronze
9:42 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Semifinals
11 AM – Women’s Judo – 78kg – Gold Medal Final
11:10 AM – Men’s Judo – 100kg – Gold Medal Final

Rowing

First up at 5 AM the men’s lightweight four crew will compete in final B. This final will determine positions 7-12 for the event. The US has the slowest best time of all the boats in the heat.

At 5:20 AM the men’s four is in semifinal A/B 2 and looking to get into final A. The US had the 5th fastest time in the previous rounds. They’ll need to finish in 3rd to reach final A, they were 3.04 seconds behind the 3rd fastest boat in the heat so far.

At 5:30 AM the women’s lightweight double sculls semifinal A/B 1 will take place. The US team of Kristin Hedstrom/Julie Nichols was 4th fastest of the boats in the previous round. They will need to finish 3rd or better to reach final A, they were 4.8 seconds behind the 3rd fastest boat in the heat so far.

At 6:20 AM the women’s single sculls semifinal A/B 2 happens. Generva Stone is the US competitor and has the 4th fastest time of the boats in her heat so far. She needs to finish 3rd or better to reach final A, she was 1.07 seconds slower than the 3rd fastest boat in the heat so far.

Finally at 7:30 AM the women’s eight final takes place. The US boat has been the 2nd fastest so far, just .77 seconds behind Canada.

There will be coverage of rowing from 2:20-3 PM on NBC and during primetime coverage from 8-12 PM.

5 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Final B
5:20 AM – Men’s Rowing – Four – Semifinal A/B 2
5:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Semifinal A/B 1
6:20 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Semifinal A/B 2
7:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Eight – Final

Sailing

The first event to start on Thursday is the finn event. Zach Railey is in 12th with 48 points, 25 back of 3rd after six races. He’ll take part in race 7 (7 AM) and race 8 (8:30 AM).

Next up is the 470 event. The US team of Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl will take part in race 1 (7 AM) and race 2 (8:30 AM).

After that is the 49er event. The US team of Erick Strock/Trevor Moore is in 7th after six races with 37 points, seven behind 3rd place. They’ll take part in race 7 (7 AM) and race 8 (7:50 AM) on Thursday.

The star event features the US team of Mark Mendelblatt/Brian Faith. They are in 6th after six races with 30 points, 13 behind 3rd place. They’ll sail in race 7 (7:10 AM) and race 8 (8:50 AM) on Thursday.

In the women’s RS-X event Farrah Hall is in 18th after four races with 76 points. She’ll be in race 5 (9:15 AM) and race 6 (10:05 AM) on Thursday.

In the men’s RS-X event Robert Willis is in 13th overall after four races. He has 53 points and is 35 points behind 3rd. He’ll be in race 5 (10:40 AM) and race 6 (11:30 AM).

Finally in elliott 6m there is only one race on Thursday, against the Netherlands at 9:40 AM. The US is in 4th at 5-3 while the Netherlands are 9th at 3-5.

There is no sailing coverage on TV on Thursday.

7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 7
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 1
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 7
7:10 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 7
7:50 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 8
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 2
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 8
8:50 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 8
9:15 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 5
9:40 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Netherlands – Round Robin
10:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 6
10:40 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 5
11:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 6

Shooting

There are two shooting competitions starting Thursday and both involve multiple rounds in qualifying. The double trap has 3 rounds of 50 shots. Ellen Walton will have his at 4, 5:30, and 7 AM. Joshua Richmond will have his at 4:30, 6, and 7:30 AM. If either is in the top six they’ll move on to the final at 10 AM where they take 50 more shots.

In the 25m rapid fire pistol there are 60 shots in qualifying. There appears to be some qualifying on Thursday and it finishes on Friday. That might mean 30 shots per day, but it isn’t made clear online. Either way Emil Milev is in the group at 6:20 AM while Keith Sanderson is in the group at 7:10 AM.

There will be shooting coverage from 4:45-5:15 PM on NBC Sports Network.

4 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Eller Walton – Qualification – Round 1
4:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Joshua Richmond – Qualification – Round 1
5:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Eller Walton – Qualification – Round 2
6 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Joshua Richmond – Qualification – Round 2
6:20 AM – Men’s Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Emil Milev – Qualification
7 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Eller Walton – Qualification – Round 3
7:10 AM – Men’s Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Keith Sanderson – Qualification
7:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Joshua Richmond – Qualification – Round 3
10 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Final

Swimming

In the men’s 50m freestyle Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones will take place in the heats, Anthony Ervin in heat 6 (5:11 AM) and Cullen Jones (5:13 AM). A top 16 score will send them to the semifinals Thursday afternoon.

In the women’s 800m freestyle Katie Ledecky in heat 3 (5:41 AM) and Kate Ziegler in heat 5 (6:02 AM) will seek to finish in the top 8 and advance to Friday final.

In the men’s 100m butterfly Tyler McGill will be in heat 4 (6:22 AM) and Michael Phelps will be in heat 6 (6:27 AM). If they make the top 16 they will be in the afternoon semifinals.

In the women’s 200m backstroke Elizabeth Beisel in heat 3 (6:40 AM) and Missy Franklin in heat 5 (6:48 AM) will look to finish in the top 16 and advance to the Thursday afternoon semifinals.

In the afternoon session at 2:30 PM hopefully Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones will both be in the semifinals as they swim for a top 8 spot in the 50m freestyle and berth in Friday’s final.

Then at 2:40 PM Rebecca Soni will swim for gold in the 200m breaststroke after setting a world record of 2:20 in the semifinals on Wednesday. Micah Lawrence will also be in the final having finished 3.39 seconds behind Soni in 6th place.

Next at 2:48 PM the men’s 200m backstroke final will take place. Tyler Clary was tops in the semifinals and Ryan Lochte was just .69 seconds behind him.

At 2:56 PM we’ll go back to the women’s 200m backstroke where Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Franklin hope to be in the semifinals and swimming for the top eight spots and a spot in the final on Friday.

Then at 3:19 PM the men’s 200m individual medley final gets going. Ryan Lochte will be back in the pool as he was first in the semifinals with a time of 1:56.13. Michael Phelps will also be in this race as he finished 3rd in the semifinals, .98 seconds behind Lochte.

At 3:37 PM the women’s 100m freestyle gets underway with Jessica Hardy and Missy Franklin in the final. Franklin was the 3rd fastest in the semifinals, .54 seconds behind the leader, while Jessica Hardy finished 8th, .81 seconds behind the leader.

The last event of the day will be the men’s 100m butterfly semifinals at 3:54 PM where Tyler McGill and Michael Phelps hope to be going for a top eight spot and a trip to Friday’s final.

