Figure skater Tara Lipinski was only 15 years old when she won a gold medal at the winter Olympics in 1998. Now, the Olympian reflects on her career achievements while looking ahead.
Lipinski shared with NBC4 her life after the Olympics and her favorite moment that people didn"t see on television.
"That"s the thing about the Olympics, people see that small sort of window of time of skating for four minutes and winning an Olympic gold medal, which was outrageous and amazing, but there were so many amazing moments," Lipinski said.
"I remember -- and I have a picure that I took on probably one of those disposable cameras -- when we got off the bus in Nagano, and I remember thinking this is the first time I"m setting foot on Olympic soil. So, I have a picture of my foot hitting Olympic soil," she added.
In anticipation of Rio, Lipinski and Weir go to Carnival. She tells NBC4S Lolita Lopez why shell remember when she is 60. (Published Thursday, July 21, 2016)
Lipinski said what surprised her about the Olympics was that she was so focused on skating that she wasn"t prepared "for this kind of event." She said the event was special from the moment she arrived.
Lipinski said when she was younger, she had a singular goal: to win at the Olympics and be a figure skater. She said she accomplished her goal so young and pondered what to do next.
Tara Lipinski was just 15 years old in 1998 when she won her gold medal. She tells NBC4s Lolita Lopez about her experience and offers advice to first-time Olympian, 16-year-old gymnast, Laurie Hernandez. (Published Thursday, July 21, 2016)
"When I thought about commentating in 2009, it just hit me and I just thought I could never do it. You look at Scott Hamilton and d**k Button, and they"re your idols, and there was that moment I went to bed one night and was like that"s it. This is what I"m meant to do," she said.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) In the midst of arguably their finest team performance in a quadrennium, a familiar nemesis provided the U.S. men"s gymnastics team with a reminder that nothing comes easily.
Especially on pommel horse. Especially at the Olympics.
While having Chris Brooks and Sam Mikulak go spinning off pommels removed some of the sparkle of an occasionally spectacular Saturday during Olympic preliminaries, it also offered a reality check. As solid as the score of 270.405 points was second only to two-time defending champion China the Americans know it can be better during Monday"s team finals.
"We just want to keep building momentum," Mikulak said. "I think that"s what today was, getting comfortable on the equipment and making a little bit of a statement. Hopefully that statement will carry over and we can carry that momentum to Monday."
Four years ago in London, the Americans dominated qualifying only to slide to fifth with a medal on the line, a fall kickstarted by a forgettable set on pommels. China, which slogged to sixth in prelims, rebounded all the way to the top of the podium.
It"s a painful memory that remains fresh for the five men on Team USA, all of whom were involved on the 2012 team in some capacity. This group, they insist, is not that group. They"re older. Wiser. And not so caught up in their own hype.
"We were just so pumped up about everything we might have just believed in ourselves that we might have already proven ourselves," Mikulak said. "This time we all know that"s not what we"re going to do. ... What happened today doesn"t matter on Monday."
Russia, Japan, Britain, Brazil, Ukraine and Germany all advanced to the eight-team final, though the sometimes giddy atmosphere punctuated by host Brazil"s euphoric breakthrough in front of a raucous home crowd during the opening session was tempered by sobering reminders of the sport"s ever present danger.
French gymnast Samir Ait Said broke his left leg while trying to land a vault, the crack of the bone shattering upon impact with the mat echoing throughout the arena and the shocking images of Said holding it in his hands instantly going viral.
"It is catastrophic," French teammate Cyril Tommasone said.
Andreas Toba"s right knee buckled during his floor routine. While the German managed to compete on pommels, he watched the rest of qualifying in sweat pants with his right leg ramrod straight in a brace, his Olympics over.
"I cried like a little kid," Toba said. "The injury on my knee is big, but the emotional injury is way bigger."
Japan"s missteps were far less painful but nearly as startling. Nine months ago after ending China"s long run at the top by surging to gold at the world championships, the Japanese looked a bit overcome by the stage at Rio Olympic Arena.
Even typically poised and ever elegant defending Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura wasn"t immune to the pressure.
