Dressel will swim in the 100-meter freestyle, his first chance at an individual medal. The U.S. gymnastics team moves ahead without Simone Biles. Men’s golf tees off.
Current time in Tokyo: July 29, 8:48 a.m. Dressel will swim in the 100-meter freestyle, his first chance at an individual medal. The U.S. gymnastics team moves ahead without Simone Biles. Men’s golf tees off. Caeleb Dressel, a rising swimming star, goes for his first individual medal in the 100-meter freestyle. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team forges ahead without Simone Biles. U.S. broadcast coverage on Wednesday night includes BMX racing, basketball and women’s rugby The South African surfer Bianca Buitendag snagged a medal, despite seemingly endless snafus. Quarantined Dutch athletes allowed 15 minutes of fresh air after protest. An American golfer hopes to bring his father’s dashed Olympic dreams full circle. The American swimmer Caeleb Dressel,24, has three career relay golds in the Olympics but no individual wins. On Wednesday night he has a chance to change that in the 100-meter freestyle. NBC Primetime will broadcast the event, which is set to start at 10:37 p.m. Eastern. (Because of the 13-hour time difference, the event takes place on Thursday morning in Japan.) Dressel started swimming when he was 5, after his parents enrolled him in swim lessons — a decision he did not agree with at first, he said in a video interview on U.S.A. Swimming’s YouTube page. But Dressel, who is from Green Cove Springs, Fla., eventually became laser-focused on swimming. By his mother’s telling, Dressel’s first “competition” came when he jumped in the pool during one of his siblings’ swim meets, raced his way to the other end and claimed, “I won a medal, I won a medal!” It was the first unofficial accomplishment in his booming career: Dressel, who swam for the University of Florida, went on to sweep up 15 medals at world championships and set world and U.S. records. At the 2019 FINA World Championship Games, Dressel broke his first long-course world record in the 100-meter butterfly, posting a time of 49.50 and shattering the previous record of 49.82 set by Michael Phelps. Dressel made his Olympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where he and his team won gold in the men’s 4×100 freestyle and in the 4×100 medley relays. At the Rio Games, Dressel placed sixth in the 100-meter freestyle. He won his third Olympic gold with Team U.S.A. in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo Games on Monday, but he has not yet won an individual Olympic gold. Dressel, who has a tattoo of the Olympic rings on the inside of his right arm, hopes to change that in the 100-meter freestyle final, where he will face off against competitors from Australia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, South Korea, France and the Russian Olympic Committee. “As soon as I get behind those blocks, I finally get to do what I was trained to do,” Dressel said in a U.S.A. Swimming video from 2016. “I finally get to be me.” — Alexandra E. Petri The women’s gymnastics individual all-around final, expected to be a highlight of the Games, lost a good deal of its luster after the withdrawal of Simone Biles. But the competition on Thursday should be fierce, with two Americans, Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey (who replaces Biles), in the mix for the medals. The event starts at 7:50 p.m. Tokyo time (6:50 a.m. Eastern) and is expected to be carried on the Peacock streaming app. In swimming, there are five finals on Thursday morning (on Wednesday evening U.S. time). Caeleb Dressel, who has three career relay golds, has a great shot at his first individual win in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. Australia is the big favorite in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, and a win would add to its 4×100 gold medal. The men’s golf tournament also gets underway, with many top players, but not Bryson DeChambeau of the United States and Jon Rahm of Spain, who both tested positive for the coronavirus. — Victor Mather Here are some highlights of U.S. broadcast coverage on Wednesday evening, including medals in three-on-three basketball, the opening match of women’s rugby sevens and lots of swimming. RUGBY A replay of the bronze and gold medal matches of the men’s rugby seven games will be broadcast at 7 p.m. on NBCSN. At 9 p.m., USA Network will broadcast the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team’s opening match against China. GOLF The men’s individual stroke play tournament starts at 6:30 p.m. and continues through the evening on the Golf Channel. GYMNASTICS The men’s individual all-around kicks off NBC’s prime-time coverage, beginning at 8 p.m. BEACH VOLLEYBALL Also at 8 p.m., USA Network will broadcast a women’s beach volleyball match between Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil of the U.S. and Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Khadambi of Kenya. The Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena take on Julian Azaad and Nicolas Capograsso of Argentina in a men’s match at 10 p.m. on USA. THREE-ON-THREE BASKETBALL In a replay of the sport’s first Olympic gold medal game, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Stefanie Dolson of the United States take on Russia, starting at 8 p.m. on NBCSN. FENCING The women’s team foil quarterfinals start at 11 p.m. on CNBC, with the semifinals at 12:55 a.m. BMX RACING CNBC will air the men’s and women’s quarterfinals at Ariake Urban Sports Park, starting at 10 p.m. SWIMMING Gold medals are up for grabs tonight, in events including the 100-meter men’s freestyle, in which the American swimmer Caeleb Dressel hopes to win his first individual Olympic medal. Coverage begins at 9:30 p.m. on NBC. BASKETBALL NBCSN has a replay of the U.S. men’s game against Iran at 11:30 p.m. WATER POLO The U.S. men face Italy in a Group A game at 1 a.m. on USA Network. ARCHERY CNBC will cover the elimination rounds of the individual archery competitions starting at midnight. — Alexandra E. Petri TOKYO — The biggest news of Wednesday came from beyond the competition floor as it was announced that Simone Biles would not compete in the individual all-around gymnastics competition because of a mental health issue. Katie Ledecky started her day with a crushingly disappointing fifth-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle. But an hour or so later she got her first gold of the Games in her best event, the 1,500 freestyle. This was the first time women had raced that distance at an Olympics. The British won the 4×200-meter men’s freestyle relay, with the Americans, who led for nearly half the race, fading to fourth. The United States women captured the first-ever gold medal for three-on-three basketball, defeating Russia,18-15. The U.S. men’s five-on-five basketball team bounced back from an opening loss to France with a commanding win over Iran,120-66. The U.S. women’s water polo team never loses. And yet it did, to Hungary,10-9. Both teams will advance to the playoffs, though, and perhaps a rematch looms. Joy for Fiji, which repeated as champions of the men’s rugby sevens competition. Seven-dollar bills for all! Primoz Roglic of Slovenia had a disappointing Tour de France but got a measure of consolation with a gold in the cycling time trial.