There will be swimming coverage from 10-10:15 AM, 10:40-11:30 AM and 12:30-12:45 PM on NBC. Then of course in primetime there will be more coverage from 8-12 PM.

5:11 AM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Anthony Ervin – Heat 6
5:13 AM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Cullen Jones – Heat 7
5:41 AM – Women’s Swimming – 800m Freestyle – Katie Ledecky – Heat 3
6:02 AM – Women’s Swimming – 800m Freestyle – Kate Ziegler – Heat 5
6:22 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Tyler McGill – Heat 4
6:27 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Michael Phelps – Heat 6
6:40 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Elizabeth Beisel – Heat 3
6:48 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Missy Franklin – Heat 5
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:40 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Final
2:48 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Final
2:56 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:19 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Final
3:37 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Final
3:54 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Semifinals

Tennis

The US is schedule to be involved in five matches across five different competitions on Thursday. First up is Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan vs. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram of Israel in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at 6:30 AM. The next one scheduled to happen is around 9 AM when Serena Williams has a women’s singles quarterfinal match with Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Later on at around 10:30 AM Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan are to take on Sabine Lisicki/Christopher Kas of Germany in a mixed doubles round of 16 match.

Around 11 AM a men’s singles match between John Isner and Roger Federer is supposed to start in the quarterfinals. Finally at 12:30 PM the women’s doubles quarterfinal match between Serena Williams/Venus Williams and Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci of Italy is supposed to start.

All tennis is covered on Bravo from 7 AM – 3 PM

6:30 AM – Men’s Tennis – Doubles – Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan vs. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram – Quarterfinals
APPROX 9 AM – Women’s Tennis – Singles – Serena Williams vs. Caroline Wozniacki – Quarterfinals
APPROX 10:30 AM – Mixed Tennis – Doubles – Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan vs. Sabine Lisicki/Christopher Kas – Round of 16
APPROX 11 AM – Men’s Tennis – Singles – John Isner vs. Roger Federer – Quarterfinals
APPROX 12:30 PM – Women’s Tennis – Doubles – Serena Williams/Venus Williams vs. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci – Quarterfinals

Volleyball

In men’s volleyball group B the US and Brazil are tied atop the group after beating their first two opponents 3-0. Thursday they will meet at 3 PM and go along way towards deciding who finishes atop the group.

The game will be shown LIVE (ET/CT) on NBC from 3-5 PM.

3 PM – USA Men’s Volleyball vs. Brazil

Water Polo

In water polo the US men are tied at the top of the group with Serbia but massively behind on goal differential (+18 to +3). That should change on Thursday at 1:20 PM when the US takes on Great Britain, who has been beaten 13-4 and 21-7 so far. The US needs to push the score as high as possible to give themselves the best chance to finish atop the group.

The game will be shown LIVE (ET/CT) on NBC from 1:20-2:20 PM.

1:20 PM – USA Men’s Water Polo vs. Great Britain – Group Stage

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Olympic Review – August 1st

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Archery

The US had three archers going in the individual competitions on Wednesday. First up was Khatuna Lorig in the women’s round of 64 against Sherab Zam of Bhutan. Lorig defeated Zam in three sets 6-0 (28-22, 26-21, 26-22). The victory moved Lorig into the round of 32 where she met Louis Laursen of Denmark. This match was much tougher and it took a full five sets for Lorig to win 6-4 (27-24, 22-28, 24-24, 29-26, 27-27).  She will now take part in the rest of the women’s competition on Thursday. Her day will start with Ming Cheng of China in the round of 16.

Next up for the US was Brady Ellison who started off against Mark Javier of the Philippines. Ellison started quickly and never looked back winning 7-1 (29-27, 28-25, 25-25, 29-22). That victory in the round of 64 moved him into a round of 32 match with Taylor Worth of Australia. Ellison never got into his groove as he dropped the match 7-1 (29-29, 27-25, 29-26, 27-26) and was eliminated from the tournament.

The final competitor for the US was their last hope in men’s individual archery, Jake Kaminski. In a round of 64 match with Dan Olaru of Molodova Kaminksi got out to an early 5-1 lead but then faltered and choked away the lead losing 6-5 (25-27, 26-29, 28-28, 28-24, 27-23, shootoff (9-7)). Why do I call it choked? He hit a 6 in set 4, a 4 in set 5 knowing an 8 would win him the match, and a 7 in the shootoff. Yikes. The loss meant no US man would reach the round of 16 in the individual event, yet alone medal.

Basketball

An 89-58 victory for the US over Turkey on Wednesday helped solidify the US’s position on top of the group. Their point differential has them ahead of China but the two will face off for the top spot directly if they both win their next games. The US next plays against the Czech Republic, who is in 4th, on Friday.

Beach Volleyball

Josh Gibb and Sean Rosenthal came up huge in their match Wednesday afternoon against Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins of Latvia. Knowing that they would need to win, and win with a good margin, to advance to the knockout round the US came out with a great performance winning 21-10, 21-16. The win moved the US well into first with a point ratio of 1.337 compared to 2nd place’s 1.148. The US could have actually lost 14 more points and still had a better ratio!  The US will next compete in the round of 16, probably on Friday.

To end the day Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh took on Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria. After a slow start May-Treanor/Walsh got on track and rolled in sets 2 and 3 to a 17-21, 21-8, 15-10 victory. The win gave them the top spot in their group and they move on to the knockout round.

Boxing

The US lost in three different weight classes in men’s boxing on Wednesday as their boxers faced some tough competition. First up in the bantamweight division Joseph Diaz Jr. lost to Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba 21-15. The match was close and Diaz gave it a lot, as the 15 point shows.

In the heavyweight division Michael Hunter took on the Russian Artur Beterbiev and they had a real close bout. Hunter was up 8-7 after the 2nd round but couldn’t hold on in the final round and the match ended up tied at 10. Hunter lost the decision on a tiebreaker and saw his Olympics come to an end. Tough ending for the fighter who really did have a decent day.

Finally in the super heavyweight division Dominic Breazeale was just no match for the Russian Magomed Omarov who was up 5-0 after a round and went on to a dominant 19-8 win.

Cycling

The US was the strong competitor they were expected to be in the time trials on Wednesday morning. First in the women’s time trial Amber Neben came in a respectable 7th while Kristin Armstrong was dominant and won the gold. Armstrong was a full 25 seconds faster than any other rider on the course.

In the men’s time trial Taylor Phinney put up a very good time of 52:38.07. He led most all of the riders but was beaten by three, Bradley Wiggins winning the gold. That meant that for the 2nd time in London Phinney ended up in 4th. Hopefully the 22-year-old is back in Rio 2016 and can win a medal.

Diving

In an amazing continuing run at the Olympics the US won their 3rd diving medal in three events on Wednesday. I’ll keep repeating it because it’s amazing…. a total of one medal combined from 2000-2008 (that being in 2000) and now three so far in London! Incredible! This time it was Troy Dumais/Kristian Ipsen who won the bronze in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard final. They executed solid dives throughout the competition and their consistency was rewarded with the bronze. Dumais will compete in the 3m springboard competition starting on Monday.

Fencing

Fencing tells a sad tale on Wednesday. Two US fencers made the semifinals, but neither were able to medal. We’ll start in the men’s individual epee competition. In the round of 32 Seth Kelsey got things underway with a tight 8-7 victory over Li Guojie of China. Hard to believe that his run may never had happened if he hadn’t gotten the touch in overtime to win the match. His teammate Soren Thompson was not at fortunate and lost 15-4 to Joerg Fiedler of Germany.

In round of 16 he was a big underdog against Nikola Novosjolov of Estonia and came away with the upset 15-11 to  move into the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals he dispatched the Venezuelan Silvio Fernandez 15-9 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals he and Ruben Limardo Gascon of Venezuela were tied at 5 and headed to overtime. This time Kelsey didn’t get the touch and Gascon moved on to the gold medal final 6-5. In the bronze medal final Seth Kelsey took on Jinsun Jung of Korea. In a higher scoring version of the semifinals Kelsey had the match tied at 11 and went to overtime. Jung got a touch on his foot in the 2nd half of the minute to win the bronze and leave Kelsey medaless in 4th.

In the round of 32 two-time defending gold medalist Mariel Zagunis started her tournament off with a solid 15-7 win over Diah Permata Sari of Indoneisa.  Her teammate, Dagmara Wozniak, also advance from the round of 32 when she beat Salma Mahran of Egypt 15-6.  Both fencers were victorious again the round of 16 and the US was looking good. Zagunis won her match against Seira Nakayama of Japan 15-9 while Wozniak won her match with Azza Besbes of Tunisia 15-13 after being down 12-10 late. In the quarterfinals Zagunis continued to cruise and defeated Min Zhu of China 15-6. Wozniak ran into trouble however and despite rallying from down 14-11 to get within one point, lost 15-13 to Sofya Velikaya of Russia.

In the semifinals Mariel Zagunis faced Jiyeon Kim of Korea. Zagunis led 8-2 after round 1 and 12-6. Then Kim got hot and started winning point after point after point. She cut it to 12-10, lost a point, but then won 5 more to win the match 15-13 on a 10-1 run. It was a crushing defeat for Zagunis who was so close to going for her 3rd straight Olympic gold.  In the bronze medal match Zagunis faced Olga Kharlan of the Ukraine. Zagunis was ahead 8-6 after the 1st round, but Kharlan won 9 of the next 11, including the final five straight. to win the match 15-10. It’s matches like this that are hard to watch as competitors try so hard only to end up JUST off the medal stand.

Gymnastics

Much like the team final the early story in the men’s gymnastics individual all around was mistakes. John Orozco had an awful one on the pommel horse and scored at 12.566, eliminating him from medal contention in the 2nd apparatus. Danell Leyva made a similar bad mistake, though his was only a 13.5. The two stood 19th and 24th after the pommel horse. After that they put their problems behind them and performed incredibly well the rest of the way. Orozco was 3rd on the rings (15.2), 8th on the vault (15.9), 8th on the parallel bars (15.266) and 8th on the horizontal bar (14.966). He wasn’t spectacular but he didn’t make more big mistakes and his consistency earned him an 8th place finish.

Two things kept Danell Leyva in medal contention despite that score on the pommel horse. First of all his score wasn’t quite as bad. That extra point higher than Orozco is huge.  In the end he would have been there places further back in the end if he was without that point. But the biggest reason Orozco could rally was that his last event was the horizontal bar where he has a routine that can knock it out of the gym. Although he was only 14th on rings and 10th on vault, neither one of those scores were bad enough to send him down the rankings. Then on parallel bars Danell Leyva performed a magnificent routine that scored a 15.833, best on the apparatus of the evening. He moved on to the horizontal bar where he needed just a 15.434 and scored a 15.7, again best on the apparatus, to win him a bronze medal. It was a testament to why you don’t quit!

Rowing

A lot of close calls in rowing on Wednesday, most of which were the US coming up just short. In the first event of the day, men’s single sculls, Ken Jurkowski finished 6th in Semifinal C/D heat 2 and moved into Final D on Friday.

In men’s pair rowing the team of Thomas Peszek/Silas Stafford were the first to have close disappointment as they finished 4th in the 1st heat of Semifinal A/B. They missed out on a spot in Final A by .09 seconds and instead will be in Final B on Friday.

Next up was the women’s pair rowing final. Sara Hendershot/Sarah Zelenka were the ones to experience disappointment as they finished 4th and missed the bronze meal by .2 seconds.

Finally the US found some success in the women’s quadruple sculls final as the crew finished in 3rd and won the bronze medal!

The final disappointment of the day belonged to the men’s eight crew who finished… 4th, by .3 seconds. Another crew that just missed out on medaling, the story of the day in rowing for the US.

Sailing

In the 49er event Erick Storck/Trevor Moore finished 7th in race 5 and 13th in race 6. They are now 7th overall with 37 points and trail 3rd place by just 7 points. Races 7 and 8 are on Thursday.

In the laser radial event Paige Railey finished race 5 in 4th and race 6 in 9th. She is now 7th overall with 38 points and trails 3rd by 19 points. Races 7 and 8 are on Friday.

In the men’s RS-X event Robert Willis finished 11th in race 3 and 25th in race 4. He’s now in 13th overall with 53 points and trails 3rd by 35 points. Races 5 and 6 are on Thursday.

In the laser event Rob Crane finished 16th in race 5 and 26th in race 6. He is now in 32nd overall with 135 points. races 7 and 8 are on Friday.

In the women’s RS-X event Farrah Hall finished 18th in race 3 and 18th in race 4. She is now in 18th overall with 76 points. Races 5 and 6 are on Thursday.

In the women’s elliott 6m event the US defeated New Zealand by 15 seconds in their first race of the day before losing to Russia by 4 seconds in their 2nd race of the day. The Us is now 5-3 and in 4th place. They face 9th place Netherlands team (3-5) on Thursday.

Shooting

Sandra Uptagrafft finished in 28th place with a qualifying score of 576. Only the top 8 qualified so Uptagrafft was 7 points behind the score of 583 needed.

Swimming

In the men’s 200m breaststroke final on Wednesday the US competitors of Scott Weltz and Clark Burckle finished 5th and 6th in a race that saw the world record broken.

In the women’s 100m freestyle Jessica Hardy and Missy Franklin both advanced safely from the heats. Then in the semifinals Missy Franklin finished 3rd (+.54) and Jessica Hardy finished 8th (+.81). Both will be in the final on Thursday.

In the men’s 200m backstroke Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary both advanced from the heats and then won their semifinals. Clary has the top time heading into the final on Thursday and Lochte was (+.69).

In the women’s 200m butterfly final Kathleen Hersey finished 4th (+1.72) and Cammile Adams finished 5th (+2.72) missing out on medals. Hersey was only .3 seconds behind 3rd place.

In the men’s 100m freestyle final Nathan Adrian finally won the US a gold medal in the event after a 24 year drought!  His winning time of 47.52 was only .01 seconds ahead of 2nd place James Magnussen of Australia.

In the women’s 200m breaststroke Micah Lawrence and Rebecca Soni were both easily into the semifinals where Rebecca Soni set a world record with a time of 2:20 flat. Micah Lawrence was 6th in the semifinals, 3.39 seconds behind Soni!  They will go for medals in the final tomorrow where Soni is expected to win gold and maybe be the first woman to ever break 2:20.

In the men’s 200m individual medley Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps both qualified easily from the heats. In the semifinals Lochte finished with the top time of 1:56.13. Phelps was 3rd, .98 seconds behind him. They will race in the final tomorrow.

In the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay to end the day the US set an Olympic record and won a gold medal as the team of Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt beat Russia by 1.49 seconds.

Tennis

First of all there were two matches that didn’t get to happen on Wednesday Bob Byan/Liezel Huber vs. Christopher Kas/Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Venus Williams/Serena Williams vs. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci of Italy.

In women’s singles Serena Williams was dominant against Vera Zvonareva of Russia as she destroyed her 6-1, 6-0 in the round of 16. Serena now faces Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarterfinals. Venus Williams saw her tournament come to end as she lost 7-6, 7-6 to Angelique Kerber of Germany in the round of 16.

In men’s singles John Isner defeated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the round of 16 7-5, 7-6. He will now face Roger Federer of Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

In women’s doubles Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond beat Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina of Russia in a quarterfinal match 6-3, 6-3 to move into the semifinals.

In mixed doubles Mike Bryan/Lisa Raymond beat Sara Errani/Andreas Seppi of Italy in a round of 16 match 7-5, 6-3 to move on to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals they will meet Gisela Dulko/Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

 

Volleyball

In women’s volleyball the US took on co-group leader China and made it clear who the top team in the group is. The US won in straight sets, defeating the Chinese 26-24, 25-16, 31-29. The US is now alone atop the group at 3-0 and faces last place Serbia, 0-3, on Friday.

Water Polo

In women’s water polo the US took on co-group leader Spain and gave up a late 9-6 lead to finish in a 9-9 draw. That means that the group winner will be determined by goal differential if the US and Spain each win their remaining match. The US faces last place China, 0-2, on Friday.

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Olympic Preview – August 1st

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Wednesday’s competition starts with the round of 32 fencing match between Seth Kelsey and Li Guojie at 3:30 AM. It’ll wrap up with the 6 PM beach volleyball match between Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh and Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger. And everything else is stuffed in the middle of that 14.5 hour period!

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 US has their final three archers going on Wednesday in the individual competition. First #4 Khatuna Lorig will take on #61 Sherab Zam of Bhutan in the round of 64 at 7:15 AM. If Lorig wins she’ll be in the round of 32 at 7:41 AM. Next up is #10 Brady Ellison who will face #55 Mark Javier of the Philipines at 10:13 AM in the round of 64. If he wins this match he’ll be in the round of 32 at 10:52 AM. The final US archer will be #18 Jake Kaminski taking on #47 Dan Olaru of the Republic of Moldova at 11:31 AM. If Kaminski wins he’ll be in the round of 32 at 12:10 PM.

There will be some archery coverage on NBC Sports Network from 2:15-2:45 PM.

7:15 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – #4 Khatuna Lorig vs. #61 Sherab Zam – Round of 64
7:41 AM – Women’s Archery – Individual – Round of 32
10:13 AM – Men’s Archery – Individual – #10 Brady Ellison vs. #55 Mark Javier – Round of 64
10:52 AM – Men’s Archery – Individual – Round of 32
11:31 AM – Men’s Archery – Individual – #18 Jake Kaminski vs. #47 Dan Olaru – Round of 64
12:10 PM – Men’s Archery – Individual – Round of 32

Basketball

Already 2-0 and on top of the group by a superior point differential (+77) the US will look to thin the ranks of unbeatens in their group when they face Turkey on Wednesday at 5:15 PM. Turkey and the US both have played Angola so some comparison may be possible. The US won by 52, Turkey by 22. Hard to say if Turkey can keep it respectable, but a win by Turkey is almost unimaginable.

The USA Basketball game will be shown LIVE on NBC Sports Network and the Special Basketball channel at 5:15 PM.

5:15 PM – USA Women’s Basketball vs. Turkey

Beach Volleyball

The US will finally have a daytime beach volleyball match when Josh Gibb/Sean Rosenthal take on Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins of Latvia in the final match of the group stage at 11:30 AM. Having lost in the 2nd game Gibb/Rosenthal must win this one to stay alive. If they win in straight sets they would guarantee they finish ahead of their opponents. A 2-1 win would send the tiebreaker to points ratio.

In the women’s match at 6 PM Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh will take on Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria, who are currently in 3rd. No matter what happens on Wednesday May-Treanor/Walsh will be advancing from the group. All that’s at stake is their seeding.

NBC will show the men’s volleyball match LIVE (ET/CT only) from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. The women’s match will be tape delayed and shown in primetime, 8-12 PM.

11:30 AM – Men’s Beach Volleyball – Josh Gibb/Sean Rosenthal vs. Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins – Group Stage
6 PM – Women’s Beach Volleyball – Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh vs. Doris Schwaiger/Stefanie Schwaiger – Group Stage

Boxing

Wednesday features three round of 16 bouts involving US boxers. The first match of the day at 8:30 AM will feature Joseph Diaz Jr. facing off with Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba in the round of 16 in the bantamweight division. The next bout at 9:30 AM will feature Michael Hunter taking on Artur Beterbiev of Russia in the heavyweight round of 16. The final bout of the day at 10:30 AM has Dominic Breazeale taking on Magomed Omarov of Russia in the super heavyweight round of 16.