Looking for a gold medal to bookend the one he captured in London, he went sailing off the high bar an event where he is the reigning world champion and smacked onto the ground in shock. The miscue means he"ll miss the event final. It also cost him the top qualifying score in the all-around. Uchimura"s score of 90.498 was second to Ukraine"s Oleg Verniaiev, one of the rare times Uchimura hasn"t found himself looking down at the rest of the field.
The scores will be reset in the individual all-around next Wednesday, though Uchimura is more concerned about getting his team mentally prepared for Monday night.
"We try to perform like the world championships," Uchimura said. "But we know this is the Olympic Games and this makes us stressed out."
The stress didn"t get to China, which downplayed Japan"s rise at worlds and promised to be ready by Rio. The Chinese posted the top scores on parallel bars and still rings, their three near flawless sets on rings in the final rotation giving them just enough to edge the Americans.
China delivering in the clutch is hardly new. It is new in Brazil, which made the team final for the first time, fueled by an arena that roared with every stuck landing.
The highlight came during three-time Olympic veteran Diego Hypolito"s floor exercise. After falling in the 2008 floor final and failing to make the event final in 2012 after a similar mistake, tears streamed down the 30-year-old Brazilian"s face after posting a 15.5, good enough for a spot in the floor final later in the games. Yet the tears were not for his score as much for his country.
"This was important for Brazil, it was about the team," Hypolito said. "I"ve been to three Olympics. This is something we"ve thought about for a long time. To perform like this, it"s a dream."
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hope Solo Gets Taunted By Thousands Screaming "Zika!" at Olympic Match In Rio
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil Hope Solo is arguably the best goalkeeper in womens soccer history. But shes clearly not the most popular.
For the second time is as many games at the Rio Olympics, Solo was booed mercilessly every time she touched the ball Saturday. And for the second time Solo answered the taunts with a shutout in a 1-0 victory over France on a goal from Carli Lloyd in the 63rd minute.
With the victory the U.S., the three-time defending Olympic champion, moved a big step closer to winning its group and earning a quarterfinal date in Brasilia against a third-place team.
France, on the other hand, needs at least a tie to finish second in the group and win a quarterfinal trip to Sao Paulo, where it would play the winner of Group F, likely Germany or Canada.
Both teams have one game left in group play Tuesday, the top-ranked U.S. against Colombia on the edge of the Amazon jungle in steamy Manaus and No. 3 France against New Zealand in the colonial port city of Salvador.
That picture would be far more jumbled if not for Solo, who was making the 200th appearance of her international career, the most by any goalkeeper, male or female, in history.
The Brazilian crowd was in no mood to help her celebrate the milestone. Each time she touched the ball the crowd booed loudly or as loudly as a crowd of about 10,000 people can boo then chanted Zika! each time she took a goal kick.
Last month Solo, who said she had considered skipping the Olympics because of the Zika virus, posted photos of herself on Twitter wearing an anti-mosquito mask and holding a bottle of insect repellent, angering many Brazilians.
Solo later apologized but the apology wasnt accepted by everyone. After Wednesdays opening defeat of New Zealand, in which Solo was also booed loudly, three American players said they were told by Brazilians near the U.S. bench that some fans had mixed anti-gay slurs with the Zika chant.
Whatever they were saying Saturday, Solo used their anger to fuel what might have been one of the best performances of her career.
In the 15th minute she lifted a header by Wendie Renard over the crossbar. In the 26th minute, Marie-Laure Delie came in alone on Solo, who stood her ground, using both fists to bat away a point-blank shot.
Then just before the intermission, Delie fought her way around left back Meghan Klingenberg and had another one-on-one situation with Solo, who smothered the shot.
France easily could have led by three goals at the break. Instead the game was scoreless.
Early in the second half Alex Morgan almost stole a goal for the U.S. after French keeper Sarah Bouhaddi bobbled the ball while going to the ground to make a save. The ball bounced straight to Morgan but she couldnt get off a decent shot before tumbling over the end line.
A couple of minutes later the U.S. was back, with Tobin Heath getting off a strong left-footed shot. Bouhaddi got a hand on that one too, deflecting it off the right post. But the ball ricocheted right to Lloyd, who had an easy tap-in for the goal.
Two of the three U.S. goals in this tournament have been scored by Lloyd, the reigning FIFA world player of the year, and both have been set up by Heath.
