9 Rio 2016 Olympic events to watch today: Thursday, August 11

Aug 11 2016, 12:26 am

Thursday is a jam-packed day with a number of intriguing events to watch from a Canadian perspective. Canada has six medals in these Games, but no gold.

That has a chance of changing tonight.

Here’s what to watch for Day 6 of the Olympics.

1. Swimming

  • Women’s 200 m breaststroke final: 6:17 pm PT (9:17 pm ET)
  • Men’s 200 m backstroke final: 6:26 pm PT (9:26 pm ET)
  • Men’s 200 m individual medley final: 7:01 pm PT (10:01 pm ET)
  • Women’s 100 m freestyle final: 7:18 pm PT (10:18 pm ET)

All eyes will be on Canadian Penny Oleksiak, who already has a silver and two bronze medals in these Olympics. On Thursday, the 16-year-old from Toronto will try to capture a gold in the 100-metre freestyle final. She qualified with the second fastest time, just 0.01 seconds behind Cate Campbell of Australia.

Kierra Smith of Kelowna will race in the 200-metre breaststroke final, although she’s a long shot to get a medal. She qualified with the eighth fastest time in the semi-finals.

Also must-see TV will be Michael Phelps of the United States, who will try to get his 22nd gold medal of his career.

2. Tennis (doubles semi-final)

  • Daniel Nestor & Vasek Pospisil (Canada) vs Marc Lopez & Rafael Nadal (Spain): approx. 11 am PT (2 pm ET)

Sixteen years after he won gold in Sydney, 43-year-old Daniel Nestor will play for a medal once more. Nestor, and his partner Vasek Pospisil, will advance to the gold medal game with a win, or the bronze medal game with a loss.

The task won’t be easy against living legend Rafael Nadal and doubles specialist Marc Lopez of Spain.

This match was supposed to be played on Wednesday, but was postponed due to rain in Rio.

3. Men’s Volleyball

  • Canada vs France: 1:05 pm PT (4:05 pm ET)

Our men’s volleyball team has quickly become must-see television. They beat #5-ranked USA in their opener and gave #1 Brazil a scare, taking a set before losing.

Also a nice surprise? It turns out indoor volleyball is pretty damn entertaining to watch.

This time the #12-ranked Canadians are up against France, the 11th-ranked team. We’ll see if Gavin Schmitt is up to speed, as he appeared to be playing through an injury against Brazil.

4. Gymnastics

  • Women’s individual all-around final: 12 pm PT (3 pm ET)

Ellie Black and Isabela Onyshko are Canada’s entries in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around final.

Black, in her second Olympics at only age 20, is Canada’s best hope in this event. She won gold in the all-around competition at the Pan Am Games last year, and finished 7th at the World Championships.

5. Beach Volleyball

  • Ben Saxton & Chaim Schalk (Canada) vs Nivaldo Nadhir Diaz Gomez & Sergio Reynaldo Gonzalez Bayard (Cuba): 7 am PT (10 am ET)
  • Jamie Broder & Kristina Valjas (Canada) vs Nada Meawad & Doaa Elghobashy (Egypt): 11:30 am PT (2:30 pm ET)
  • Sarah Pavan & Heather Bansley (Canada) vs Karla Borger & Britta Buthe (Germany): 6 pm PT (9 pm ET)

Three Canadian teams are in action on the final day of preliminary play in beach volleyball. To be assured of a spot in the round of 16, teams will need to finish top-two in their group.

Saxton and Schalk are at 1-1, and tied with Latvia for second in their group. Broder and Valjas are in a similar position, tied with Italy at 1-1. Bansley and Pavan are in a better spot at 2-0, and can clinch first place in their group with a win.

6. Boxing

  • Arthur Biyarslanov (Canada) vs Obada Alkasbeh (Jordan): 7:45 am PT (10:45 am ET)

Arthur Biyarslanov’s family left Chechnya when he was four years-old for Azerbaijan, due to the war in his homeland. At age 10, he and his family moved to Canada looking for a better life.

Now, Biyarslanov is representing his country as the 9th-ranked boxer in the 64 kg weight class. He begins the round of 32 against Obada Alkasbeh of Jordan, who is unranked.

7. Men’s Golf

  • Graham Delaet: 7:30 am PT (10:30 am ET)
  • David Hearn: 9:25 am PT (12:25 pm ET)

Golf is back in the Olympics for the first time since 1904! The tournament features two Canadians: Graham Delaet and David Hearn.

8. Men’s Field Hockey

  • Canada vs Ireland: 7 am PT (10 am ET)

It’s been a rough welcome to the Olympics for Canada’s field hockey team, losing three in a row to the #2, 3, and 7th-ranked teams. Ireland should be a winnable game though, as they are ranked just three spots higher than #15 Canada.

9. Men’s Rugby

  • Bronze medal match: 2:30 pm PT (5:30 pm ET)
  • Gold medal match: 3 pm PT (6 pm ET)

Fiji has a chance to win their first medal ever, in any sport, in men’s rugby sevens.

See also

Rob WilliamsRob Williams

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