Boxing will be LIVE on MSNBC from 9-10:30 AM featuring two of the three US fights. They will also have tape-delayed coverage from 5-8 PM.

8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Lazaro Alvarez – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Michael Hunter vs. Artur Beterbiev – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Dominic Breazeale vs. Magomed Omarov – Round of 16

Cycling

In the women’s team trial there are two US athletes going and both have fairly prime starting spots near the end of the field. Amber Neben is 7th from the end and Kristin Armstrong will be last. Neben starts at 7:55:30 AM and Armstrong at 8:04:03 AM.

Later in the men’s time trial there will be only one competitor from the US, Taylor Phinney, and he will be starting 4th from last at 10:04:30 AM.

The women’s time trial will be LIVE on NBC Sports Network from 7:30-8:45 AM while the men’s time trial will be LIVE (ET/CT only) on NBC from 10-11:05 AM. Their will be coverage of the women’s time trail on NBC from 12:35-1:35 AM Thursday morning.

7:55:30 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial – Amber Neben
8:04:30 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial – Kristin Armstrong
10:04:30 AM – Men’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial – Taylor Phinney

Diving

In the men’s synchronized 3m springboard competition Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen will be attempting to win the US their 3rd medal in their 3rd diving event. The competition will start at 10 AM.

The diving will be shown during the primetime coverage on NBC, 8-12 PM.

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

Fencing

Men’s individual epee and women’s individual sabre will be held on Wednesday. Seth Kelsey will start things off for the US at 4:30 AM when Seth Kelsey takes on Li Guojie of China in the round of 32. He will be followed at 5 AM when Soren Thompson takes on Joerg Fiedler of of Germany also in the round of 32. If they win their matches they will advance through the rounds which start at the times listed below.

In the women’s individual sabre event Mariel Zagunis, two-time defending gold medalist, will start things off against Diah Permata Sari of Indonesia at 8:10 AM in the round of 32. The next competitor in the round of 32 is Dagmara Wozniak who will take on Salma Mahran of Egypt at 8:30 AM. If either competitor advances they will start the following rounds at the times listed below.

Fencing will be shown LIVE on NBC Sports Network from 8:45-9:30 AM, LIVE on MSNBC from 10:30-11 AM, LIVE on MSNBC from 1:45-3 PM and LIVE on MSNBC from 3:30-3:50 PM. They will be hoping that Mariel Zagnuis makes her expected run towards gold to show in those spots.

4:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Seth Kelsey vs. Li Guojie – Round of 32
5 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Soren Thompson vs. Joerg Fiedler – 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 – Mariel Zagunis vs. Diah Permata Sarai – Round of 32
8:40 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Dagmara Wozniak vs. Salma Mahran – 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

Gymnastics

The men’s gymnastics individual all-around is on Wednesday at 11:30 AM. John Orozco and Danell Leyva who finished 4th and 1st in the qualification stage, are in the lead group with Kristian Thomas of Great Britain, Fabian Hambuchen of Germany, David Belyavskiy of Russia, and Mykola Kuksenkov. Their rotation will be floor routine, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar.

The gymnastics will be part of the primetime coverage from 8-12 PM on NBC.

11:30 AM – Men’s Gymnastics – Individual All-Around

Rowing

First up at 4:30 AM the men’s single sculls semifinals will take place with Ken Jurkowski in the race. He isn’t up for the A final so if he gets in the top 3 in his semifinal he will make final C, if not he will be in final D. He does have the fastest time so far in his heat.

At 6 AM the men’s pair semifinals are being held. In semifinal A Thomas Peszek/Silas Stafford will be looking for a top 3 spot and a trip to the final. The US was the slowest of the six competitors so far, 4.65 seconds behind the 3rd fastest boat.

Next at 6:50 AM the women’s pair final is contested. Sara Hendershot/Sarah Zelenka have the 2nd fastest time so far and are only 2 seconds behind the leaders, Helen Glover/Heather Stanning of Great Britain. You might have heard how they set the Olympic record in the heats with that row. US definitely a favorite to medal.

At 7:10 AM the women’s quadruple sculls final will be held. The US has the 3rd fastest time in the rows so far, 2.14 seconds behind Germany (1st) and Ukraine (2nd). Another definite medal threat.

Finally At 7:30 AM the US will look to win another medal in men’s eight. The US scorched their heat but every other boat went faster in the repechages. The 5.2 second gap between the US and the fastest so far, Germany, isn’t the end of the world. The US will probably be faster knowing that there is much more at stake here. I would expect them to challenge for a medal still.

Rowing will be shown from 4:45-5 PM on NBC.

4:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Semifinals
6 AM – Men’s Rowing – Pair – Semifinals
6:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Pair – Final
7:10 AM – Women’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Final
7:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Eight – Final

Sailing

The 49er event will feature races 5 (7 AM) and 6 (7:50 AM). Trevor Moore and Erick Storck are in 9th place entering Wednesday’s competition.

In the laser radial event Paige Railey finds herself in 9th place at this point. She will seek to move during race 5 (7 AM) and race 6 (8:30 AM).

In the men’s RS-X event Bob Willis finds himself in 7th place after the 1st races. He will be in race 3 (7 AM) and race 4 (8 AM) on Wednesday.

In the laser event Rob Crane will be facing races 5 (7:10 AM) and 6 (8:40 AM) and is currently in 36th place.

In the elliott 6m event the US will face 6th place New Zealand (3-3) at 9 AM and 3rd place Russia (5-1) at 11 AM.

The women’s RS-X event will have races 3 (9:30 AM) and 4 (10:20 AM) on Wednesday. Farrah Hall is in 21st after the first two races.

No sailing coverage again on TV.

7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 5
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 5
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
7:10 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 5
7:50 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 6
8 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4
8:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 6
8:40 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 6
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – New Zealand – Round Robin
9:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
10:20 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4
11 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Russia – Round Robin

Shooting

The US competitor in the women’s 25m pistol competition will be Sandra Uptagrafft. I believe will be in relay 2 of the event starting at 5:20 AM. We’ll have some idea what kind of qualification score she might need before she starts. The event involves 30 precision shots (5 shots in 5 minutes) and 30 rapid fire shots (3 seconds between shots). If she makes the top 8 after 60 shots she’ll be in the final at 10:30 AM.

No shooting coverage on TV Wednesday.

