Skip to footer

Rio Olympics schedule: What to watch Thursday

On Day 6, gymnasts and swimmers will take on new challenges. 

|
Patrick Semansky/ AP
Gold medalist Kristin Armstrong of the United States, center, silver medalist Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia, left, and bronze medalist Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands, right, pose during the podium ceremony of the women's individual time trial event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Pontal beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Day 5 of the Olympics was a big day for team USA’s individual competitors, from the cycling course to the green-tinged pool. 

American cyclist Kristin Armstrong won her third consecutive gold medal in the road cycling individual time trial, competing against rainy conditions, a nosebleed, and tough challengers to defend the title she also won in London and Beijing. 

Off-road, the US swim team continued to rake in gold on Wednesday. Katie Ledecky anchored the 4x200 freestyle relay, coming in first over the Australian and Canadian teams and winning her third gold this Olympics. On the men's side, Michael Phelps celebrated as he won his 21st Olympic gold medal.

On the piste, fencing champion Daryl Homer became the first American to win a silver medal in men’s individual sabre in 112 years. Aron Szilagyi, a Hungarian who took home the gold in London 2012, retained his title.

"We're trying to raise the visibility of the sport," Mr. Homer told the Associated Press. "We are very competitive with each other, and it's great. I love that."

Back at the pool, Great Britain won its first ever gold medal in diving thanks to Jack Laugher and Chris Mears' performance on the 3m synchronized springboard.

And the green diving pool? Rio officials said the green was caused "by a proliferation of algae."

After the excitement of the women's gymnastic teams' all-around finals on Tuesday – where the self-dubbed "Final Five" United States team took home gold – fans returned for men's events. Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura, who was heavily favored after winning every all-around title at the world championships since 2009 and the London Olympics, won gold men's individual all-around on Wednesday, only increasing his reputation as the best male gymnast ever.

As the games enter Day 6, USA is favored to win several swimming and gymnastics events. 

Swimming: Wednesday’s champions Mr. Phelps (men’s 100m fly) and Ms. Ledecky (women’s 800m free) return to the pool, as does Missy Franklin (women’s 200m back). Ledecky and Ms. Franklin both won these events back in the 2012 games, while Phelps is going for his fourth gold in the 100m fly.

Gymnastics: Following the US women's gymnastics team's all-around team medal, first-time Olympian Simone Biles, who has been called the best gymnast in the history of the sport, is favored to win gold in the individual all-around competition. If she claims this medal, that would make her the fourth consecutive American to win this award.

Want to see more athletes take home the gold?

Schedule of all gold medal-worthy events Thursday:

11:00 a.m. Shooting - Women's 50m rifle 3-positions, final

11:30 a.m. Kayak - Men's and women's kayak slalom, final

2:00 p.m. Archery -  Women's individual archery quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches

2:30 p.m. Judo - Women's 78kg and men's 100kg weight classes, bronze and gold medal matches

3:00 p.m.Gymnastics - Women’s individual all-around champion

3:00 p.m.Cycling - Men's team sprint qualifying, first round and finals

4:00 p.m. Fencing - Women’s epee team gold and bronze medal bouts

4:30 p.m. Rugby - Men’s medal matches

7:30 p.m. Table Tennis - Men’s singles gold and bronze matches

9:00 p.m. Swimming - Women's 200m breaststroke, men's 200m backstroke, men's 200m IM and women's 100m freestyle

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 schedule: What to watch Thursday
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2016/0811/Rio-Olympics-schedule-What-to-watch-Thursday
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe