17-YEAR OLD MISSY FRANKLIN LEADS U.S. WOMEN’S SWIMMING TONIGHT ON NBC

 

Franklin Teams Up With Allison Schmitt in Gold Medal Relay, One Night After Going Head-To-Head

Also on NBC Tonight:

Japanese Gymnastics Legend Seeks Gold Medal Redemption After Falling Short in Beijing  

Most-Decorated Olympian of All Time Michael Phelps Returns to Pool with Lochte  

Tonight on NBC, Missy Franklin looks to earn her second gold medal – third medal overall – in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay.  Michael Phelps also returns to the pool with 19 medals under his “speedo,” an all-time Olympic record – and triple world champion Kohei Uchimura looks to cement his status as a Gymnastics great against two U.S. competitors with very with surprising backgrounds, to say the least!

Upcoming Primetime Programming on NBC:

 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1 (DAY 5)

 

8 p.m. – Midnight (ET/PT)

Swimming – Gold Medal Finals

Men’s 200M Breaststroke

Men’s 100M Freestyle

Women’s 200M Butterfly

Women’s 4 x 200M Freestyle Relay

Men’s Gymnastics – All-Around Gold Medal Final

Women’s Beach Volleyball – May-Treanor/Walsh (U.S.) vs. D. Schwaiger/S. Schwaiger (Austria)

Men’s Diving –Synchronized Springboard Gold Medal Final

• One night after they go head-to-head in the 200m freestyle, Allison Schmitt and Missy Franklin team up to lead the U.S. in the 4x200m freestyle relay, hoping to reclaim the event from Australia after losing in Beijing for the first time since it was added to the Olympic program in 1996. In the men’s 100m freestyle, top American and former Cal standout Nathan Adrian will try to knock off favorite James Magnussen, the brash new leader of Australian swimming, while Auburn-trained Brazilian star Cesar Cielo is also among a deep international field. Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, already the greatest breaststroker of all time, is hoping to complete a third straight sweep of the 100m and 200m breaststroke events as he takes on the longer race tonight. In semifinal action, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte hit the water for the 200m individual medley, while Lochte pulls double-duty in the 200m backstroke.
• In gymnastics, another Japanese legend, triple world champion Kohei Uchimura, looks to cement his status as one of the greatest gymnasts of all-time by winning the Olympic gold he came one place short of four years ago as a 19-year-old in Beijing. Attempting to stand in his way should be two Americans from unlikely backgrounds: Bronx native John Orozco, the 19-year-old son of a former New York Sanitation Department crew supervisor, and Cuban-born Danell Leyva, whose skillful routines are accompanied by the hyper-animated reactions of his coach and stepfather Yin Alvarez.

·         Beach volleyball, one of the Games’ hottest sports, continues at Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London. Just down the road from the Queen’s home at Buckingham Palace, the Queens of the sand, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, are eyeing a golden three-peat after sweeping the competition in Athens and Beijing without dropping a set.

• In the men’s synchronized springboard, diving’s odd couple looks to continue its winning ways and help the U.S. onto the medal stand. Separated by 13 years and 1700 miles, four-time OlympianTroy Dumais and Stanford freshman Kristian Ipsen won world silver in 2009 just months after they began training together.

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 (Day 6)

8 p.m. – Midnight (ET/PT)

Women’s Gymnastics – All-Around Gold Medal Final

Swimming – Gold Medal Finals

Men’s 200M Backstroke

Men’s 200M Individual Medley

Women’s 200M Breaststroke

Women’s 100M Freestyle

Men’s Beach Volleyball – Rogers/Dalhausser (U.S.) vs. Benes/Kubala (Czech Republic)

Rowing – Women’s Eights Gold Medal Final

·         The last two Olympic all-around champions, Carly Patterson (2004) and Nastia Liukin (2008), both hailed not only from the U.S. but from the very same Texas gym. With Michigan’s Jordyn Wieber, the reigning world all-around champion, and Virginia-born Gabby Douglas, who trained for the Games in West Des Moines alongside four-time Beijing medalist Shawn Johnson, the U.S. has two gymnasts with gold medal potential. Tonight they’re expected to go toe-to-toe with a pair of talented Russian rivals, Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova.

·         Tonight is the 200m individual medley, Round 2 of Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte. Phelps is the reigning Olympic champion and Lochte is the reigning world champion and current world record holder. Phelps nipped Lochte by less than a tenth of a second at Trials. It will be part of a very busy night for Lochte, who is favored for gold in the 200m backstroke that begins just 30 minutes before his clash with Phelps. For Lochte, who turns 28 the following day, there would be no better birthday present than a pair of gold medals. Meanwhile, swimming’s new sensation, 17-year-old Missy Franklin, dives in for the 100m freestyle, the fifth of seven events on her ambitious Olympic program. In the 200m breaststroke, Rebecca Soni is the reigning Olympic and world champion, and she has a chance to here to complete the first women’s breaststroke sweep in 16 years.

·         Beach volleyball, one of the Games’ hottest sports, comes to the heart of ceremonial London, at Horse Guards Parade. Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, “The Professor” and “The Thin Beast,” continue their gold medal defense.

• And in rowing, the U.S. women’s eight has won every world and Olympic title since 2006 and will attempt to build on its dynasty in the nation that helped give rise to competitive rowing nearly 200 years ago.