Allison Schmitt swims the women's 200-meter freestyle at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games on July 15, 2015 in Toronto.
Five For Friday: Paralympic Swimming
The Pan American Games continue this weekend in Toronto with big names, new sports and Olympic qualifications on the line. The second weekend of competition in the Pan American Games will feature action in 26 different sports.
Twelve-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin and six-time Olympic medalist Allison Schmitt lead the U.S. swim team. In wrestling, 2012 Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs will go after a second consecutive Pan Am gold medal in men’s freestyle wrestling Saturday. Among the other top wrestlers are two-time world champion Adeline Gray in women’s freestyle. And two-time Olympic cyclist Sarah Hammer leads the U.S. team into the track competition, which runs Thursday through Sunday.
As established stars look to pad their résumés, Kristen Gillman, Andrea Lee, Beau Hossler and Lee McCoy will compete to win the first Pan Am Games medals awarded in golf. The golf competition is being held through Sunday at Angus Glen Golf Club‘s South Course.
Meanwhile, several U.S. athletes will be competing for berths to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, either for themselves or for their teams. In several sports, including equestrian, canoe/kayak and shooting, Olympic quotas will be stake. Athletes in modern pentathlon will be trying to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games by name.
Kim Rhode, a three-time Olympic champion who will seek a spot on her sixth Olympic team in 2016, is among 25 USA Shooting athletes who are competing through Sunday in rifle, pistol and shotgun. A medalist at all five Olympic Games she has competed in, Rhode was the flag bearer for Team USA at the Opening Ceremony at the Pan Am Games last week. Brad Balsley and Sandra Uptagrafft earned Olympic quota spots this week as Balsley won in men’s rapid fire pistol and Uptagrafft won a silver medal in women’s sport pistol.
In canoe/kayak, slalom athletes will be racing after quota spots for Rio 2016, including two-time Olympian Casey Eichfeld.
Several other marquee events continue this weekend.
Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields will compete in her first Pan Am Games, beginning Saturday.
Four-time Olympian Steven Lopez is among the taekwondo athletes who begin their bouts Sunday. Lopez will compete in men’s welterweight. Paige McPherson, a bronze medalist in the London 2012 Olympic Games and the recent world championships, will compete in women’s welterweight.
Olympian Steven Gluckstein, Logan Dooley, Charlotte Drury and Clare Johnson will compete Saturday and Sunday in trampoline.
In addition to individual sports, both the U.S. men’s and women’s Pan Am volleyball teams swing into action this weekend. The women’s basketball team, which opened its schedule Thursday against Brazil, will face Dominican Republic on Friday and Puerto Rico on Saturday.
The women’s softball team opens its schedule Sunday against Puerto Rico.
TV: 8 p.m. ET Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2
Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.