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Usain Bolt races for history in 200m gold medal final Thursday night on NBC

by jmaloni

Thu, Aug 9th 2012 12:20 am

Team USA women's soccer takes on Japan in gold medal final live on NBC Sports Network at 2:45 p.m.

Brittany Viola dives for gold from 10m platform on NBC in primetime; Team USA women's water polo gold medal vs. Spain on NBC in daytime

Beijing gold medalist and world record holder Usain Bolt, who already won the men's 100m gold medal in London, races for the gold in the men's 200m final as he looks to become the first man in history to sweep both the 100m and 200m sprints in consecutive Olympic Games, Thursday night in primetime on NBC.

Also in primetime, from three-stories up, Brittany Viola dives for the gold medal in the 10m platform final.

Live on NBC Sports Network, Team USA women's soccer competes for Olympic gold against Japan at 2:45 p.m. The rematch of the 2011 World Cup final, which Japan won after a penalty shootout, takes place from Wembley Stadium in London.

NBC's daytime coverage features Team USA women's water polo vs. Spain live at 3 p.m., as the American women look to win their first gold and the first American Olympic gold in water polo since 1904. Also during the day, track and field qualifying heats, women's swimming 10k marathon and canoeing sprint gold medal final.

All of the events mentioned above, and all other events will be live streamed on NBCOlympics.com. and the NBC Olympics Live Extra app, available on mobile devices and tablets. The vast majority of live stream content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.

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.

THURSDAY, AUG. 9 (Day 13)

NBC

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Synchronized Swimming - Team Qualifying (LIVE)

Gymnastics - Rhythmic Qualifying

Track and Field - Qualifying Rounds

Women's Volleyball - Semifinal (LIVE)

Women's Water Polo - Bronze Medal

Australia vs. Hungary (LIVE)

Women's Water Polo - Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

U.S. vs. Spain (LIVE)

Men's Beach Volleyball - Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

Emanuel/Alison (Brazil) vs. Brink/Reckermann (Germany)

Canoeing - Sprint Gold Medal Final

Women's Swimming - Marathon

•Key qualifying rounds in track and field, including the women's high jump and the men's 4x400m relay. The U.S. has won nearly every 4x400m competition since the event was added to the Olympic program in 1908, and is favored again in London. Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius is expected to run as part of the South African team.

•Live coverage of the women's water polo gold medal final. The U.S. has won silver at each of the last three Olympics.

•Live coverage of the women's volleyball semifinal, which should feature the U.S. women. 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 bronze medal match in men's beach volleyball from Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London.

•Plus, the women's open water swimming gold medal final from the middle of picturesque Hyde Park, and a gold medal final in canoeing.

8 p.m. - Midnight

Track and Field - Gold Medal Finals

Men's 200M
Decathlon
Men's 800M
Men's Triple Jump

Women's Diving - Platform Gold Medal Final

Women's Volleyball Semifinal - U.S. South Korea

Men's Cycling - BMX Quarterfinals

•Four days after the 100m, Jamaica's electrifying sprint king Usain Bolt returns for his second final of the Games, the 200m. Bolt won both races in Beijing - both in world record time - and is aiming to become the first man in history to sweep the sprints twice. American Wallace Spearmon is hoping to erase the bitter memory of four years ago, when he crossed the line in third, but missed out on a bronze medal because of a lane violation. Bolt's chief competition could be his own training partner, Yohan Blake, who is the second-fastest 200m runner in history. In the decathlon, track and field's grueling two-day event wraps up with a pair of Americans expected to compete for gold: two-time world champion Trey Hardee and Ashton Eaton, who set a world record at trials in front of his home crowd in Eugene, Ore. In the men's 800m, Nick Symmonds pursues perhaps an even more elusive target: Kenyan world record holder David Rudisha. And in field events, the triple jump duo of Christian Taylor and Will Claye, who finished 1-2 at the World Indoor Championships, try to extend their dominance to the Olympic stage.

•At the Aquatics Centre, America's high divers take to the 10m platform, the same event that produced the last U.S. diving medal, when Laura Wilkinson won gold in Sydney. Twelve years later, among the new generation of women taking the three-story Olympic plunge will be Brittany Viola, whose father, Frank, was the 1987 World Series MVP with the Minnesota Twins.

•On the sand at Horse Guards Parade, beach volleyball wraps up its sizzling run with the men's gold medal final. Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are the reigning Olympic champions.

•And in BMX, all the thrills and spills of the most action-packed 40 seconds in sports return to the Olympics as the quarterfinal heats get underway. The top American is Connor Fields, a 19-year-old from Las Vegas.

12:35 - 1:35 a.m.

Track and Field - Gold Medal Final

Women's Volleyball Semifinal - Brazil vs. Japan

•The women with the best arms in the world take center stage at the Olympic Stadium for the women's javelin competition. Czech thrower Barbora Spotakova, who attended the University of Minnesota for a year, will attempt to defend her Olympic title from Beijing and take aim at her world record throw of more than 237 feet.

NBC SPORTS NETWORK

8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Women's Soccer -

Gold Medal Final: U.S. vs. Japan (LIVE)

Bronze Medal Canada vs. France(LIVE)

Women's Basketball Semifinal - U.S. vs. Australia (LIVE)

Synchronized Swimming - Team Qualifying (LIVE)

Women's Wrestling - Gold Medal Finals

Men's Field Hockey Semifinal -Netherlands vs. Great Britain

Taekwondo - Qualifying Round

NBC SPORTS NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

•A big day for fans of U.S. team sports, highlighted by live coverage of the bronze and gold medal women's soccer games. The U.S. women are the two-time defending Olympic champions. Plus, live coverage of the women's basketball semifinal round. With a stacked roster of former UConn stars including Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, leading to the nickname "U.S. Huskies," the Americans are favored to win their fifth straight gold.

