Olympic Day 1 Preview

Each day I’ll be doing a fairly extensive but “just the facts, ma’am” preview. For something a little more narrative, head on over to Flotrack.

Some notes: names in gold, silver or bronze are the medal position predicted by Track and Field News, and all times are Eastern. “Gambler’s picks” are the odds in the UK.

Remember, you can watch live online at NBCOlympics.com

You also want to follow the IAAF’s live blog, they do a fantastic job.

Scheduled TV coverage

NBC

10:00-10:30 AM

Qualifying rounds from Day 1 of Track & Field.

NBC

11:30am-Noon

More qualifying rounds from Day 1 of Track & Field

NBC

4:30-5:00 PM

LIVE coverage of the women’s 10,000 meters final

NBC

8:00 PM-midnight

Swimming finals include the men’s 100m butterfly, plus Track and Field’s opening night, Diving, the U.S. women’s Volleyball team faces Serbia, and the men’s Trampoline final

Today’s Events

Morning Session

5:00 AM Men’s Shot Put qualifying round

NBCOlympics.com will have a feed dedicated to the shot put.

Qualifying format: top 12 to this afternoon’s final, with 20.65m or better doing so automatically

Start lists

Key athletes in Group A: Christian Cantwell (USA), Rutger Smith (NED), Tomasz Majewski (POL), Justin Rhode (CAN), David Storl (GER)

Key athletes in Group B: Reese Hoffa (USA), Andrei Mikhnevich (BLR), Ryan Whiting (USA), Dylan Armstrong (CAN), Maksim Sidorov (RUS)

5:05 AM Heptathlon 100m Hurdles

Start list

From the TFN message board, here’s “DecFan”‘s projections for the points after this event:

Jessica Zelinka (CAN) 1155

Jess Ennis (GBR) 1150

Hyleas Fountain (USA) 1140

Tatyana Chernova (RUS) 1074

Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR) 1050

Kristina Savitskaya (RUS) 1043

5:25 AM Women’s Triple Jump qualifying round

NBCOlympics.com will have a feed dedicated to the triple jump.

Qualifying format: top 12 to Sunday’s final, with 14.40m or better doing so automatically

Start lists

Key athletes in Group A: Olha Saladuha (UKR), Tatyana Lebedeva (RUS), Yamilé Aldama (GBR), Kimberly Williams (JAM), Kseniya Dziatsuk (BLR), Amanda Smock (USA)

Key athletes in Group B: Olga Rypakova (KAZ), Caterine Ibargüen (COL), Yargeris Savigne (CUB), Patrícia Mamona (POR), Dailenys Alcántara (CUB)

5:40 AM Women’s 100 Meters prelim round

Start list

You could call this the “scrub round”, as these are the very slowest entrants. It looks like an Olympic ‘B’ standard earns a bye to the next round.

6:15 AM Men’s 400m Hurdles heats

Qualifying format: top three from each heat plus next six fastest qualify to tomorrow’s semifinals

Start list

Notables by heat…

Heat 1: Amaechi Morton (NGR)

Heat 2: Michael Tinsley (USA)

Heat 3: Dai Greene (GBR), Cornel Fredericks (RSA)

Heat 4: Javier Culson (PUR), Kerron Clement (USA), Rhys Williams (GBR)

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