Given a lead, Solo then closed the game by making a diving two-handed stop of a Delie header and a leaping save on a corner kick before coming off her line twice to make another pair of saves seconds apart in the 82nd minute, preserving the 102nd shutout of her career. That, too, is a record.
For France and Delie who will likely by seeing Solo in her nightmares Saturdays result continued a frustrating trend. Twice previously it had played the U.S. in a world championship competition only to lose, in the group stage four years ago in London and in the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup.
E:60 Simone Biles - E60 Michael Jordan Of Gymnastics
First-time Olympian is the favorite to take home gold medal in all-around gymnastics event. USA TODAY Sports
Simone Biles during the floor exercise in the women"s gymnastics U.S. Olympic team trials.(Photo: Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)
SPRING, TexasBetween comforting a young gymnast who is crying and laughing midair on a vault where she proclaims she almost died, Simone Biles is perfecting the upgrades that will keep her ahead of the rest of the world.
Never mind that shes already miles ahead or that no one has come close to dethroning her for the better part of three years. Biles only measuring stick is herself. As she prepares for the Olympics, that high standard and unassuming personality leave admirers in her wake.
Another gymnast watching her on beam just shakes his head, saying, I feel like that shouldnt be possible.
The gyms name World Champions Centre gives the only indication of the gymnast who trains here.
Over her meteoric rise and continued dominance in the last three years, Biles, 19, has redefined what is possible in gymnastics. She has built a following in the sport that sees her mobbed by little girls at every meet.
Despite the expectations that have grown around her, Biles family and longtime coach repeat a popular refrain as a means to convey the humility and bubbliness that she has maintained.
She is just Simone, says Aimee Boorman, her coach. For me, sometimes I forget how incredible she is, because Ive known her the majority of her life and I work with her every day. So its just what she does and its who she is, and that hasnt changed through all the years. She just has a lot more medals.
That she does.
As Biles heads into Rio, shes a heavy favorite to win all-around gold and a strong contender, if not the favorite, for three event titles. She has a chance at five golds with a U.S. team title. But it seems unlikely to change the teen, who, despite winning everything the last three years, uses laughter as punctuation and remains as fearless as she was learning the sport as a child.
A natural talent
Gymnastics happened by chance for Biles after on a field trip when she was 6, and she hasnt tried anything else.
For her parents, it was a good way to direct her energy after they struggled to keep her from bouncing off the furniture. It was also a welcome outlet after the familys transition.
Ron and Nellie Biles adopted Simone and her sister, Adria, in 2001 after Rons daughter, Shanon, the girls birth mother, struggled with drug and alcohol issues.
The couple met in San Antonio in 1976 when Ron was in the Air Force. Nellie, who is from Belize, had come to the USA to go to nursing school. They married a year later and had two sons.
By the time Biles, Adria and their two older siblings were put into foster care, Ron and Nellie were on their way to becoming empty nesters with their sons about to graduate high school. Plans quickly changed.
We really were not a part of that family, Nellie says. So it was bringing four strangers into your house, and you need to make a family of that. Thats where it was very difficult.
Rons sister adopted the two oldest siblings, while he and Nellie suddenly had two toddlers in the house. For Simone, the transition was easy. For pretty much as long as she can remember, Ron and Nellie have been her parents and her adoption wasnt worth mentioning.
At the gym one day when she was about 10, she was playing Two Truths and a Lie with other gymnasts. Thats how they found out she was adopted.
It was never a big deal for me, so some people still dont even know, she says.
That has changed with the attention focused on her over the last year, but its part of her story rather than the whole thing.
Biles always had that bubbly personality, even at that age, and it was Ron and Nellie who instilled a sense of humility and work ethic in her.
Gymnastics was the best avenue for it. Biles was naturally athletic, even at 6, and quite daring.
Everybody would stand in line, be still. Not Simone, Nellie Biles says. Simones jumping.
Boorman recalled seeing Biles sitting on the floor and impatiently waiting her turn. Biles put her hands on the floor beside her and pulled her legs through to a plank. Hardly natural for a 6- or 7-year-old.
The coach learned quickly that she had to keep it fun for Biles or shed pick another sport. She was a smaller version of what she is right now, Boorman says.
An unprecedented streak
Though Biles progressed quickly in the sport, it has been in the last three years that she has made a meteoric rise.
