Rio Olympics Day 1: Events, Schedule and What to Expect From US Contingent
The United States will be busy on the opening day of the 2016 Olympics. While the opening ceremony will be held on Friday, the full slate of action will kickoff on Saturday. On that day, there are a ton of events which feature athletes from the United States, according to the Olympics' official schedule.
While the day is loaded with events, we're going to take a look at the highlights of what we should expect to see from the U.S. contingent, as well as what times you can check them out in action. NBC has the exclusive broadcasting rights to the games, so viewers at home will have to find an NBC-owned channel to watch them on (times below are air times).
Here are Saturday's US events and times:
Water polo (men):
9:20 a.m. Eastern - United States vs. Croatia
Indoor volleyball (women):
3:00 p.m. Eastern - United States vs. Puerto Rico
Beach volleyball (men):
3:30 p.m. Eastern - United States vs. Qatar
Beach volleyball (Women):
9:00 p.m. Eastern - United States vs. Australia
Basketball (Men):
7:00 p.m. Eastern - United States vs. China
Soccer (Women):
5:00 p.m. Eastern - United States vs. France
Tennis (Men's singles):
11:30 a.m. Eastern - Jack Sock (United States) vs. Taro Daniel (Japan)
1:00 p.m. Eastern - Brian Baker (United States) vs. Yuichi Sugita (Japan)
1:00 p.m. Eastern - Denis Kudla (United States) vs. Andrej Martin (Slovakia)
1:00 p.m. Eastern - Steve Johnson (United States) vs. Darian King (Barbados)
Tennis (Women's singles):
Time TBD - Serena Williams (United States) vs. Daria Gavrilova (Australia)
10:00 a.m. Eastern - Madison Keys (United States) vs. Danka Kovinic (Montenegro)
2:15 p.m. Eastern - Venus Williams (United States) vs. Kristen Flipkens (Belgium)
2:30 p.m. Eastern - Sloane Stephens (United States) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (Canada)
Tennis (Men's doubles):
Time TBD - J. Sock and S. Johnson (United States) vs. J. Peralta and H. Podlipnik-Castillo (Chile)
Time TBD - R. Ram and B. Baker (United States) vs. J. Tsonga and G. Monfils (France)
Tennis (Women's doubles):
Time TBD - S. Williams and V. Williams (United States) vs. L. Safarova and B. Strycova (Czech Republic)
Time TBD - C. Vandeweghe and B. Mattek-Sands (United States) vs. A. Medina Garrigues and A. Parra Santonja (Spain)
Consensus
Possibly one of the best events could be the women's soccer, as the U.S. takes on a talented French side. To go along with that, the U.S. men's tennis players should have some tough draws down the line, but are likely expected to start out with victories. Finally, the men's basketball team for the U.S. is not only expected to win the gold medal, but to start off with a statement-making win against China.
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