Alyce Burnett (R) and Alyssa Bull (L) of Australia celebrate qualifying for the Final A after competing in the Canoe Sprint Women’s Kayak Double 500m Semifinal 1 on Day 10 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Lagoa Stadium on August 15, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Brazil avenged a loss to Russian Federation in the 2012 London Games gold-medal match with a straight-set victory Friday night.
BOLT’S BACK: Bolt got out quickly in his 200 semifinal heat and started to coast down the final 40 meters. A victory in Brazil would give her a third-straight Olympic title. Brittney Reese, the defending Olympic champion, will compete in the women’s long jump while 41-year-old Bernard Lagat runs in the first round of the 5,000.
And, of course, a daily dose of doping news that was more than offset by a speedy cameo from Usain Bolt. She previously took gold at the Beijing and London Games.
Olympic host Brazil takes on Honduras in the men’s semifinals of the Rio soccer tournament Wednesday.
OR native Ryan Crouser also enjoyed a Bolt-like night by dominating the shot put in breaking a 28-year old Olympic record with a toss of 22.52 meters, or 73-feet-10 3/4-inches.
The U.S. men’s freestyle wrestling team is just about out of chances to win gold but it has a shot with Kyle Snyder, who will attempt to become America’s youngest wrestling gold medalist.
DIVING DOMINATION: China has dominated the Olympic diving competition, and the result in the women’s 10-meter platform suggests the success might be long-lasting.
Women’s gold medal match, 2:30 p.m. – NBC (live): It’s Italy vs. Team USA as the US women look to become the first women’s water polo team to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals.
Walsh Jennings was going for her fourth gold, and Ross was looking to improve on the silver she earned when she lost to her fellow Americans in the London final.
Indoors on the men’s side, the USA faces Poland in the quarterfinals after they reversed a poor start in pool play to win their final three matches. Maybe Neymar and the crew can salvage something for the hosts.
BIRDIE FEST: You know it’s a good day on the golf course when a player starts losing track of the number of birdies they made. The Spanish team, which hasn’t won a gold medal in basketball at the Olympics, may not be at full strength.
Can China pull off another double Olympic sweep in table tennis?
The Chinese men’s team faces faces off Wednesday against Japan for the gold, while Germany and South Korea play for the bronze. The women’s team won Tuesday and if the men win, as widely expected, China will have taken all the golds in play in Rio.
The Americans will get their shot to salvage a bronze medal Saturday at 9 a.m. The Americans, the standard in the sport since winning their first 63 games after basketball debuted 80 years ago in the Olympics, are either winners or failures.
Kiwi Lydia Ko, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, is on her heels. Park, who has won seven major championships, is playing for the first time in two months because of a thumb injury.
The episode served as a distraction from several notable events on the field of competition Thursday, including a dazzling round by American golfer Stacy Lewis and several medals getting handed out in track and field.
Even though six of golf’s top 10 men did not come to Rio – some due to Zika fears – their Olympic tournament ended with high drama.
The U.S. will face Poland in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. after the Americans won their final three pool-play matches following an 0-2 start.
Jumping individual final, 10 a.m. – NBC (live): Four-time Olympian Beezie Madden, already a silver medalist in Rio in team jumping, goes for her first ever individual Olympic gold medal.
Maroulis, who trains in Tempe, defeated the only woman to win gold in Olympic 53 kg competition, Saori Yoshida. Americans Brianna Rollins and Kristi Castlin look to battle each other for the top spot, but first they must get through the semifinal round, which will be held just two hours before the final.
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And regardless of whether the US men’s team wins Friday and ultimately wins the gold medal this weekend, it’s clear that Mike Krzyzewski was the right man for the job after the 2004 debacle. She’s a favorite to win another.
