NBC Sports Group Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 1st, 2020

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA OLYMPIC PROGRAMMING, WEEK TWO – AUGUST 3-9

Return to the Olympic Games presented by Toyota Schedule, August 3-9

(All times ET unless otherwise noted, subject to change)

(* Programming description at bottom of chart)

Program descriptions:

Return to Beijing – 10^th Anniversary: 2008 Beijing Games

• • Men’s Basketball Final: USA vs. Spain: The U.S. defeated Spain and Pau Gasol in the preliminary round by 37 points, but the gold medal game between the two countries was a more closely contested affair, with the U.S. winning 118-107. Dwayne Wade led all scorers with 27 points, and Kobe Bryant added 20.
  • Usain Bolt: The special details Usain Bolt’s details three memorable gold medal performances in 2008, including his world record-breaking 9.69 in the 100m final. The “fastest man in the world,” Bolt also helped Jamaica win the 4x100m relay, but that gold medal was rescinded nearly a decade later due to a doping case involving relay teammate Nesta Carter. Bolt would end his career with eight Olympic gold medals.
  • Women’s Basketball Final: USA vs. Australia: In Beijing, the U.S. women’s basketball team continued its Olympic dominance with a fourth consecutive Olympic gold. Led by Sylvia Fowles, the American women won each of their eight games by 15 or more points and extended their Olympic winning streak to 33 games. In the final, the U.S. defeated 2006 world champion Australia by a score of 92-65, to claim its third straight win over the Aussies in the gold medal game.

Return to London: 2012 London Games

• • Men’s Basketball Final: USA vs. Spain: In 2012, the U.S. men’s basketball team again matched up with Pau Gasol and Spain in the gold medal game. In a tight battle, the U.S. prevailed, 107-100, behind the play of Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Durant led all scorers with 30 points and James chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds.
  • Men’s Road Cycling: Road Race & Time Trial: Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov claimed gold in London, becoming the first two-time medalist in the road race. Rigoberto Uran claimed Colombia’s first medal in the road race with a silver medal, while Norway’s Alexander Kristoff finished with bronze. 2012 Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins won Olympic gold in time trial, becoming the most decorated British Olympian with seven medals (tied with teammate Chris Hoy; Wiggins now stands alone as Britain’s most decorated Olympian after winning team pursuit gold in 2016). 2011 time trial world champion Tony Martin of Germany finished second, while Great Britain’s Chris Froome, who finished second in the 2012 Tour de France, claimed bronze.
  • Track & Field: Decathlon & Heptathlon: Ashton Eaton and compatriot Trey Hardee, who came in as the reigning world decathlon champion, had a 1-2 finish, becoming the first Americans to claim the top two spots in the Olympic decathlon since 1956. On what became known as “Super Saturday” for the host nation, Jessica Ennis won Great Britain’s first track & field gold medal of the London Games in heptathlon.
  • Track & Field: Men’s Distance Events: In 2012, American Galen Rupp won the silver medal in the men’s 10,000m, becoming the first U.S. man to win a medal in the event since Billy Mills won gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Leo Manzano claimed the silver medal in the men’s 1500m, becoming the first American to win a medal in the event since Jim Ryun won silver in 1968.
  • Track & Field: Men’s Sprint Events: Usain Bolt continued his dominance in men’s sprint events, winning three gold medals at the 2012 London Olympic Games. With his win in the 100m, Bolt became the first man to successfully defend an Olympic 100m title since Carl Lewis in 1988. American Justin Gatlin won bronze in the 100m behind Jamaica’s Bolt and Yohan Blake, while Aries Merritt won gold in the 110m hurdles.
  • Track & Field: Women’s Distance Events: Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won her second consecutive gold in the event ahead of Kenya’s Sally Kipyego and Vivian Cheruiyot, both finishing in second and third, respectively. Amy Hastings (now Amy Cragg) was the top American finisher in 11^th In the 5000m, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Meseret Defar of Ethiopia and teammate Dibaba finished with gold and bronze, respectively, while Kenya’s Cheruiyot claimed silver. Americans Molly Huddle and Julie Culley finished 11^th and 14^th, respectively.
  • Track & Field: Women’s Sprint Events: In London, Allyson Felix became the first American woman to win three golds in track & field at an Olympics since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988. In the 200m, Felix won her first individual Olympic gold medal, while teammate Carmelita Jeter earned bronze. Sanya Richards-Ross ended her long wait for individual gold with a win in the 400m.
  • Track Cycling & BMX: The favorites in the women’s team pursuit, Great Britain easily dominated the women’s final to win Olympic gold. Led by Sarah Hammer, the Americans finished with silver, while Canada earned bronze. In men’s BMX, Latvia’s Maris Strombergs led the field to capture his second straight Olympic gold, while Australian Sam Willoughby followed closely with a silver medal and Colombia’s Carlos Oquendo took bronze.
  • Women’s Basketball Gold Medal Game: USA vs. France: Coached by legendary University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma and led by the scoring powered predominately by Candace Parker, the U.S. women’s basketball team’s Olympic dominance continued with an 86-50 victory over France, claiming a fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
  • Women’s Road Cycling: Road Race & Time Trial: After giving birth to her son in 2010, American Kristin Armstrong made her return to cycling in 2012 and won gold Olympic gold in the time trial, successfully defending her 2008 Olympic title. After fracturing her collarbone several months before the London Olympics, Marianne Vos of the Netherlands edged Great Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead for the gold in the road race. American Shelley Olds finished seventh overall, the best finish for a U.S. cyclist in women’s road race since 1992.

