2016 Rio Olympics daily viewer's guide – Day 13 (August 18)
On tap today:
The greatest athlete on earth will be crowned, U.S. women’s basketball will look to continue its Olympic dynasty and the fastest man on earth looks to take his legacy to unreachable heights. Day 13 of the Olympics promises to be an exciting affair.
Morning slots:
For the early birds, women’s golf continues with the second round starting at 6:30 a.m. ET on the Golf Channel. Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand is currently in the lead, while American Lexi Thompson is three strokes behind in seventh place.
For those who feel like sleeping in a little more, NBCSN starts its coverage at 8 a.m. ET with gold medal races in sprint kayak/canoe.
Keep it on NBCSN or switch to NBC at 10 a.m., when men’s decathlon continues with Ashton Eaton in the driver’s seat at the start of the final day of the event. Also featured on the track will be the men’s 400-meter hurdles, where Americans Kerron Clement and Michael Tinsley will be contenders for the gold medal.
After the track, NBCSN will go to the men’s water polo semifinal featuring Montenegro and Croatia. Croatia is the defending Olympic champion, but will face a tough test against Montenegro to end the morning’s coverage.
Afternoon slots:
At noon on NBC, U.S. women’s volleyball returns to the court against Serbia for a chance to punch its ticket to the gold medal game. If volleyball isn’t your cup of tea, men’s field hockey will be on NBCSN around noon with Germany and the Netherlands fighting for a bronze medal.
There are a couple of choices at 2 p.m. ET. On NBCSN there is women’s basketball between Serbia and Spain. Neither team has won a medal in the event, but will be looking to change that in Rio. On NBC, there will be semifinal women’s diving, and men’s BMX cycling will be in its quarterfinal races, where American Connor Fields will look to advance after making it safely through the preliminary rounds.
Also at 2 p.m. will be sailing gold medal races, followed by a semifinal game of women’s handball between the Netherlands and France. Neither team has won a medal in the event, but one country will be guaranteed a medal after advancing to the final.
On the later end of the afternoon, women’s freestyle wrestling will be handing out more medals on NBCSN at 4 p.m. ET. Also around that time will be a documentary which details the journey of Martha and Bella Karolyi and how they took U.S. gymnastics to the top of the sport.
Ending the afternoon at 5 p.m. ET will be men’s water polo between Italy and Serbia fighting for a spot in the gold medal game, followed by men’s taekwondo.
Primetime slots:
Kicking off the primetime slot is U.S. women’s basketball, which will be facing off against France in semifinal action on NBCSN. Team USA will be playing to advance to its sixth straight gold-medal game.
Over on NBC at 8 p.m., the coverage returns to the track where Usain Bolt is looking to make it three gold medals in a row in the 200-meter sprint. LaShawn Merritt of the United States will also be competing for a medal in the event.
Eaton will also be finishing up the final event of the decathlon around that time. Meanwhile, men’s shot put will be in its final round featuring reigning world champion Joe Kovacs of the United States competing for his first Olympic medal.
If the track isn’t where your heart is at, men’s boxing will have a gold medal match on NBCSN at 8 p.m. ET. Also on NBCSN will be women’s volleyball with China and the Netherlands battling it out for a spot in the final round, and a medal round match of taekwondo.
Switch over to NBC to end the night, where women’s platform diving will be handing out medals.
Full TV Schedule:
NBC
10 a.m. PT/ET
Track & Field (LIVE)
Men’s 400m Hurdles – Gold Medal Final
Canoe/Kayak – Sprint Gold Medal Finals
Noon PT/ET
Women’s Volleyball – USA vs. Serbia (Semifinal LIVE)
2 p.m. PT/ET
Women’s Diving – Platform Semifinal
Men’s Cycling – BMX Quarterfinals
3:30 p.m. PT/ET
Men’s Water Polo – Semifinal (LIVE)
Synchronized Swimming – Team Qualifying
Gymnastics documentary “Karolyi”
8 p.m. PT/ET
Track & Field – Gold Medal Finals (LIVE)
Men’s Shot Put
Women’s Javelin
Men’s 1500m Decathlon
Women’s 400m Hurdles
Men’s 200m – Final
Women’s Volleyball – USA vs. Serbia Semifinal
Women’s Diving – Platform Gold Medal Final
12:35 a.m. ET
Men’s Beach Volleyball – Bruno/Alison (BRA) vs. Nicolai/Lupo (ITA) (Gold Medal Final)
1:35 a.m. ET
Primetime Encore
NBCSN
2 a.m. ET
Primetime Encore
6 a.m. ET
NBC Late Night Encore
8 a.m. ET
Canoe/Kayak – Sprint Gold Medal Finals (LIVE)
Track & Field (LIVE)
Men’s Decathlon
Men’s 400m Hurdles – Gold Medal Final
11:20 a.m. ET
Men’s Water Polo – Montenegro vs. Croatia (Semifinal LIVE)
Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle Qualifying
Men’s Field Hockey – Netherlands vs. Germany (Bronze Medal)
2 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – Serbia vs. Spain (Semifinal LIVE)
4 p.m. ET
Women’s Wrestling – Freestyle Gold Medal Finals (LIVE)
6 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – USA vs. France (Semifinal LIVE)
8 p.m. ET
Men’s Boxing – Light Heavy Gold Medal Final
Men’s Beach Volleyball – Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) vs. Semenov/Krasilnikov (RUS) (Bronze Medal LIVE)
9:45 p.m. ET
Women’s Volleyball – China vs. Netherlands (Semifinal LIVE)
Taekwondo – Gold Medal Finals
MSNBC
2 p.m. ET
Sailing – Gold Medal Finals
Women’s Handball – Netherlands vs. France (Semifinal LIVE)
USA
10 a.m. ET
Men’s Triathlon (LIVE)
Women’s Badminton – Doubles Gold Medal Final
CNBC
5 p.m. ET
Men’s Water Polo – Italy vs. Serbia (Semifinal)
Taekwondo – Quarterfinals and Semifinals
6 p.m. ET
Men’s Field Hockey – Belgium vs. Argentina (Gold Medal Final)
GOLF CHANNEL
5 a.m. ET
Golf Central Live From the Olympics
6:30 a.m. ET
Women’s Golf – 2nd Round (LIVE)
9 a.m. ET
Women’s Golf – 2nd Round (LIVE)
Noon ET
Women’s Golf – 2nd Round (LIVE)
3 p.m. ET
Golf Central Live From the Olympics
11 p.m. ET
Women’s Golf – 2nd Round Encore
BASKETBALL SPECIALTY CHANNEL
2 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – Spain vs. Serbia (Semifinal LIVE)
4 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – Spain vs. Serbia Encore
6 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – USA vs. France (Semifinal LIVE)
8 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – USA vs. France Encore
10 p.m. ET
Women’s Basketball – Spain vs. Serbia Encore
Midnight ET
Women’s Basketball – USA vs. France Encore
TELEMUNDO
3 a.m. ET
Late Night Encore
10:30 a.m. ET
News Recap
Synchronized Swimming
1 p.m. ET
Athletics
Beach Volleyball
Midnight ET
TBA
NBC UNIVERSO
6 a.m. ET
Late Night Encore
4 p.m. ET
Volleyball
Boxing
