The first full week of competition now underway, the United States remains in the medal haul lead to go along with a show-stopping gymnastics performance from the women who are back in action today, along with Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. Take a look below to find out where the Team USA storylines and medals may come on Day 5 (times ET and available for live streaming event coverage on NBCOlympics.com).
Tuesday, Aug. 9
Look out, history. Among the premiere events at the Games is the women's gymnastics team final (3 p.m.), an event in which the United States is the defending champion. Never has Team USA gone back-to-back, but its fivesome is more than capable of dominating the event with Simone Biles, plus 2012 Olympic champs Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, who went 1-2-3 in a Sunday qualification event that left the team nearly 10 points ahead ahead of the field.
After remarkable efforts in cross-country, Phillip Dutton, who is riding in his sixth — yes, sixth — Games, moved from No. 11 to No. 5 overall, while teammate Boyd Martin jumped from No. 35 to No. 6 overall entering the equestrian individual jumping qualifier (9 a.m.). The event concludes with the jumping final at the Olympic Equestrian Centre (1 p.m.).
Jason Pryor carries Team USA’s individual épée hopes into Monday, with the Round of 32 beginning at 9:15 a.m., and his match taking place at 9:45 a.m., which will be followed by the Round of 16, quarterfinals (12:45 p.m.) and the men’s individual épée bronze- (4:15 p.m.) and gold-medal bout (4:45 p.m.) closing out the event.
Beijing gold medalist and MVP Phil Dalhausser and partner Nick Lucena, who are only a few weeks removed from silver at the 2016 FIVB Gstaad Major in Switzerland and an off-day removed from opening 1-0, return to the beach volleyball courts for a morning match against Mexico (10 a.m.).
Travis Stevens, at the 81 kg. weight class, will be on the same schedule as fellow judokas Marti Malloy and Nick Delpopolo from the previous day. Stevens’ event prelims begin in the morning (9 a.m.), with his Round of 32 match (10:24 a.m.) and his eyes on an afternoon semifinal (3:12 p.m., 3:19 p.m.) and the the 81 kg. judo finals less than an hour later (4:01 p.m.). Stevens recently won the World Judo Masters, becoming the first American man to win the event.
Tennis matches gain more importance, too, with more than 10 hours of competition that will result in doubles quarterfinals, Round 3 matches for the women — headlined by Serena Williams taking on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina (2:15 p.m.) and Madison Keys still in the mix (9:45 a.m. vs. Spain’s Carla Suárez Navarro) — and Round 2 matches for the men. Steve Johnson will meet Portugal's Gastão Elias (11:30 a.m.), and he’ll team up with Jack Sock in the doubles quarters vs. Spain (2:30 p.m.).
And, swimming, of course, takes over much of the evening programming with multiple finals, feature Team USA’s biggest stars in Ledecky and Phelps:
- Women's 200-meter freestyle (9:19 p.m.): Can Ledecky, who enters the swim as the No. 2 seed after Monday night’s semis, win at this distance?
- Men's 200-meter butterfly (9:28 p.m.): Paging Mr. Phelps, who said after Monday’s semis, “That’s probably my best 200 fly of the year,” in securing the second seed.
- Women's 200-meter individual medley (10:29 p.m.): Keep an eye out for the late-blooming Maya DiRado, who advanced to the final with the third-best time in the Monday semis, and Melanie Margalis, who advanced with the fifth-best time on Monday.
- Men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay (10:38 p.m.): Who will Team USA send as its final four?
Nathan Adrian, though, will be up a bit earlier. The swimmer’s defense of 100-meter freestyle gold in London begins today with preliminary heats (noon). He’ll hit the pool along with teammate and fellow Rio 4x100-meter freestyle gold medalist Caeleb Dressel, in Heat 7 (12:20 p.m.).
Also in the water, but of the outdoor variety, Casey Eichfeld’s shot at a medal comes in the form of canoe singles. After preliminary races on, he’ll begin his medal chase in the semifinals (12:30 p.m.) and, hopefully, the men’s canoe single final (2:16 p.m.). The three-time Olympian finished fourth at least year's world championships.
Back in the pool, but above it, Team USA’s Amy Cozad and Jessica Parratto have sights on the podium in the women’s synchronized 10-meter platform final (3 p.m.).
At the Olympic Shooting Centre, the remarkable story of 47-year-old Enkelejda Shehaj, who represented Albania at two Olympic Games (1992, 1996) but will return to the Games with Team USA after a 20-year absence, adds another chapter. Qualification is set for the morning (8 a.m.), followed by semis (2:30 p.m.) and the women’s 25-meter pistol bronze- (2:45 p.m.) and gold-medal matches (2:55 p.m.).
In Team USA sports …
- The defending Olympic women’s water polo champions open in Rio with a Group B match against Spain (10:40 a.m.).
- Men’s volleyball, after a loss to Canada, looks for its first win of the Games with a match against Italy (2 p.m.).
- Women’s soccer, undefeated after two games, takes on its final group play opponent, Colombia (6 p.m.).
- Men’s rugby sevens, a day after the women finished fifth in Rio, will play its first matches in Rio, against Argentina (noon) and host Brazil in the evening (5 p.m.).