MSNBC

9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Women's Basketball Semifinal -Russia vs. France (LIVE)

Equestrian - Individual Dressage Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

Men's Field Hockey Semifinal -Australia vs. Germany (LIVE)

Women's Handball Semifinal - Norway vs. South Korea (LIVE)

Men's Beach Volleyball - Bronze Medal: Plavins/Smedins (Latvia) vs. Nummerdor/Schuil (Netherlands)

Taekwondo - Semifinals

MSNBC HIGHLIGHTS

•Live coverage of equestrian's individual dressage gold medal final from scenic Greenwich Park. Plus, live semifinal competition in women's basketball and women's volleyball.

CNBC

5 - 8 p.m.

Women's Handball Semifinal - Spain vs. Montenegro

Taekwondo - Gold Medal Finals

Women's Boxing - Gold Medal Finals

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

•The first-ever gold medals in women's boxing will be awarded on Thursday, as Irish sporting legend Katie Taylor looks to capture the one title she doesn't currently own. With only a few international fights to her name, teenage sensation Claressa Shields of Flint, Mich., could shock the deep middleweight field.

NBC OLYMPIC BASKETBALL CHANNEL

Noon - Midnight

Women's Basketball - Semifinals (LIVE)

NBC OLYMPIC SOCCER CHANNEL

8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Women's Soccer - Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

TELEMUNDO

9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Track and Field - Qualifying Rounds

Women's Volleyball - Semifinals

Women's Diving - Platform Semifinals

Synchronized Swimming - Team Qualifying Round

Men's Beach Volleyball - Bronze Medal

Midnight - 2:30 a.m.

Track and Field - Gold Medal Finals

Women's Diving - Platform Gold Medal Final

Men's Beach Volleyball - Gold Medal Final

5 a.m. - 7:45 p.m.

Track and Field - Gold Medal Finals

Men's Basketball - Quarterfinals

FRIDAY, AUG. 10 (Day 14)

NBC

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Men's Water Polo - Semifinal (LIVE)

Gymnastics - Rhythmic Qualifying

Synchronized Swimming - Team Gold Medal Final

Wrestling - Freestyle Gold Medal Finals (LIVE)

Men's Swimming - Marathon

Canoeing - Sprint Qualifying Heats

•Live coverage of the semifinals in men's water polo.

•Plus, gold medal finals in synchronized swimming, open water swimming and freestyle wrestling. Also key qualifying rounds in rhythmic gymnastics.

8 p.m. - Midnight

Track and Field - Gold Medal Finals

Men's 4 x 400M Relay
Men's Pole Vault
Women's 4 x 100M Relay
Women's 1500M

Men's Diving - Platform Qualifying Round

Cycling - BMX Gold Medal Finals

•Track and field's relays kick off with the men's 4x400m race and the women's 4x100m. Team USA has won nearly every 4x400m competition since the event was added to the Olympic program in 1908, and is favored again. Meanwhile, South Africa, with double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, who is known as the "Blade Runner" for the carbon-fiber prostheses he wears, should also contend for a medal. In the women's 4x100m, Team USA, led by Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix, is expected to face a fierce challenge from Jamaica. And a trio of milers, including reigning world champion Jenny Simpson, looks for the first ever American medal in the women's 1500m.

•The men's platform contest is sure to be one of the most anticipated events of the Games, as 2009 world champion Tom Daley, a teen idol in Great Britain, takes the stage in his signature event - which was the only diving event China failed to win in Beijing. China's Qiu Bo, the reigning world champion, is out to change that, while Daley, top American David Boudia of Indiana and Australia's reigning Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham are among the deep field of contenders in this event.

•In the men's and women's finals of BMX, the top riders will decide their Olympic fates in a 40-second scramble to the finish. In the women's race, Great Britain's triple world champion Shanaze Reade could be one of the Games' biggest redemption stories after crashing out of the medals in Beijing in an aggressive push to go from second to first on the final turn. American Arielle Martin, whose husband Mike has served three tours in Iraq and a year-long stint in Afghanistan, is among the women trying to thwart Reade again. In the men's race, the top American is 19-year-old Las Vegas native Connor Fields, who will try to hold off a cadre of Southern California-based international stars.

12:35 - 1:35 a.m.

Track and Field - Gold Medal Finals

Men's Water Polo - Semifinal

•Gold medals are up for grabs on both the track and the field, with the women's 5000m and the women's hammer throw.

NBC SPORTS NETWORK

8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Men's Basketball - Semifinals (LIVE)

Men's Boxing - Semifinals (LIVE)

Wrestling - Freestyle Qualifying Round

Women's Field Hockey -

Gold Medal Final

Bronze Medal

Taekwondo - Gold Medal Finals

NBC SPORTS NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

•Live coverage of the U.S. men's basketball semifinal. Twenty years after the original Dream Team, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and company continue their run at London gold in the semifinal, exclusively on NBC Sports Network. Plus, live coverage of semifinals in boxing, and the gold and bronze medal games in women's field hockey.

MSNBC

10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Men's Soccer - Bronze Medal (LIVE)

Men's Volleyball - Semifinal (LIVE)

Wrestling - Freestyle Repechages

Men's Handball - Semifinals (LIVE)

MSNBC HIGHLIGHTS

•Live coverage of the bronze medal game in men's soccer and the men's volleyball semifinal round highlight a big day of team sports action on MSNBC.

CNBC

5 - 8 p.m.

Men's Boxing - Semifinals

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS