Excitement builds anytime a new world shot put record may be broken, especially at the Olympics. The 2020 Games have had their fair share of ups and downs but getting back to competition is what it is all about. The Associated Press has the story:
Defending champ Ryan Crouser tries to make his world record setting mark
The men’s 200-meters will be decided in morning action streamed on Peacock.
A world record could be set in primetime when defending Olympic champion Ryan Crouser tries to break the shot put mark. Nevin Harrison is the only athlete representing the United States in canoe sprint and the gold medal favorite in the women’s canoe 200, and April Ross and Alix Klineman will play for a spot in the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match.
Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):
TRACK & FIELD
It will be a world record watch at Olympic Stadium in Wednesday night track and field competition.
Ryan Crouser will attempt to break his own world record and win a second consecutive gold medal in the shot put.
To comprehend Crouser’s record, try throwing a 16-pound bowling ball from one free throw line all the way to the opposite end of a basketball court. That’s essentially what he did at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, when he broke a 31-year-old record with a throw of 23.37 meters (76 feet, 8¼ inches).
U.S. teammate Joe Kovacs won silver at the Rio Games, but at the 2019 world championship in Doha the duo flipped the finishing order with Kovacs beating Crouser, who wound up second.
In the 110-meter hurdles, world champion Grant Holloway will be the one to catch. He turned in the second-fastest time in the history of the event in the Olympic trials, running 12.81 seconds — just 0.01 seconds behind the time Aries Merritt set in 2012.
And in the 200-meter final, Erriyon Knighton could be in the mix for a medal. The 17-year-old from Florida is the youngest male track Olympian to represent the U.S. since Jim Ryun in 1964, and at trials Knighton broke the under-20 world record held by none other than Usain Bolt.
During his first-round run in Tokyo, Knighton was caught mid-yawn before his heat in the first round. His biggest rival will be teammate Noah Lyles, who is the reigning world champion.
Track and field events anchor NBC’s primetime coverage that begins at 8 p.m., but the men’s 200 meters will initially be streamed live on Peacock in coverage from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
CANOE SPRINT
Nevin Harrison is the only athlete representing the United States in canoe sprint and the gold medal favorite in the women’s canoe 200.
Harrison won the 2019 world championship at just 17 years old, and she won a world cup series title in May. She took up the sport at the urging of a summer camp counselor when she was 12 years old.
She also has a chance to be the first Olympic champion in the event. The canoe 200 was added this year as part of the Olympics’ efforts at gender equity. It has been part of the canoe world championships for several years. The finals will be live on CNBC beginning at 8 p.m.; qualifying will be on NBC in coverage that begins at noon.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
April Ross and Alix Klineman will play for a spot in the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match against Switzerland.
The Americans knocked out Germany and defending Olympic champion Laura Ludwig in the quarterfinals, leaving Ross as the only woman remaining in the beach volleyball tournament with an Olympic medal on her resume.
Ross won silver in London in 2012 and bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The semifinals will be aired live on NBC during primetime coverage that begins at 8 p.m.
WOMEN’S GOLF
The Golf Channel has two opportunities to watch the top women in the world play.
The second round will be shown live and features the top 14 players in the world, led by top-ranked Nelly Korda. The 23-year-old Floridian is the daughter of tennis player Petr Korda, who won the 1998 Australian Open.
Of the 60 players, 29 have returned from the Rio Games, the first time golf was played in the Olympics in more than a century. All three medalists from Rio are back, including winner Inbee Park of South Korea.
The Americans and South Koreans are the only countries that have the maximum four players. It has been a strong year for the American golfers with six LPGA wins — the most of any country on a tour that has been dominated by the South Koreans for the past decade.
The rough has been trimmed significantly since American golfer Xander Schauffele won the men’s tournament at 18-under par. The men required a seven-way playoff to determine the bronze medalist and a playoff of some variety for the women would not be a surprise.
A replay of the first round will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the second round will be live beginning at 6:30 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The U.S. women’s basketball team will f ace Australia in the next step toward a seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Australia beat the U.S. in an exhibition last month in Las Vegas and will challenge a U.S. team that hasn’t been quite as strong in the Tokyo Games as past years. The U.S. and Australia are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the world, but Australia has never beaten the U.S. in the Olympics.
The Opals lost to the Americans in the gold medal game in 2000, ‘04 and ’08. The Australians also lost in the semifinals of the 1996 and 2012 Olympics to the U.S. as well.
The Americans have won 52 consecutive Olympic contests going back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Olympics. Coverage of the quarterfinals will be on USA Network from 2 a.m. through 10 a.m.
SPORT CLIMBING
The Olympic debut of sport climbing continues with women’s qualifying, which includes an element of surprise in that the climbers won’t get a chance to see the wall in two of the three disciplines until right before their first attempt.
Climbing at the Olympics will have three disciplines: lead, boulder and speed.
Lead is pretty much what recreational climbers face at climbing gyms, only on a much higher wall (15 meters) and far more difficult. There’s a six-minute limit, whoever climbs highest wins.
Bouldering is a set of four “problems” on 4.5-meter walls where turning upside down is sometimes the solution to reaching the top. Climbers have five minutes — four in the final — to solve each boulder in as many attempts as they want.
Speed is a race to the top of a 15-meter wall on a standardized route. The climbing will be part of all-day coverage on USA Network that also includes finals in boxing, cycling, weightlifting and wrestling.
Byline: By JENNA FRYER