While she was too young to compete for a spot on the 2012 Olympic team, it doesnt bother her because she had no chance of making it.
Yet a year later she won the U.S. and world championships and started a winning streak thats still going.
Ask her how she did it, though, and she says, I dont know. I have no idea. I was dropped by some magical dragon or something. I have no idea. I just woke up and something hit me, man.
More like she hit the sport.
She realized she was good before the 2013 nationals, but she was still star-struck by gymnasts she felt she wasnt on par with. She won that meet and then hoped to make the worlds team.
We were starting to realize that Simone was really good, Ron says. You go in there wanting and wishing for the best and praying for the best, but anything can happen.
What has followed has been largely unprecedented. Biles has won the last four U.S. titles and last three world all-around titles. In those three years, she has won 14 worlds medals 10 gold. Both are records. She also has won every all-around competition she has entered since August 2013.
Shes doing harder skills than everyone else, and shes doing them with better execution. Her tumbling is arguably the best.
Its always just come easy for me, Biles says. (Some) days, Im like, Lets do this. And theyre like, Really, Simone? Nobody should be able to do that. And Im like, Well, Im going to try.
Over her run of success, and especially since winning her third world title, managing expectations has been key. She sees a sports psychologist. And Biles knows what others say about her, even if she doesnt buy into it.
For her, the key is focusing on having fun in the moment.
Over the years, the expectations have built up, but then I have to sit back and realize that people built those expectations, and I didnt, Biles says. So I have to focus on what I expect out of myself.
Part of having fun is for Boorman to let her try new skills, even difficult ones that have no chance of making it into a routine. Its not because Biles cant do them. Shes awe-inspiring. But its because the risk isnt worth the reward when shes clearly on her own level already.
While training at the World Champions Centre a gym her parents built recently after retiring and selling a chain of nursing homes they owned Biles easily does a double-twisting, double-tuck off beam.
Its a dismount so difficult that no one does it in competition. Months later, Boorman ignited a frenzy on the Internet by posting video of Biles doing the skill.
On this December day, Boorman just watches and says, You dont even look like youre trying.
Thats the magic of Biles making the most impossible skills look easy.
But its fun for her, and it often comes with a dash of teenage drama. The first time she tried it, she told Boorman to grab a camera because, Im only doing it once, and I want to see the video if I die.
Its vintage Biles doing something because it matters to her and not because it will help her to beat others.
Qatar will not see an oversupply of hotels in the country and will still be able to maintain good occupancy levels even after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a hotel executive has said.The country needs those facilities, said Shangri-La Hotel Doha general manager Alex Willats, who pointed out that there needs to be a capacity available when hosting an event like the World Cup.Citing Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) figures, DTZ, in its Q1 2016 Qatar Market Report: Hospitality Market Overview, said 56 hotels and 13 hotel apartment buildings are currently under construction and due to be released within the next five years, bringing the total number of rooms to 26,653.Of these, the QTA expects 20 hotels and hotel apartments to open in 2016. In addition, there are proposals for another 130 establishments, the report further said.Willats has lauded governments foresight, saying its not just about the World Cup but further towards realising the Qatar National Vision 2030.And certainly the government has got that right its not just about the World Cup but longevitythe plan to 2030 dovetails very much with the World Cup, but its not just about the World Cup.These kinds of facilities and the variety theyre putting into place will, in itself, position to allow a sustainable growth of hotels to maintain a good occupancy level even post 2022, Willats told Gulf Times.Aside from hotels, Willats also lauded the government for building world-class facilities like the Hamad International Airport (HIA), which would attract more tourism-related traffic into the country, and boost Qatars meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry.The infrastructure that was put in place has extremely good urban planning in mind. Of course, with the World Cup coming in 2022, and the Qatar National Vision 2030, I think the planning that is going into place will lift the profile of Qatar as a MICE destination.And I think the great thing is that starting in some of these early stages, they can look at probably more opportunities than some of the other countries in this part of the region and I think that is what people are looking for in a MICE destination, he said.Citing MICE destinations like Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai, Willats said companies, event planners, and organisers are also looking for other countries like Qatar as an alternative to other established venues.People are looking for something a bit different, a destination thats a little bit raw and sometimes a little bit in its infancy, and quite often, one that offers a bit more flexibility and I think thats also an area that Doha, and hotels like us and the other properties, can offer probably more flexibility in terms of rates, and therefore it makes it a much more attractive destination than some of those other traditional locations that have perhaps priced themselves out of the market a little bit, he said.Willats added: Were all sitting in global economic fund for a while; companies budgets are tight but at the same time they still realise and value that they need to have these exhibitions and conferences. And I think Qatar has an opportunity to attract those kinds of pieces of business and for a much more cost-effective option.
