Not only did Team USA mine more gold in the pool, but it did so in groundbreaking fashion on Thursday night, while Michael Phelps again played a starring role. Looking to Friday, Team USA remains well out in front of the medals race and has a shot to break 40 before the weekend. Take a look below to find out where the Team USA storylines and medals may come from on Day 8 (times ET and available for live streaming event coverage on NBCOlympics.com).
Friday, Aug. 12
Team USA’s first athlete up this morning? Howard Shu, who will compete in badminton men's singles (7 a.m.), followed by teammates Phillip Chew and Sattawat Pongnairat in badminton men's doubles (7:25 p.m). Badminton mixed doubles pair Chew and Jamie Subandhi play later in the day (2:30 p.m.), as will Eva Lee and Paula Lynn Obanana in badminton women’s doubles (2:55 p.m.). Iris Wang, in badminton women’s singles, closes out Team USA’s day on the courts (6:30 p.m.).
For the second time in as many days, golfer are on the links, this time in Round 2 matches. Bubba Watson (top-ranked in Olympic rankings and the world’s No. 6 player), Rickie Fowler (third-ranked and No. 7), Patrick Reed (seventh-ranked and No. 14) and Matt Kuchar (eighth-ranked and No. 17) will look for better rounds on Friday. In Round 1, Kuchar was -2, Reed was +1, Watson was +2 and Rickie Fowler was +5. All four will begin play before 10:30 a.m. this morning: Reed (7:25 a.m.), Fowler (8:03 a.m.), Kuchar (9:58 a.m.), and Watson (10:09 a.m.).
Also early, Team USA’s fencing stars Gerek Meinhardt, Alex Massialas and Miles Chamley-Watson will be aiming to advance out of the quarterfinals (8 a.m.) and to the men’s team foil finals (5:30 p.m.).Having not reached the women's lightweight double sculls final, Kate Bertko and Devery Karz will row for 7-12 place (8:10 a.m.).
Turning toward the second week of competition, track and field events begin to take center stage. Classification rounds begin in men’s discus this morning, when Mason Finley, who once set a high school record but won Trials as a 25-year old, leads Team USA. Teammates Andrew Evans and Tavis Bailey open the competition in Group A (8:30 a.m.), while Finley is part of Group B (9:55 a.m.).
In men’s four, rowers Seth Weil, Henrik Rummel, Charlie Cole and Matt Miller, having finished fourth in their semifinal, will race for 7-12 place (8:40 a.m.).
Perhaps the busiest athletes of the day, Team USA’s three heptathletes will compete in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and the 200-meters. It all begins with the hurdles for Barbara Nwaba (Heat 2: 8:43 a.m), who finished first at Trials, Heather Miller-Koch (8:51 a.m.) and Kendell Williams (8:59 a.m.) before 9 a.m., and close with their fourth event of the day, the 200m. Nwaba and Miller-Koch go in Heat 3 (9:19 p.m.), Williams in Heat 4 (9:26 p.m.).
Equestrian dressage medals are on the line this morning, too (9 a.m.), as Team USA enters the grand prix special, thanks to Olympic rookie Laura Graves’ and four-time Olympian Steffen Peters’ efforts on Thursday, in the third spot and an obvious chance to medal.
In track and field’s evening sessions, the “Shot Diva,” Michelle Carter will also have her chance on the world stage to medal in women's shot put (9 p.m.). Carter, Raven Saunders and Felisha Johnson begin their Olympic dreams with the qualification round, however, about 12 hours earlier (9:05 a.m.).
Kicking off the men’s 800-meter, seven Round 1 heats will set Saturday night’s semifinals. One compelling question is whether former McDonald’s employee Boris Berian can challenge for a medal. He’ll begin in Heat 1 (9:10 a.m.), followed by teammates Clayton Murphy (Heat 3: 9:26) and Charles Jock (Heat 4: 9:34 a.m.).
For Gevvie Stone, the two-time Princeton-educated Olympian who not all that long ago completed four years of medical school, her medal quest after successful heats and quarterfinals (she won both races) continues with the semifinals (A/B 2: 9:20 a.m.). Should she advance, the final will take place Saturday morning.
As was anticipated, Brady Ellison, who advanced past friend Jake Kaminski earlier this week, will have to knock off his second teammate in a week during his quest for a medal. Ellison and Zach Garrett are pitted against each other in the final match of Round of 16 (9:31 a.m.). followed by the afternoon medal rounds. The quarterfinals and semifinals precede the men’s individual archery final (3:43 p.m.).
Thanks to a 6:35.19 in their semifinal, the United States pairing of Andrew Campbell and Joshua Konieczny enter the rowing men's lightweight double sculls final (9:45 a.m.) as the No. 2 seed. Look for them in Lane 2 this morning.
London Olympian Michael McPhail aims for his first medal in 50-meter rifle prone final (10 a.m.).
Having recorded the second-best time in their semifinals race, the rowing medal hunt for Felice Mueller and Grace Luczak is on, and it will culminate with the women's coxless pair final this morning (10:06 a.m.).
Athletics’ first medal event in Rio? The women’s 10,000-meter, taking place at Olympic Stadium (10:10 a.m.). Molly Huddle, who finished 11th in the 5,000-meters at the London Games, won both the 5,000-meters and the 10,000-meters at Trials but elected to run the latter in Rio. Huddle, Emily Infeld, who won bronze by finishing ahead of Huddle at Worlds in Beijing, and Marielle Hall all ran under 32:00 at Trials on their Road to Rio.
