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Michael Phelps returns to pool in primetime

by jmaloni

Wed, Aug 1st 2012 10:10 am

Most-decorated olympian of all time

Phelps and Lochte swim in 200 IM semifinals; Missy Franklin swims in 4x200 freestyle relay; men's gymnastics all-around gold medal final

Michael Phelps, the most-decorated Olympian of all time, with 19 medals, and Ryan Lochte each compete in the 200 individual medley semifinals on NBC in primetime on Wednesday. Also in primetime, Lochte swims the 200m backstroke semifinals, and Missy Franklin looks to earn her second gold medal - third medal overall - in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay. Gymnasts Danell Leyva and John Orozco compete in the men's all-around gold medal final.

Live on NBC in daytime, Team USA's Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal vs. Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins of Latvia compete in men's beach volleyball from the Her Majesty's Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London at 11:30 a.m. Also live on NBC daytime, Team USA's women's volleyball team competes against China at 3 p.m.

In women's soccer, host nation Great Britain faces Uruguay at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales live at 2:45 p.m.

For more information on live streaming, visit NBCOlympics.com/LiveExtra

For the full schedule of NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage, visit NBCOlympics.com

Listings subject to change (all times ET unless otherwise noted). Changes are italicized.

Wednesday's programming includes:

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1 (DAY 5)

NBC

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Swimming - Qualifying Heats

Men's Beach Volleyball - Gibb/Rosenthal (U.S.) vs. Samoilovs/Sorokins (Latvia) (LIVE)

Women's Volleyball - U.S. vs. China (LIVE)

Women's Water Polo - U.S. vs. Spain (LIVE)

Men's Cycling - Individual Time Trial (LIVE)

Rowing - Gold Medal Finals

Men's Canoeing - Whitewater, K-1 Gold Medal Final

•U.S. stars Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Rebecca Soni are all in the pool, swimming in key qualifying heats.

•Live coverage of the U.S. women's volleyball team vs. China. Led by Hugh McCutcheon, who coached the U.S. men to the Olympic title in 2008, the American women are favored to win their first Olympic gold.

•Live coverage of the U.S. women's water polo team vs. Spain. The Americans have earned a medal at each of the three Olympics since women's water polo made its Olympic debut in 2000, but have never won gold. They look to have their strongest team yet in London.

•Live coverage of beach volleyball from Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London.

•Cast the team tactics and strategy of the road race aside - cycling's time trial is every rider for himself to see who can be fastest against the clock.

•Plus, gold medal finals in rowing from history-rich Eton Dorney and a gold medal final in men's whitewater canoeing, as athletes maneuver an high-speed, water obstacle course to compete for gold.

8 p.m. - Midnight

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 - Misty May-Treanor/Kerri 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. 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 1,700 miles, four-time Olympian Troy Dumais and Stanford freshman Kristian Ipsen won world silver in 2009 just months after they began training together.

12:35 - 1:35 a.m.

Rowing - Semifinals

Women's Cycling - Time Trial

THURSDAY, AUG. 2 (Day 6)

NBC

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Swimming - Qualifying Heats

Women's Beach Volleyball - Kessy/Ross (U.S.) vs. Liliana/Baquerizo (Spain) (LIVE)

Men's Volleyball - U.S. vs. Brazil (LIVE)

Men's Water Polo - U.S. vs. Great Britain (LIVE)

Cycling - Track Gold Medal Finals (LIVE)

Canoeing - Whitewater, Men's C-2 Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

Rowing - Gold Medal Finals

•Michael Phelps' qualifying swim in the 100 butterfly, the event he won by the narrowest of margins - just .01 seconds - over Serbia'sMilorad Cavic in Beijing. Plus 17-year old Colorado phenomMissy Franklin swims in the 200 backstroke, where she is the reigning world champion and favorite for gold.

•Live coverage of the U.S. men's volleyball team against Brazil. The American men won their first Olympic gold in 20 years in Beijing and have been surging recently as they look to repeat as Olympic champions.

•Live coverage of the U.S. men's water polo team against host Great Britain. The U.S. men earned a surprise silver in Beijing, but are focused on gold in London. Led by captain Tony Azevedo, the team sacrificed hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively by not playing professionally overseas this year to train together for the Olympics.

•Live coverage of the men's and women's team sprint track cycling finals from what promises to be one of the most exciting venues of the Games, the Velodrome.

•Plus, live coverage of beach volleyball, always one of the most electric sports of the Games, from Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London and live coverage of the always unpredictable whitewater canoeing, with Olympic medals on the line. Also, more gold medals on the line in rowing from prestigious Eton Dorney.

8 p.m. - Midnight

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.

•Thursday 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.

12:35 - 1:35 a.m.

Women's Canoeing - Whitewater, K-1 Gold Medal Final

Men's Table Tennis - Singles Gold Medal Final

•Gold medals are on the line in men's table tennis and women's whitewater kayaking.

NBC SPORTS NETWORK

4 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Men's Basketball - Qualifying Round (LIVE)

U.S. vs. Nigeria (LIVE)

-France vs. Lithuania (LIVE)

-Brazil vs. Russia (LIVE)

Beach Volleyball -

Men's - Alison/Emanuel (Brazil) vs. Nicolai/Lupo (Italy)

-Women's - Mullin/Dampney (Great Britain) vs. Ukolova/Khomyakova (Russia) (LIVE)

-Women's - Kessy/Ross (U.S.) vs. Liliana/Baquerizo (Spain)

Men's Volleyball - Serbia vs. Germany

Women's Field Hockey - Qualifying Round

U.S. vs. Australia (LIVE)

-China vs. Netherlands

Boxing - Elimination Bouts (LIVE)

Men's Table Tennis - Singles Semifinal

Men's Shooting - Double Trap Gold Medal Final

Women's Archery - Individual Gold Medal Final

NBC SPORTS NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

•The U.S. men's basketball team, led by LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, is back in action. The Americans continue their attempt to defend their Olympic gold medal from Beijing. Plus live beach volleyball and women's field hockey, where Team USA takes on Australia.

BRAVO

7 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Tennis - (LIVE)

Singles Quarterfinals

-Doubles Semifinals

-Mixed Doubles Quarterfinals

BRAVO HIGHLIGHTS

•Tennis continues with live singles quarterfinals and live doubles semifinals from the historic grass courts of Wimbledon.

MSNBC

9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Men's Volleyball - Poland vs. Argentina (LIVE)

Men's Water Polo - Qualifying Round (LIVE)

Montenegro vs. Serbia (LIVE)

-Romania vs. Hungary (LIVE)

Men's Handball - Qualifying Round (LIVE)

Serbia vs. Denmark (LIVE)

-Sweden vs. Iceland (LIVE)

Badminton - Semifinals

Women's Judo - 78 KG Gold Medal Final

Equestrian - Dressage Qualifying

MSNBC HIGHLIGHTS

•2010 world champion Kayla Harrison, who is coached by two-time Olympic bronze medalist Jimmy Pedro and his father, aims to win the first ever American gold medal in Olympic judo

CNBC

5 - 8 p.m.

Boxing - Elimination Bouts

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

•Just a little over a year ago, Jose Ramirez, the son of Mexican immigrants, was attending Fresno State University and working as a Starbucks barista. Now the boxer, who has been compared to former U.S. greats, aims to take another step towards an Olympic medal.

NBC OLYMPIC BASKETBALL CHANNEL

4 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Men's Basketball - Qualifying Round