1954: American film star Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962). Photo by Baron/Getty Images
If headlines could scream, then scream they did in early August 1962. According to nearly every newspaper, television, and radio broadcast in the world, early on Aug. 5, Marilyn Monroe, Hollywoods brightest star, was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood, Los Angeles home. She was only 36.
Long before the opiate and opioid epidemics struck American life with such resounding force, there were plenty of other prescription drugs abused to excess with deadly results.
READ MORE: Did Lou Gehrig actually die of Lou Gehrigs disease?
On Marilyns bedside table was a virtual pharmacopoeia of sedatives, soporifics, tranquilizers, opiates, speed pills, and sleeping pills. The vial containing the latter, a barbiturate known as Nembutal, was empty. In her last weeks to months, Marilyn was also consuming, if not abusing, a great deal of other barbiturates (amytal, sodium pentothal, seconal, phenobarbital), amphetamines (methamphetamine, Dexedrine, Benzedrine and dexamyla combination of barbiturates and amphetamines used for depression), opiates (morphine, codeine, Percodan), the sedative Librium, and alcohol (Champagne was a particular favorite, but she also imbibed a great deal of Sherry, vermouth and vodka).
Her last two pictures, Lets Make Love (1960) and The Misfits (1961), were commercial flops. The latter, written by her husband, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller, served as the breaking point in their marriage and the two were divorced shortly after wrapping that film. During this period, Monroe suffered from several mental health problems, including substance abuse, depression, and, most likely, bipolar disorder, along with physical ailments such as endometriosis and gall bladder disease.
A flower lays atop the Hollywood Walk of Fame star for the late actress Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood August 5, 2012. A memorial service was held in Los Angeles to mark the 50th anniversary of Monroes death. REUTERS/Krista Kennell
On June 8, 1962, the Hollywood film factory, 20th Century Fox, fired her while she was filming the ironically titled Somethings Gotta Give, (a remake of the 1940 film My Favorite Wife). The cause, the studio claimed, was her unjustifiable absences. Marilyn protested she was too sick to work while the studio moguls complained she was apparently well enough to sing Happy Birthday, Mr. President at John F. Kennedys famous soiree in New Yorks Madison Square Garden on May 19. This very public firing was an ignominious end for a superstar whose films had grossed more than $200 million during a relatively brief career.
This is a particularly lethal cocktail, not only because each of these drugs increase, or potentiate, the power of the other, but also because people who take this combination often forget how much they previously consumed, or whether they took them at all, and soon reach for another dose.
Lonely and harassed, Marilyn found getting to sleep especially difficult. To counteract her insomnia, she often cracked open a Nembutal capsule (so that it would absorb faster into her bloodstream), added a chloral hydrate tablet (an old fashioned sedative better known in detective stories as a Mickey Finn, or knockout drops,), and washed them both down with a tumbler of Champagne. This is a particularly lethal cocktail, not only because each of these drugs increase, or potentiate, the power of the other, but also because people who take this combination often forget how much they previously consumed, or whether they took them at all, and soon reach for another dose.
On her last day of life, Saturday, August 4, Marilyn lolled about her home in a drug and alcohol-fueled haze. Her publicist Patricia Newcomb, her housekeeper Eunice Murray, a photographer named Lawrence Schiller, and her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson were also present, off and on, for most of that day.
In 1995, a U.S. postage stamp commemorated actress Marilyn Monroe. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Before leaving for the night, Dr. Greenson asked Murray, who had lived with the movie star, to keep a close eye on Marilyn. Marilyn was last seen alive at 8 p.m., when she retired alone to her bedroom. At around 3:25 a.m., on August 5, Murray noticed that Monroes lights were on but the bedroom door was locked and Marilyn did not respond to shouts to open it up.