Team USA looks to build on its excellent showing in the boxing ring with multiple bouts featuring United States boxers. First up will be Nico Hernández, who has reached the men’s light flyweight semifinals (11 a.m, 11:15 a.m.), which means with a win he’d be guaranteed a medal. Fifteen minutes later, Carlos Balderas will fight to reach the semis in the lightweight class with a quarterfinals bout (11:30 a.m.). Mikaela Mayer, a California-born one-time model who had once been expelled from high school before landing a boxing scholarship at Northern Michigan University, makes her debut in a women’s lightweight bout (4:30 p.m.).
Beginning at noon and running straight into the evening (including 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.), four quarterfinal matches will take place in women's soccer. Undefeated Team USA will play in the first of the elite eight matches, against Sweden (noon), in a field that also includes host Brazil. Semifinals are set for those coming Tuesday.
Team USA’s fastest sprinters are 19-year-old Abbey Weitzeil and 20-year-old Simone Manuel, who made history by winning the 100m on Thursday night, and each will turn her attention to qualifying heats in the mad-dash 50-meter freestyle. Look for Weitzeil in Heat 10 (12:29 p.m.) and Manuel in Heat 11 (12:32 p.m.), and, if all goes well, in the semifinals in primetime.
Medals will be awarded in women’s trampoline (2:42 p.m.). Team USA’s Nicole Ahsinger is in the field, and her day will begin with qualification (1:03 p.m.).
History may strike this afternoon, too, in the women’s skeet final (2 p.m.). Kim Rhode, who has earned medals in five consecutive Olympic Games, not to mention having overcome a number of physical obstacles
In tennis, Team USA will again be busy, today with four matches, including a medal final. Steve Johnson and Jack Sock will play Canada on Centre Court in the bronze medal match in men’s doubles (2 p.m.). At the same time, in women’s singles, Madison Keys takes on semifinal opponent Angelique Kerber of Germany (2 p.m.) with a medal guarantee on the line, while in mixed doubles Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram have moved to a quarterfinal match (3:30 p.m.) against Italy. Sock and mixed doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands will face Brazil in the evening (5 p.m.).
Jenny Arthur, the first weightlifter to qualify for Rio — way back in January — will hope to see the finals in the 75kg class (2:30 p.m.).
When last we saw Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury and Brenda Martinez in competition, it was at Trials, where Martinez crashed across the finish line a mere 0:00.03 in front of an also-crashing Amanda Eccleston to secure a spot in Rio’s 1,500-meters after heartbreak in the 800. Simpson (Heat 2: 7:41 p.m.), Rowbury (Heat 3: 7:52 p.m.) and Martinez (Heat 1: 7:30 p.m.) are back on the track for Round 1 of the 1,500.
More than a little Salukis pride is warranted this evening as a pair of Southern Illinois alums, DeAnna Price, the reigning NCAA champion, and Gwen Berry, the American record-holder, will compete in the women’s hammer throw Group A qualification rounds (7:40 p.m.), along with teammate Amber Campbell in Group B (9:10 a.m.).
Can LaShawn Merritt, the gold medalist in Beijing, earn his second gold medal after a hamstring injury cut short his Olympic dominance during a qualifying heat in London? Merritt makes his Rio debut this evening in the 400-meters first round (Heat 5: 8:37 p.m.). Team USA is also represented by Gil Roberts (Heat 1: 8:05 p.m.) and David Verburg (Heat 6: 8:45 p.m.).
Also on the track and in prime time: the men’s long jump. Team USA sends three athletes — Jeff Henderson, Michael Hartfield and Jarrion Lawson — to the qualification round (8:20 p.m.).
Nearing the end of a very long day at Olympic Stadium, which included preliminary heats in the women’s 100-meters this morning, English Gardner, who went 10.47 at Trials, Tianna Bartoletta and Tori Bowie will have a shot at advancing from eight Round 1 heats in prime time (beginning at 9:40 p.m.). Not since Gail Devers has Team USA won gold in this event.
The penultimate day of swimming also sets up as the final individual swims of Phelps' legendary career, and the final 2016 individual swim for Katie Ledecky, all in the course of what could be the most thrilling 20 minutes of consecutive swims of the Games (9 p.m.):
- Women's 200-meter backstroke final (9:03 p.m.): Maya DiRado, who went 2:07.53 in Thursday night's semifinal swim, enters as the third seed
- Men's 100-meter butterfly final (9:12 p.m.): Phelps' last laps on his own after a command performance on Thursday, and he'll be next to teammate Tom Shields in the blocks
- Women's 800-meter freestyle final (9:20 p.m.): Yet another opportunity for Ledecky to make Rio part of her own history
- Men's 50-meter freestyle (9:44 p.m.): It’s always entertaining to see the best in the world sprinting at top-end speed, and both Anthony Ervin and Nathan Adrian reached the final, as the Nos. 2 and 4 seeds, respectively
In other team sports:
- Men’s water polo faces Montenegro (9:20 a.m.)
- Undefeated women’s volleyball meets Italy (2 p.m.)
- Undefeated women’s basketball tips off against Canada (2:30 p.m.)