5:20 AM – Women’s Shooting – 25m Pistol – Qualification
10:30 AM – Women’s Shooting – 25m Pistol – Final

Swimming

Starting off the morning will be the women’s 100m freestyle at 5 AM. Jessica Hardy will be in the 5th heat and Missy Franklin in the 7th. If they place in the top 16 they will go on to the afternoon semifinal at 2:38 PM where a top eight time would send them to Thursday’s final.

Next is the 5:20 AM men’s 200m backstroke where Tyler Clary will be in the 3rd heat and Ryan Lochte in the 5th. A top 16 final qualifies them for the 2:47 PM semifinals where they’ll strive for a top eight time and a berth in the final on Thursday.

Then in the 5:47 AM women’s 200m breastroke Rebecca Soni and Micah Lawrence will be swimming in the 5th and final heat and looking for those top 16 times to move on to the semifinals at 3:24 PM. If they place in the top eight at that they will go to the final on Thursday.

At 6:14 AM the men’s 200m individual medley heats will begin. Michael Phelps will begin his quest for a 20th medal in heat 4 and Ryan Lochte will be in heat 5. If they finish in the top 16 they move on to a semifinal at 3:36 PM where a top 8 finish sends them to Thursday’s final.

Finally the morning ended with the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay at 6:39 AM. The US team will be trying to finish in the top eight and qualify for the final that evening at 3:57 PM.

Starting off the afternoon will be the men’s 200m breaststroke at 2:30 PM. The US will be represented by Scott Weltz and Clark Burckle who finished 4th and 6th in the semifinals. Weltz was .79 seconds behind leader Michael Jamieson of Great Britain who will swim for gold in front of his home crowd.

In the women’s 200m butterfly final the US will have two swimmers going for gold at 3:09 PM. Cammille Adams just made the field, finishing in 7th, but Kathleen Hersey was the fastest in the semifinals by .2 seconds.

Next is the men’s 100m freestyle final at 3:17 PM. Nathan Adrian will be representing the US and was the 2nd fastest in the semifinals, .34 seconds behind James Magnussen of Australia.

Morning races will be shown from 11:05-11:30 AM and 12:30-1:20 PM. The afternoon session will be shown in primetime coverage, 8-12 PM.

5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Heats
5:20 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Heats
5:47 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Heats
6:14 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Heats
6:39 AM – Women’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Final
2:38 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:47 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:09 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Final
3:17 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Final
3:24 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:36 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Semifinals
3:57 PM – Women’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Final

Tennis

In women’s singles 4th-seeded Serena Williams will be taking on 13th-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the round of 16 at 7 AM. Sister Venus takes on 7th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany in the same round, the match starting around 8:30 AM.

In men’s singles 10th-seeded John Isner will be facing 7th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in the round of 16 starting around 10:30 AM.

In women’s doubles top-seeded Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond will face 6th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina of Russia in a quarterfinal match starting around 9:30 AM. Later Venus and Serena Williams will take on 2nd-seeded Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci of Italy. The quarterfinal match should start around 12:30 PM.

In mixed doubles, which gets started on Wednesday, 2nd-seeded Bob Byan/Liezel Huber will take on Christopher Kas/Sabine Lisicki of Germany in a round of 16 match starting around 1 PM. 3rd-seeded Mike Bryan/Lisa Raymond will take on Sara Errani/Andreas Seppi of Italy in a round of 16 match starting around 2 PM.

All tennis is covered on Bravo from 7 AM – 3 PM

7 AM – Women’s Tennis – Singles – Serena Williams vs. Vera Zvonareva
APPROX 8:30 AM – Women’s Tennis – Singles – Venus Williams vs. Angelique Kerber
APPROX 9:30 AM – Women’s Tennis – Doubles – Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond vs. Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina – Quarterfinals
APPROX 10:30 AM – Men’s Tennis – Singles – John Isner vs. Janko Tipsarevic – Round of 16
APPROX 12:30 PM – Women’s Tennis – Doubles – Venus Williams/Serena Williams vs. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci
APPROX 1 PM – Mixed Tennis – Doubles – Bob Bryan/Liezel Huber vs. Christopher Kas/Sabine Lisicki
APPROX 2 PM – Mixed Tennis – Doubles – Mike Bryan/Lisa Raymond vs. Sara Errani/Andreas Seppi

Volleyball

In women’s volleyball the US will be facing off with China at 3 PM and control of the group will be at stake. Both teams are 2-0 having won their previous two matches 3-1. The winner of this match is in the prime position to win the group.

The volleyball match with China will be LIVE (ET/CT only) from 3-4:45 PM on NBC.

3 PM – USA Women’s Volleyball vs. China

Water Polo

The Us will play their 2nd group stage match at 1:20 PM when they face Spain on Wednesday. Spain is tied with the US on top of the group and lead by goal differential +5 to +1. The winner of this match has a good shot at winning the group, however all four will be in the quarterfinals.

The water polo match with Spain will be shown LIVE (ET/CT only) on NBC from 1:20 – 2:30 PM.

1:20 PM – USA Women’s Water Polo vs. Spain – Group Stage

Archery, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Daily Olympic Reviews, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Gymnastics, Judo, London 2012, Olympics, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo

Olympic Review – July 31st

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Archery

Jacob Wukie was the first archer to begin the day for the US. He took on Jayanta Talukdar of India in the round of 64. In that match Wukie was victorious 6-0 (27-22, 30-26, 29-28). Next Wukie took on Baard Nesteng of Norway in the round of 32. Wukie took a 2-0 lead by winning the first set 28-24 but then lost 3 straight to lose 6-2 (24-28, 29-28, 29-27, 29-26).

Next up was Jennifer Nichols who took on Chekrovolu Swuro of India. The two traded sets and had to go to a shoot off to decide it. In the end Nichols won 6-5 (24-27, 27-25, 25-25, 26-29, 28-25, 9-9 (closet)). In the round of 32 Nichols faced Bishindee Urantungalag of Mongolia. Nichols ended up losing 6-4 (27-27, 26-27, 26-26, 26-25, 28-25).

Basketball

Then USA men took on Tunisia on Tuesday and was only up 21-15 at the end of the 1st quarter and 46-33 at the half. The second half, and in particular the 3rd quarter, was where the US shown and after outscoring Tunisia 39-14 in the 3rd quarter the US went on to win 110-63. Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony led the US with 16 points a piece.

The win helped keep the US atop the table in group A where the US is the only team that is 2-0. The US will next be facing 4th place Nigeria on Thursday.