Murray then walked outside the home and looked inside the bedrooms French doors. She later recalled that Marilyn looked peculiar. An arm was stretched across the bed and a hand hung limp on a telephone. Murray called Dr. Greenson, who, upon arrival, broke through the window door with a fireplace poker to get to Marilyn. Sadly, it was too late. Soon after, Monroes personal physician, Hyman Engelberg, and the Los Angeles police arrived to the scene. As the entire world learned later that morning, Marilyn Monroe had died of an apparent, or accidental, suicide.
In the years since, Marilyns legend and the details surrounding her tragic death and autopsy have transmogrified into a mountain of conspiracy theories and tall tales. Who was she trying to call just before she closed her eyes for the last time? Was she murdered? Who was involved? And what about those pesky and unsubstantiated rumors about the involvement of John and Bobby Kennedy, not to mention the Mafia, the CIA and even members of the Communist Party? On and on it goes, each theory seeming to be crazier or more far-fetched than the last. But because of the sequestered nature of her demise, we will likely never know the precise details.
What remains most cautionary to 21st century readers is that the majority of the substances Marilyn was abusing were prescribed to her by physicians, all of whom should have known better than to leave a mentally ill patient with such a large stash of deadly medications. The barbiturates that killed her are rarely, if ever prescribed, today. Nevertheless, Monroe, like Judy Garland, Michael Jackson, Prince, and too many other famous Hollywood stars who overdosed, was adept at manipulating her doctors to prescribe the drugs she craved and felt she needed to get through her tortured days and nights. This treacherous course worked, albeit haphazardly, until it didnt work anymore and resulted in a talented young woman dying far too young.
A large photograph of Marilyn Monroe is displayed at Christies auction house in New York on June 3 at a preview of the actress personal property which will be sold there on October 27-28. The full-length, flesh-colored dress Monroe wore during her famous birthday tribute to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, in background, is among the items to be auctioned.
According to the National Institute for Drug Abuse, more than 52 million Americans over the age of 12 have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime. More than 6.1 million people have used them in this fashion in the past month alone. Although the United States makes up less than 5 percent of the worlds population, its people consume 75 percent of the worlds prescription drugs.
In 2012, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed to medicate every American adult every four hours for one month. The most abused prescription drugs are painkillers, (e.g., opiates and opioids), tranquilizers, and stimulants. Although doctors prescribed many of these pills, many others were either purchased illegally or stolen from friends or relatives.
Opiate or opioid (narcotic painkiller) drugs are the most common cause of prescription overdose deaths today. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999; so, too, have the sales of these prescription drugs. From 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 Americans died from overdoses related to prescription opioids. In 2014, alone, more than 14,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids.
Marilyn once told a reporter, the nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream. Sadly, Marilyn Monroes overdose represents the darker side of medical progress. Five decades after she died, and with the development of so many new, addictive, and potentially lethal painkillers and sedatives, this epidemic has only grown worse. Today, physicians, nurses, family members, and patients are all still struggling to grapple with its effects and stem its deadly tide.
A visitor to the Museum of Contemporary Art sits on the ground listening to an audio guide whilst looking at some of the 1967 Marilyn Monroe screenprints on paper from the exhibition The Warhol Look/Glamour Style Fashion in Sydney December 29. The exhibition features works made during each period of the famous American artist Andy Warhols career, from sketches and snapshots to major paintings, as well as film and video. Photo by David Gray/Reuters
The 2016 Rio Olympic Games are finally ready to commence. Yes, some events have already begun, but until the Opening Ceremony, the Olympics never feel like they"ve truly started.
But with Friday"s ceremony behind us, it"s now time to truly kick off the Games in style. Below you"ll find information of the events, streaming options and a few predictions for Saturday"s action.
