Skip to footer

Rio Olympics TV schedule: What to watch Monday

Highlights of Day 3 include the men's gymnastics team final, a history-making fencing performance by Ibtihaj Muhammad, and the first-ever Olympic gold medal for women's rugby sevens. 

|
David Goldman/AP
A rowing team from Italy carries their boat to a dock for a practice session at the rowing venue at Lagoa at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Monday.

Going into Day 3 of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Americans have earned the most medals – 12 in total – with China and Italy trailing behind with eight and seven respectively. That could change Monday, as some of the world's top swimmers, gymnasts, and fencers compete for the gold and the first-ever Olympic gold medal winner of women's rugby sevens is determined. 

Here are some of Monday's most high-profile events, available to watch on NBC-TV or online through live streaming. All events are in Eastern time. 

Gymnastics: The men's team final – expected to be a close competition – begins at 3 p.m. China scored the most points in the qualifier on Saturday, followed by the United States. Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Brazil, Ukraine, and Germany will also compete. Standouts to watch include Russia's David Belyavskiy, Briton Max Whitlock, American Sam Mikulak, and Japan's Kohei Uchimura, the reigning Olympic individual champion, considered by many to be the greatest gymnast of all time.

Swimming: Some of the biggest names in swimming will hit the pool to compete for medals in the 200m freestyle (men), 100m backstroke (men and women) and 100m breaststroke (women) finals, all of which begin at 9 p.m. At noon, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, will make his individual 2016 Olympic debut in the 200m butterfly preliminary heats. Katie Ledecky, the American who has set 11 world records and took home the gold at age 15 in 2012, will go up against Swedish world champion Sarah Sjöström, fellow American Missy Franklin, and Italy's Federica Pellegrini in the 200m freestyle semifinals. 

Fencing: Regardless of performance, Team USA is set to make history as Ibtihaj Muhammad becomes the first American to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. Ms. Muhammad, ranked eighth, is part of a strong team of Americans this year that also includes No. 3 ranked Mariel Zagunis, who took home the gold in 2004 and 2008. Italy, which won the most fencing medals in 2012, is expected to give another strong performance in 2016. Women's individual saber kicked off at 8 a.m., with the semifinals at 3 p.m. and the gold medal bout at 4:45. 

Rugby sevens: The new world champion of women's rugby sevens will be decided on Monday, as teams square off in the semifinals and finals. At 11:30 a.m., current world champion Australia will face Canada and New Zealand will take on Great Britain; then, at 4:30 p.m., the winners will compete for the first-ever women's rugby sevens Olympic gold medal. New Zealand defeated the Americans 5-0 on Saturday in the quarterfinals. 

Basketball: The Americans are favored to win both the men's and women's titles this year, an outcome that would award the women's team with their sixth straight gold. The women have a 42-game Olympic winning streak after beating Senegal 121-56 on Sunday, breaking their own record for the most points scored in an Olympic game. The women's team will go up against Spain at 11 a.m., while the men play Venezuela at 6 p.m.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Rio Olympics TV schedule: What to watch Monday
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2016/0808/Rio-Olympics-TV-schedule-What-to-watch-Monday
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe