Summer Olympics 2016: Things to Watch for on Day 15 in Rio
Put your most comfortable TV-watching chair in perfect position for Olympic viewing because the penultimate day of the 2016 Olympics is a Saturday, filled with intriguing events with gold medals on the line.
The final two 2016 Olympic track and field events to be held at Olympic Stadium are the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays, and the Americans will be favored to win both.
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But the Americans also have opportunities to collect gold medals in a number of other high-profile sports on Day 15, including men's boxing, women's basketball, women's triathlon, men's diving and women's high jump.
There are so many quality events packed into Saturday's schedule that the final round of women's golf, the men's 1,500-meter final, the men's soccer gold-medal game and the women's volleyball bronze-medal match involving the United States rate only this brief mention.
Felix's Chance for Another Gold in Women's 4x400
After a disappointing silver medal in the 400-meter finals and an uplifting gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay, Allyson Felix will go for her second gold medal of these Olympics and sixth gold medal of her career in the women's 4x400-meter relay.
Another close second-place finish for Felix, like the one to Shaunae Miller in the captivating 400-meter final, would be a crushing climax for the most decorated American female track and field athlete in history.
The United States has dominated the women's 4x400-meter relay, winning it in each of the past five Olympics and never finishing worse than second (excluding the 1980 Games, which the United States boycotted).
Americans Phyllis Francis and Natasha Hastings finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400-meter finals, which makes the U.S. the team to beat. But once again the chief competition will come from the Jamaicans, who feature 400-meter bronze medalist Shericka Jackson and sixth-place finisher Stephenie Ann McPherson.
U.S. Seeks Redemption in Men's 4x400
The Americans have won the men's 4x400-meter relay in 16 of the 22 Olympics in which they competed. But they did not win in 2012, when the Bahamas was the surprising gold medalist, relegating the Americans to silver for the first time since 1972, per the Associated Press.
The U.S. will be favored again this time, as bronze medalist LaShawn Merritt will lead a team that includes Olympic 400-meter semifinalists Gil Roberts and David Verburg, both of whom barely missed making the finals.
Jamaica, Great Britain and Trinidad and Tobago are the chief competition.
Generation Gap in Women's High Jump
The veteran and the youngster carry America's hopes in Saturday's women's high jump finals.
Chaunte Lowe, a 32-year-old mother of three, is competing in her fourth Olympics but is looking for her first medal. She has a chance to capture gold in this Olympics after recording the best high-jump clearance in the world in 2016, according to the IAAF.com.
Lowe was just 20 when she competed her first Olympics in 2004, but that is still two years older than current teammate Vashti Cunningham, who finished second to Lowe at the Olympic trials.
The 18-year-old Cunningham is the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and also has a chance to medal based on her victory in this year's world indoor championships. Cunningham represents the future of American high jumping.
America's 12-Year Boxing Wait May Be Over
Teenager Shakur Stevenson is this year's last hope to end America's gold-medal drought in men's Olympic boxing.
Andre Ward's light heavyweight title in the 2004 Olympics represents the last time an American male won boxing gold, and the American men did not win a single medal in 2012.
The U.S. will win two men's boxing medals in these Olympics, as Nico Hernandez captured a bronze medal in the light flyweight division and Stevenson is assured of no worse than a silver medal in the bantamweight class.
However, to gain the kind of glory earned by past American Olympic gold medalists such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the 19-year-old Stevenson must defeat 2012 gold-medalist Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba in Saturday's bantamweight title bout.
Stevenson is undefeated in international competition, and he should be fresh for Saturday's gold-medal bout because his scheduled semifinal opponent, Vladimir Nikitin of Russia, was forced to forfeit because of injuries suffered in his previous bout, according to NBCSports.com.
Women's Basketball Dynasty Marches On
The health of starting point guard Sue Bird is the only concern for the United States women's basketball team heading into Saturday's gold-medal game against Spain. And it's not a big concern.
While the American men's basketball team has shown vulnerability, the American women's team has not. The Americans have won 48 straight international games since settling for bronze in 1992 and are expected to win their sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal. None of the U.S. women's games in these Olympics has been closer than 19 points, and they beat Spain by 40 points during group play last week.
However, the Americans might be without a key player Saturday. Bird missed the semifinal game against France because of a sprained knee, and her absence was noticeable. The U.S. led France by only four points at halftime, and the 86-57 final score represented the Americans' closest game of the Olympics.
"We are a much better team when she is on the floor," U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said, according to Reuters.
It is uncertain whether Bird will play against Spain, per Reuters. Even if she does not play, it would be a major upset if the Americans lost the gold-medal game. In fact, it would be a surprise if the final margin is fewer than 15 points.
Boudia's Challenge to Repeat Diving Gold
David Boudia of the United States interrupted China's dominance of Olympic diving events by taking the gold medal in men's platform diving in 2012.
But can he do it again?
China has picked up gold medals in six of the seven diving events that have concluded in these Olympics and is favored in the platform diving as well.
Boudia captured a silver medal in the synchronized 10-meter platform diving, but to capture individual gold he will have to repeat his surprising victory over Qiu Bo of China, who was the silver medalist four years ago in London. Qiu won three straight platform titles at the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships, making him the favorite again in Rio.
CPA Holds America's Triathlon Hopes
America's failures in Olympic triathlons are expected to end this year.
The men's and women's triathlons have been Olympic events since 2000, and the United States has not won a gold medal in any of the previous eight opportunities. In fact, only one American has won a medal, that being Susan Williams, who took home bronze in Athens in 2004.
This time, however, the United States has the favorite in the women's triathlon, which will be run Saturday.
Gwen Jorgensen, a 30-year-old Certified Public Accountant now living in St. Paul, Minn., finished 38th in the 2012 Olympics, primarily because of an injury, not to her but to her bike, which suffered a flat tire. Since then she has been the dominant female triathlete, winning the world championship in both 2014 and 2015.
Once a full-time accountant at Ernst & Young, per NBCSports.com, Jorgensen is projected by both SI.com and Deadspin to capture a gold medal in Rio.
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