Beach Volleyball

The first match of the day saw Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers take on Gavira Collado/Herrera Allepuz of Spain. Both teams had won their set in straight sets and were fighting for the top of the group. With a 19-21, 21-16, 15-13 win the US duo moved into 1st place. They face Petr Benes/Premsyl Kubala of the Czech Republic on Thursday. If they win a single set they will guarantee they aren’t passed in the group and will advance to the quarterfinals. A win would win them the group.

In the 2nd match of the day April Ross/Jennifer Kessy took on Marleen Van Iersel /Sanne Keizer of the Netherlands. The win kept the US on top of the group by points ratio and guaranteed they will advance from the group stage. The only thing left to settle is who will win the group. Ross/Kessy or the team they play on Thursday, Elsa Baquerizo MicMillan/Liliana Fernandez Steiner of Spain.

Boxing

In the boxing competition on Tuesday Jamel Herring took on Daniya Teleussinov of Kazakhstan in the round of 32 of the men’s light welterweight competition. Jerring was behind from the start and lost 19-9 (8-5, 7-3, 4-1).

Equestrian

Tuesday was the last day of the eventing competition, both team and individual. In the first part of the day the first showjumping routines were run. Boyd Martin had to pull out of the competition after an injury to his horse was discovered.  Two of his teammates, Tiana Coudray and Will Coleman, were out of the running for the individual title. Coudray ended up with a score of 11 penalties in the jumping qualifier and a total of 88.6 penalties, placing her in 40th place. Will Coleman had a score of 2 penalties in the jumping qualifier and ended up with a score of 84.7 penalties to finish in 37th place. Philip Dutton was in contention for a spot and had a run featuring 23 penalties. He was able to advance despite his score of 70.1 being in 27th due to the limit on each country of only having three riders in the final. Karen O’Connor was in contention as well and seized the 16th spot by having a perfect ride in the qualifier, giving her 53.8 total penalties.  Coleman, Dutton, and O’Connor combined to give the US the 7th spot in the team competition with a total of 208.6.

In the eventing individual final Philip Dutton started off with a run with 11 penalties. That gave him a total of 81.10 and placed him in 23rd place. Karen O’Connor did much better and another perfect run left her in 9th with 53.8 penalties.  O’Connor was only 9 penalties off of the bronze medal.

Fencing

The first competitor to get the day underway for the US was Miles Chamley-Watson who took on Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of India in the round of 32. Chamley-Watson hung around for a while but lost 15-10 (4-2, 8-6, 3-2).  The next competitor for the US was Alexander Massialas  who faced off against Etienne Lalonde Turbide of Canada in the round of 32. Massialas had a great match and won 15-6 (11-3, 3-4). Massialas then moved on to the round of 16 where he was defeated 15-6 (8-3, 7-3) by Alexey Cheremisinov of Russia. The final competitor for the US was Race Imboden who defeated Guilherme Toldo of Brazil in the round of 32 by a score of 15-5 (12-5, 3-0). Imboden then moved on to the round of 16 where he was defeated 15-9 (9-5, 6-4) by Andrea Baldini of Italy.

Field Hockey

The US had a hugely important game against Argentina in the group stage of field hockey on Tuesday. After losing 2-1 in their first match the US needed a win to try and stay in the group. Only the top two teams advance, so there isn’t any room to spare. The US got the win they needed by defeating Argentina 1-0 in a continuation of their Pan-American rivalry. The win moved the US into a tie for 2nd with Argentina, Australia, and Germany. The US is in 4th due to goal differential. Their score will be improved a lot after they face South Africa (who Argentina defeated 7-1). The US next faces 3rd place Australia on Thursday. Another win there would give the US an even better shot at the medal round.

Gymnastics

Brilliance. Beauty. Dominance. All of those words perfectly describe the US performance in the women’s team final on Tuesday. With the Russians breathing down their necks for 3 of the 4 apparatus the US answered the questions and didn’t flinch. When Russia made mistakes on the floor routine the US didn’t back down and put up a great score to blow Russia away and win the gold by over 5 points. How dominate was the US? Consider their apparatus rankings. In vault they were first. On the uneven bars they were third. On the balance beam they were first. On the floor routine they were third.  They had the three best vault scores in the competition. The first, third and fourth best floor routines. The fourth, fifth and seventh best balance beam routines. Even on the US’s weakest apparatus, the uneven bars, they finished sixth, eight, and 11th out of 24 competitors. The US improved their score from the qualification round, even with all the pressure.  Needless to say it was a routine that will go down in history. The US’s first women’s team gold since 1996 and a set of routines that demonstrated how gold medals are meant to be won: in clear dominant fashion. There was no doubting this one, no relying on someone else to help you out. The US flat out won this medal all by themselves, no one was going to top these girls.

Judo

Travis Stevens was the US competitor in the 81kg judo competition on Tuesday. He started things off in the round of 32 by defeating Aljaz Sedej of Slovenia by getting an ippon with 45 seconds left in the match. Then in the round of 16 he defeated Avtandil Tchrikishvili by getting an ippon at the 1:37 mark of a golden score period. In the quarterfinals Stevens took on Leandro Guilheiro of Brazil and defeated him by scoring a waza-ari half way through the match and holding on to that lead til the end.

In the semifinals Travis took on Ole Bischof of Germany. The match went scoreless the entire eight minutes and the judges ruled Bischof the winner.  I’m no judo expert, so my opinion can’t say much about how close it was. However from the comments I’ve seen from Stevens and his coach and others, it was a surprise they ruled for Bischof. Stevens tried to rally for a bronze but in a match with Antoine Valois-Fortier of Canada he gave up an early yuko and never could get a score to overcome it.  It was disappointing that he couldn’t get a medal after such a good run.

Rowing

In the first rowing event of the day the women’s double sculls crew of Margot Shumway/Sarah Trowbridge were able to make the final by finishing in 2nd place of their repechage by 1.31 seconds. They will now be in the final on Friday.

In the next event the women’s lightweight double sculls crew of Kristin Hedstrom/Julie Nichols made the semifinals by finishing 1st in their heat of the repechages. They are now in the semifinals on Thursday.

Next up was the men’s single sculls quarterfinals. The US finally got some disappointment as Ken Jurkowski finished 5th, a full 16+ seconds out of 3rd and will not make the regular semifinals. Jurkowski will be in the semifinal C/D on Wednesday to help determine rankings.

In the women’s single sculls quarterfinals Genevra  Stone rowed a great race and finished 2nd in her quarterfinal to advance to the A/B semifinals on Thursday.

In the final US event on Tuesday the lightweight four crew was not able to advance to the final as they finished in 5th place, 3.5 seconds out of 3rd place. They will race in the B final on Thursday.

