So today in Paris, China’s projection moved slightly to 38.82971 gold medals, a change from 38.82983 from the initial
FORGET THAT! DID YOU SEE SIMONE BILES!
What?
YOU DIDN’T? DROP EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW AND WATCH THIS …
Sure, but she was only in second place halfway through, and she would need to be careful on the floor exer-
Ah. Good for her. So anyway, the US is still falling a little but short of projections in the pool, where …
FORGET THAT! KATE DOUGLASS!
Huh? Oh, right. Anyway, it appears that this US team isn’t taking the expected medals in …
MEN’S FOUR! FIRST GOLD SINCE 1960! NO ROWING SHUTOUT THIS YEAR!
Will you please stop interrupting? Yes, three gold medals are exciting, but it’s …
MAKE IT FOUR, B — — — — CHES! WOMEN’S TEAM FOIL! LEE KIEFER BACK-TO-BACK INDIVIDUAL AND NOW THREE GOLDS IN TWO GAMES!! LAUREN SCRUGGS HANGS ON FOR THE WIN!!
(AND HAVE YOU SEEN THIS VENUE?)
OK, fine. Very good day for the US in a lot of sports. But let’s check out some area in which no one’s paying attention, like equestrian …
Whoa. Really? OK then. And the first jumper is 59 years old?
Maybe shooting?
But hold on. It was a disappointing day for US rowers until the men’s four. The table tennis and badminton runs finally ended, though Beiwen Zhang flirted with a massive upset in badminton. All US women’s archers are out, though Brady Ellison has made the men’s round of 16. The men’s water polo team lost to Greece. Two US women’s boxers are out. And the USA has forgotten how to play 3-on-3 basketball, and even the women’s traditional basketball team looked vulnerable. Tommy Paul, the last hope in men’s tennis singles, is out …
Oh.
Hmmmm.
How’d the beach volleyball teams do?
Those guys beat a Brazilian team? Not bad. And the women?
OK, I’m in. USA! USA! USA!
Projection update
Gold: USA 44, China 38
Total: USA 124, China 88
I might need to project France’s total at some point. They’re en fuego. Oh, wait, wrong language.
Friday viewing guide
We’re to the point now at which we know how a lot of team sports are shaping up, and we’ve had a lot of weather-related schedule changes, so let’s redo the guide …
All times ET
3 a.m.: Golf, men’s second round, all day
3:30 a.m.: Shooting, women’s 3-position. Maddalena has the qualifying record. She barely missed a medal in air rifle. Can she get it here?
4:05 a.m.: Track and field, decathlon, 100 meters
4:42 a.m.: Rowing, men’s pair. USA in B final (7th through 12th)
4:55 a.m.: Track and field, decathlon, long jump
5 a.m.: Diving, men’s synchronized springboard
5 a.m.: Handball, France vs. Argentina, men’s group play. France needs some points to reach the quarterfinals.
5:24 a.m.: Archery, mixed team, USA v. Uzbekistan (round of 16)
5:42 a.m.: Rowing, women’s pair. USA in A final
6 a.m.: Trampoline, women’s individual. Qualification, then final at 7:50 a.m.
6:13 a.m.: Sailing, women’s skiff medal race (rescheduled from Thursday)
6:15 a.m.: Track and field, decathlon, shot put
6:22 a.m.: Rowing, women’s lightweight double sculls. USA in A final
7 a.m.-ish: Tennis, mixed doubles semifinal, Fritz/Paul (USA) vs. Ebden/Peers (AUS). It’s the second match on Court Suzanne Lenglen
7:13 a.m.: Sailing, men’s skiff medal race (rescheduled from Thursday; US boat has a decent shot)
8 a.m.: Equestrian, team jumping
8:15 a.m.: Archery, mixed team quarterfinals and semifinals
8:23 a.m.: Sailing, men’s windsurfing quarterfinal (rescheduled from Thursday, followed by semifinal and final)
9 a.m.: Soccer, USA vs. Morocco, men’s quarterfinals
9 a.m.: Beach volleyball, Evans/Budinger (USA) vs. Herrera/Gavira (ESP). A win puts the US men in the round of 16.
9:30 a.m: Canoe slalom, kayak cross time trials. First men (Casey Eichhold), then women (bronze medalist Evy Leibfarth)
10:10 a.m. (or shortly thereafter): Badminton, mixed doubles final, China vs. South Korea
10:18 a.m.: Boxing, women’s prelims, Alyssa Mendoza (USA) vs. Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu (BRA)
10:24 a.m.: Archery, mixed team medal matches
11 a.m.: Soccer, Japan vs. Spain, men’s quarterfinals
11:15 a.m.: Basketball, Canada vs. Spain, men’s group stage. Canada has advanced; Spain has not.
Noon: Track and field, decathlon, high jump
Noon: Trampoline, men’s individual, Qualification at noon, final at 1:50 p.m.
12:10 p.m.: Track and field, women’s 5,000m first round. There are a lot of prelims today; I’m highlighting this one for one particular person.
12:30 p.m.: Water polo, US women vs. France
1 p.m.: Soccer, Egypt vs. Paraguay, men’s quarterfinals
1 p.m.: Surfing, men’s and women’s semifinals and finals, weather permitting
2 p.m.: Cycling, BMX men’s and women’s semis and finals. Women’s final at 3:50 p.m.
2:30-ish p.m.: Tennis, mixed doubles gold-medal match, Czechia vs. China (after Novak Djokovic vs. Lorenzo Musetti in men’s singles semis at 1)
2:30 p.m.: Swimming, men’s 50 free. Dressel has a shot.
2:36 p.m.: Swimming, women’s 200 back. Smith has a shot.
2:43 p.m.: Swimming, men’s 200 IM. Foster … maybe has a shot?
2:50 p.m.: Track and field, decathlon, 400m
3 p.m.: Volleyball, US men vs. Japan. The US men have clinched a quarterfinal berth.
3 p.m.: Soccer, France vs. Argentina, men’s quarterfinal
3:20 p.m.: Track and field, men’s 10,000m
4 p.m.: Beach volleyball, Hughes/Cheng (USA) vs. Muller/Tillmann (GER)