Saturday Schedule Rio Olympics: Saturday Television Schedule NBC 8 a.m. Rowing Qualifying Heats Live NBC 8 a.m. Mens Cycling Road Race Live NBC 8 a.m. Mens Water Polo United States vs. Croatia Live NBCSN 9 a.m. Beach Volleyball Preliminary Round Live NBCSN 9 a.m. Mens Archery Team Round of 16 Live NBCSN 9 a.m. Womens Shooting 10m Air Rifle Final Live Bravo 9:30 a.m. Tennis Opening Round Matches Live NBC 10: 30 a.m. Mens Cycling Road Race Live NBC 10: 30 a.m. Swimming Qualifying Heats Live OBC 11 a.m. Womens Basketball Turkey vs. France Live Telemundo 11 a.m. Boxing Elimination Matches TBD Telemundo 11 a.m. Volleyball TBD TBD Telemundo 11 a.m. Swimming Qualifying Heats TBD Telemundo 11 a.m. Beach Volleyball Preliminary Round TBD NBCSN Noon Womens Rugby United States vs. Fiji Live NBCSN Noon Womens Rugby Preliminary Round Live MSNBC Noon Beach Volleyball Preliminary Rounds Tape MSNBC Noon Womens Handball Norway vs. Brazil Tape (live stream at 8:30 a.m.) Bravo 12:30 p.m. Tennis Opening Round Matches Live NBCSN 1 p.m. Mens Basketball Australia vs. France Live OSC 2 p.m. Womens Soccer Canada vs. Zimbabwe Live Telemundo 2 p.m. Boxing Elimination Matches Tape Telemundo 2 p.m. Volleyball TBD Tape (live stream at 8:30 a.m.) MSNBC 2:15 p.m. Table Tennis Singles, First Round Live MSNBC 2:15 p.m. Mens Archery Team Final Live NBC 2:30 p.m. Rowing Qualifying Heats Tape (live stream at 7:30 a.m.) NBC 2:30 p.m. Mens Beach Volleyball USA (Gibb/Patterson) v. Qatar (Jefferson/Cherif) Live NBCSN 3 p.m. Mens Water Polo TBD Tape NBCSN 3 p.m. Beach Volleyball Preliminary Rounds Tape USA 3 p.m. Equestrian Eventing, Dressage Tape (live stream at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m.) OBC 3 p.m. Womens Basketball China vs. Canada Tape (live stream at 1:15 p.m.) Bravo 3:30 p.m. Tennis Opening Round Matches Live USA 4 p.m. Womens Field Hockey United States vs. Argentina Live NBCSN, NBC Universo, OSC 4 p.m. Womens Soccer United States vs. France Live NBC 4:15 p.m. Womens Volleyball United States vs. Puerto Rico Live CNBC 5 p.m. Womens Rugby United States vs. Colombia Live CNBC 5 p.m. Womens Rugby Preliminary Round Tape (live stream at 10 a.m., 3 p.m.) CNBC 5 p.m. Womens Soccer Germany vs. Australia Live USA 5:30 p.m. Beach Volleyball Preliminary Round Live Bravo 5:45 p.m. Tennis Opening Round Matches Live NBCSN, OBC 6 p.m. Men"s Basketball United States vs. China Live OSC 6 p.m. Womens Soccer Russia vs. China Live NBC Universo 6 p.m. Basketball TBD TBD NBC Universo 6 p.m. Boxing Elimination Matches TBD USA 6:30 p.m. Women"s Fencing Individual Epee Final Tape (live stream at 3 p.m.) OBC 7:45 p.m. Womens Basketball Brazil vs. Australia Tape (live stream at 4:45 p.m.) NBC 8 p.m. Womens Beach Volleyball USA (Walsh Jennings/Ross) vs. Australia (Del Solar/Laird) Live NBC 8 p.m. Swimming Finals: Mens 400m Individual Medley, Mens 400m Freestyle, Womens 400m Individual Medley, Womens 4x100m Freestyle Relay; Semis: Womens 100m Butterfuly, Mens 100m Breaststroke Live NBC 8 p.m. Mens Gymnastics Team Competition Tape (live streams at 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.) NBCSN 8 p.m. Judo Final Tape (live stream at 2:30 p.m.) NBCSN 8 p.m. Womens Weightlifting 48kg Final Tape (live stream at 6 p.m.) OSC 8 p.m. Womens Soccer Germany vs. Australia Tape (live stream at 5 p.m.) NBCSN, OSC 9 p.m. Women"s Soccer Brazil vs. Sweden Live OBC 9:30 p.m. Men"s Basketball Venezuela vs. Serbia Live NBCSN 11 p.m. Table Tennis Singles, First and Second Rounds Tape (live stream at 8 a.m., 6 p.m.) NBCSN 11 p.m. Boxing Elimination Matches Tape (live stream at 10 a.m., 4 p.m.) OSC 11 p.m. Womens Soccer Colombia vs. New Zealand Tape (live stream at 7 p.m.) OBC 11:15 p.m. Womens Basketball Belarus vs. Japan Tape (live stream at 6:45 p.m.)