Sailing

In the men’s 49er event on Tuesday Erik Storck and Trevor Moore finished in 16th in race 3 before winning race 4. Their total score is now 33 points as they are in 9th place and they are only 7 points behind 3rd place. Races 5 and 6 will be on Wednesday.

In the laser radial event Paige Railey finished in 12th in race 3 and 17th in race 4. She is now in 9th place with 42 points. That places her 24 points behind the 3rd place spot.  Races 5 and 6 will be on Wednesday

In the finn event Zach Railey finished 2nd in race 5 and 8th in race 6. Zach is now in 12th place with 48 points and is 25 points behind 3rd place. Races 7 and 8 will be on Thursday.

In the men’s RS-X event Robert Willis finished in 7th in race 1 and in 10th in race 2. His combined total is 17 and that puts him in 7th place, 11 points behind 3rd place. Races 3 and 4 will be on Wednesday.

In the star event Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih finished in 8th in race 5 and 9th in race 6. Their total is now 30 and that puts them in 6th place, just 13 points behind 3rd place. Races 7 and 8 will be on Thursday.

In the women’s RS-X event Farrah Hall finished in 22nd in race 1 and 18th in race 2. She is in 21st place with a total score of 40, 33 points out of 3rd. Races 3 and 4 will be on Wednesday.

In the elliott 6m event the US defeated Finland by two seconds and France by five seconds to move to 4-2 in the event. They are tied for 3rd place.  They will face 6th place New Zealand (3-3) and 3rd place Russia (5-1) tomorrow.

In the laser event Rob Crane finished race 3 in 30th place and race 4 in 28th place. His score of 135 places him 36th and is 120 out of 3rd place. He will have races 5 and 6 on Wednesday.

Shooting

Frank Thompson and Vincent Hancock competed in the qualification period of the skeet competition. Vincent Hancock set an Olympic record hitting 123 of 125 and led the group heading into the final. Frank Thompson hit 119 of 125 and was tied for 7th. Only six make the final, so he was JUST outside that group. In the final Hancock was perfect hitting 25 of 25. His total of 148 is a new Olympic record and he won gold for the 2nd straight Olympics. No man had ever won two skeet golds before, let alone in a row. An amazing accomplishment for a very talented shooter.

Soccer

The US defeated North Korea on Tuesday by a score of 1-0 led by an Ally Wambach first half goal. The result gave the US the top spot in Group G and sent them into a quarterfinal matchup with New Zealand on Friday. The US caught a big break as Sweden, France and Japan, the other three quarterfinalists in the last World Cup, along with Brazil, who the US beat in the quarterfinals of that World Cup, are all on the other half of the bracket. Beating New Zealand would earn the US a semifinal matchup with Canada or Great Britain.

Swimming

In the Men’s 100m freestyle Nathan Adrian finished 1st in the heats and Cullen Jones finished 9th, a 100th of a second behind 8th.  Adrian did great in the semifinals winning his heat and finishing 2nd overall, but Cullen Jones was only 14th, missing the final by .22 seconds. Adrian will swim in the final tomorrow.

Next in the women’s 200m butterfly Kathleen Hersey finished 1st and Cammile Adams 8th in the heats to move on to the semifinals. In the semifinals Hersey finished 1st but Cammile Adams was in a slower heat and just made the final finishing in 7th, .36 ahead of 9th. They will swim in the final on Wednesday.

Then in the men’s 200m breaststroke Clark Burckle and Scott Weltz went 6-7 in the heats to qualify for the afternoon semifinals. In the semifinals Weltz finished 4th and Burckle 6th to make the final. Weltz was .79 seconds behind leader Michael Jamieson of Great Britain in the semifinals. They will swim for gold on Wednesday.

In the women’s 200m freestyle Allison Schmitt zoomed into the lead after the 1st turn and never looked back. She blew away the field and finished 1.97 seconds ahead and set an Olympic record with a time of 1:53.61. Missy Franklin was just out touched at the wall and finished 4th by .01 seconds.

In the men’s 200m butterfly final Michael Phelps swam a great race and appeared to have it won, but was beaten to the touch by Chad le Clos of South Africa. Phelps seemed to try to coast in while le Clos finished strong. It was almost a mirror image of Beijing. Phelps did pick up the silver, just .05 seconds back, his 18th career medal, tied for the most all-time. Tyler Clary was well back in 5th place in the race.

In the women’s 200m individual medley Shiwen Ye came on in the final 50m and blew the field away and to overtake Caitlin Levernez.  Leverenz had been in 1st at the final turn but came in 3rd to win the bronze. Ariana Kukors was another .88 seconds behind her in 5th place. Ye sat an Olympic record in the event.

In the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay the US team of Charlie Houchin, Matthew McLean, Davis Tarwater, and Conor Dwyer swam a time 2.43 seconds better than the 2nd place team, France, to put the US into the final. In the final the US turned to a team of Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Ricky Berens, and Michael Phelps to win the gold. They led the entire race and Michael Phelps led it home to win his 19th  medal, a new Olympics record. Incredible story for Phelps, one of the greatest athletes ever.  They were over 3 seconds ahead of France at the end.

Tennis

There was some good news and some bad news for the US on Tuesday. In the women’s singles round of 32 Venus Williams defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-1, 6-3 to move on to a round of 16 match against 7th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany.  Varvara Lepchenko was knocked out by Julia Georges of Germany, 6-3, 7-5 in a round of 32 match.

In men’s singles Andy Roddick saw his tournament come to an end as he lost 6-2, 6-1 to 2nd-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the round of 32.

In women’s doubles top-seeded Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond defeated Agnieszka Radwanska/Urszula Radwanksa of Poland 6-4, 7-6 in the round of 16 to move on to a quarterfinal against 6th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina of Russia tomorrow. Venus and Serena Williams were victorious over Angelique Kerber/Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16 to move on to a Wednesday quarterfinal against 2nd-seeded Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci of Italy.

Finally in men’s doubles top-seeded Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan defeated Nikolay Davydenko/Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the round of 16 to move on to the quarterfinals. Their match will be on Thursday against a yet to be determined opponent.

Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team continue their dominant play as they bounced Germany in three sets (25-23, 25-26, 25-20) to stay atop the group. They and Brazil are 2-0 with all six sets won but the US has a slightly better point ratio. That tie will be broken when the two countries meet on Thursday.

Water Polo

The US men got a huge victory over Romania on Tuesday as they knocked Romania from the top of the group and moved up to 2nd. The US is only behind Serbia who has a goal differential of +18 largely thanks to beating Great Britain by 14 on Tuesday. The US will get a chance to build theirs up on Thursday when they face the British.