Return to Rio: 2016 Rio Games

• • Best of Team USA: The program highlights some of the most memorable American moments and performances in Rio. At the Games, the U.S. topped the medal chart with 121 medals, including 46 gold. The U.S. also surpassed 1,000 all-time gold medals at the summer Olympics.
  • Men’s Basketball Final: USA vs. Serbia: The heavy favorites coming into Rio, the U.S. men’s basketball team had not lost an international game since the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships, when they were defeated by Greece. Coached by Duke men’s basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski, the U.S. defeated Serbia 96-66 for gold, in a rematch of the 2014 World Cup final, which the Americans won. American Carmelo Anthony became the first man to win three Olympic gold medals in basketball.
  • Men’s Road Cycling: Road Race & Time Trial: In Rio, Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium passed Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang for an Olympic gold medal in the road race event. In his final major international race, Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara successfully regained the Olympic time trial title he won eight years earlier in Beijing. Cancellara ended an illustrious career with eight stage wins in the Tour de France and 29 yellow jerseys, three Olympic medals, and seven world medals (four of them gold). Tom Dumoulin won the first men’s time trial medal for the Netherlands with silver, while four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome earned bronze.
  • Michael Phelps: The special showcases Michael Phelps’ medal-winning performances in his fifth and final Games. In Rio, Phelps won five gold medals and one silver, becoming the most successful athlete of the Olympic Games for the fourth consecutive time. Phelps would end his career as the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals (23 gold, three silver, two bronze).
  • Track & Field: Decathlon, Heptathlon, & Field Events: American Ashton Eaton successfully defended his Olympic decathlon title in Rio 2016 and tied the Olympic record in the event (8,893 points). After Bob Mathias of the U.S. and Great Britain’s Daley Thompson, Eaton is only the third Olympian to achieve back-to-back gold medals in the decathlon. Christian Taylor’s gold in the men’s triple jump made him the first repeat Olympic champion in the event since the Soviet Union’s Viktor Saneyev in 1976. In men’s shot put, Ryan Crouser broke the Olympic record (22.52m) in the fifth round to secure the gold medal. For the U.S. women, Tianna Bartoletta won her third Olympic gold medal (her first in long jump) with a personal-best jump of 7.17m.
  • Track & Field: Men’s Distance Events: American Galen Rupp earned a bronze medal in the men’s marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics. American Matthew Centrowitz won the 1500m race, becoming the first American to win the event since Mel Sheppard in 1908, and Clayton Murphy won bronze in the 800m.
  • Track & Field: Men’s Sprint Events: In Rio, Usain Bolt’s triple farewell act included wins in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events. The first athlete to win the 100m and 200m three times at the Olympics, Bolt ended his illustrious career with eight Olympic gold medals. Finishing second in the 100m, five-time Olympic medalist Justin Gatlin was the first man in history to win a medal of every color (gold, silver and bronze) in the 100m.
  • Track & Field: Women’s Distance Events: In Rio, Emma Coburn broke the American record in 3000m steeplechase and became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal (bronze) in the event. Three-time Olympian Jenny Simpson became the first American to win a medal in the 1500m event with a bronze.
  • Track & Field: Women’s Sprint Events: Allyson Felix became the most decorated American woman in Olympic track & field history after winning three medals in Rio, bringing her career total to nine. Felix won a silver in the 400m event and earned a pair of relay golds. American Tori Bowie also earned a pair of individual event medals with a silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m.
  • Track Cycling & BMX: In the women’s team pursuit gold medal final, the British earned gold after setting a new Olympic and world record (4:10.236), while the U.S. followed close behind with their second straight Olympic silver medal in the event. In the men’s BMX event, Connor Fields won gold to become the first-ever American BMX gold medalist. For the women’s BMX event, Mariana Pajon defended her 2012 Olympic title to become Colombia’s first-ever two-time Olympic gold medalist in any sport. American Alise (Post) Willoughby earned the silver medal for the best-ever finish by a female U.S. BMX cyclist.
  • Women’s Basketball Final: USA vs. Spain: In Rio, the U.S. women’s basketball team continued its Olympic dominance. The Americans defeated Spain to win their sixth straight gold medal and 49^th consecutive Olympic game. The team was led by Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Breanna Stewart, who were coached in Rio by their University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who won his second gold medal with the team.
  • Women’s Road Cycling: Road Race & Time Trial: Kristin Armstrong became the oldest female cyclist in history to win an Olympic medal when she won gold in the time trial event at the Rio Olympic Games. Led by first-time Olympian Mara Abbott, the U.S. women’s road cycling team placed three athletes in the top 12. Abbott’s fourth-place finish was the best result for an American woman since 1984.