Source: Sports Media Watch
Sports Media Watch compiled the full schedule of events and television information.
Streaming
You can watch the Olympics online via NBC Sports and the NBC Sports app.
Saturday Predictions
One of the marquee events on Saturday will be the United States women"s soccer team taking on France. The match will be the defending World Cup champion"s second contest after opening the tournament on Wednesday, Aug. 3 (before the Opening Ceremony that Friday) against New Zealand.
The United States is the prohibitive favorite to win the tournament and become the first country to follow up a World Cup win on the women"s side with a gold medal, especially after Japan failed to even qualify for the tournament, but France is a real contender.
The three-time defending Olympic champions will beat the French, but it won"t be easy. Louisa Necib, Camille Abily, Elodie Thomis, Marie-Laure Delie, Eugenie Le Sommer and Amandine Henryform an elite core of players for the French, and perhaps only the Germans are strong contenders outside of the United States.
Of course, the United States counter withCarli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Hope Solo,Becky Sauerbrunn andJulie Johnston, among others. It"s hard to find too many weaknesses on this team.
Look for the United States to sneak away with a tough 2-1 win.
Marta and Brazil will take on a solid Swedish side that same day. The Brazilians will escape with a 1-0 win.
In gymnastics, the men will open the qualification round. A few things are guaranteed:
Japan"s Kohei Uchimura will put himself in the running to win the all-around competition once again.
Cuban Manrique Larduet will be hot on his heels.
Great Britain"s Louis Smith will be the favorite on pommel horse.
The United States will have a solid team, but the medals once the competition continues won"t come easy.
That"s true for the team"s top performer,Sam Mikulak, who has yet to medal in the Olympics.
"It"s time for me to show what I can do on the international stage," he told the Associated Press (h/t NBCOlympics.com). "I think if I can go out there with my mind clear, I"ll be OK."
Meanwhile, the tennis tournament will begin. While no medals will be won on the day, Serbia"s Novak Djokovic and the United States" Serena Williams are theprohibitivefavorites for the men and women, respectively, and certainly won"t lose in theopening round.
The United States will open its play in men"s basketball, meanwhile, with a contest against China. Seeing as the former annihilated the latter twice in exhibition games before the Olympics, it"s hard to imagine the Chinese coming close against them.
Never mind that China lack an answer for players like Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson or Kyrie Irving, among others, they simply can"t deal with the United States" defensive intensity or the team"s dominance in the post, with centers DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan.
The United States will beat China, and they"ll beat them big, 111-62.
Kerri Walsh-Jennings, looking for her fourth Olympic gold, will open her beach volleyball tournament with April Ross for the U.S. againstArtacho Del Solar and Nicole Laird of Australia.Walsh-Jennings and Ross are among the best team in the world, so they won"t be losing so early in this tournament.
The team"s chemistry will play an important role in their quest for the gold, as Walsh-Jennings toldVytas Mazeika of the San Jose Mercury News:
April and I had chemistry from the beginning and we built upon it. It"s been really amazing. As you go, you start with a level of trust, but you have to develop the trust and develop the energy and the partnership and the synergy. And we"ve been building upon it since the first day through crucial matches. Training is one thing, competing is another. And every single match we"re using it to get better.
That trust will make them tough to top for the gold.
In the men"s 400-metre individual medley swimming,Japan"s Kosuke Hagino and Daiya Seto will be the favorites and should each get on the medal stand, but the United State"sChase Kalisz will join them in what should be a fantastic race. Look for Hagino to take gold, Seto silver andKalisz the bronze.
"Those guys are awesome, and I"ve got to improve what I just did there to be competitive with those guys," Kalisz said of the Japanese pair, per Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun. "Those guys are certainly the two best in the world, and they"re the favorites, so I"ve got to be sharp going into Rio."
