Summer Olympics 2016: Predictions for Day 14 Medal Events

We're really getting near the end of the Games now. Friday is the last day of competition in BMX, equestrian events, women's soccer, field hockey, synchronized swimming and women's water polo.

At least one U.S. medal is assured—the women's water polo team goes for gold in the afternoon. U.S. women are also likely to medal in the pole vault. Another medal is quite likely in wrestling, with Jordan Burroughs on the mat. Other medal prospects are in equestrian jumping, BMX and taekwondo, where Steven Lopez will try to turn back time.

On the track, the U.S. relayers will try to keep the baton in their hands in one of the more dramatic events of the Games.

Badminton

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Carolina Marin is in another global final.

Women’s Singles

Bronze-medal match, 8:15 a.m. ET
Gold-medal match, 9:25 a.m. ET

This sport has been a shocker for China in these Games, with no finalist in mixed doubles, women’s doubles or women’s singles. World champion Carolina Marin (Spain) beat defending champion Li Xuerui (China) in the semifinals.

Gold: Carolina Marin, Spain

Silver: V. Sindhu Pusarla, India

Bronze: Li Xuerui, China

Men’s Doubles

Gold-medal match, 10:15 a.m. ET

Order will be restored in men’s doubles, with China facing Malaysia. Fu Haifeng won gold in 2012 with Cai Yun; he’s back for another shot with Zhang Nan. Great Britain’s Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge beat the second Chinese team in the bronze-medal match Thursday.

But here’s a viewing tip: The match to watch Friday is the other China-Malaysia showdown, with two-time defending champion Lin Dan (China) facing two-time silver medalist Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) in the men’s semis at 8:20 a.m. That might be the last match between the perennial rivals.

Gold: Fu/Zhang, China

Silver: Goh V Shem/Tan Wee, Malaysia

Bronze: Ellis/Langridge, Great Britain

Synchronized Swimming

FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/Getty Images

Russia's synchronized swimmers do things upside-down that most of us can't do the other way.

Team

Free routine, 11 a.m. ET

Technical routine, 2015 World Championships: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine.

Free routine, 2015 World Championships: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine.

Free routine combination, 2015 World Championships: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine.

Standings after the technical routine in Rio: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine.

Gold: Russia

Silver: China

Bronze: Ukraine

Equestrian

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Kent Farrington looks determined. So does Voyeur, his horse.

Individual Jumping

Round A, 9 a.m. ET
Round B (final), 12:30 p.m. ET

Canada’s Eric Lamaze, the 2008 Olympic champion, has been flawless through three qualification rounds. Tied for second behind him: the USA’s Kent Farrington, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson and the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten. Germany’s Daniel Deusser, a consistent contender in major events, is lurking.

France, the USA and Germany took the team medals.

Gold: Eric Lamaze, Canada

Silver: Daniel Deusser, Germany

Bronze: Kent Farrington, United States

BMX Cycling

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No, these aren't the X Games.

Women’s BMX

Semifinals start at 12:30 p.m. ET
Final, 2 p.m. ET

Americans Alise Post and Brooke Crain, each with a shot here, are in separate semifinals.

Colombia’s Mariana Pajon, the defending Olympic and world champion, posted the fastest time in the seeding run. She was followed by Australia’s Caroline Buchanan and the Netherlands’ Laura Smulders, the defending bronze medalist. Buchanan won the 2013 world title and was second in 2015 and 2016.

Crain was seventh in the seeding run; Post eighth.

Gold: Mariana Pajon, Colombia

Silver: Caroline Buchanan, Australia

Bronze: Laura Smulders, Netherlands

Men’s BMX

Semifinals start at 12:38 p.m. ET
Final, 2:10 p.m. ET

World champion Joris Daudet (France) had the fastest seeding run but fell and couldn’t continue in the quarterfinals. Next up in seeding was Switzerland’s David Graf, who needed to produce a good third run in the quarterfinals and did so.

The best rider so far has been Australia’s Sam Willoughby, the silver medalist in 2012 and world champion in 2014. He was third in the seeding run and won all three of his quarterfinal heats. (He’s also engaged to Alise Post.)

The USA has three of the final 16. Connor Fields and Corben Sharrah were fourth and fifth in the seeding run and second and third in their quarterfinal behind Australia’s Anthony Dean. Fellow American Nic Long, third in the world championships, won his last quarterfinal heat to advance.

Defending Olympic champion Maris Strombergs (Latvia) is out. Dutchman Niek Kimmann, the 2015 world champion and runner-up this year, barely advanced through the quarterfinals.

Gold: Sam Willoughby, Australia

Silver: Niek Kimmann, Netherlands

Bronze: Connor Fields, United States

Water Polo

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Maddie Musselman is one of the USA's many scoring threats.

Women’s Team

Bronze-medal match, 10:20 a.m. ET
Gold-medal match, 2:30 p.m. ET

The U.S. team has rolled through this tournament. In the group stage, it won 11-4, 12-4 and 11-6. Then the U.S. beat Brazil 13-3 in the quarterfinals before finally getting a challenge from Hungary and taking a 14-10 decision.

Italy won the other group and cruised past China 12-7 before taking a 12-9 semifinal win over Russia, which rebounded nicely after opening the tournament with a 14-4 loss to Australia.

Gold: United States

Silver: Italy

Bronze: Hungary

Boxing

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This should not be interpreted as Estelle Mossely's comment on her opponent's body art.

Women’s Lightweight

3 p.m. ET

This final is the last of nine straight bouts with medal implications, starting at 1 p.m. ET. Every weight class is in the semifinals, so losers will take bronze and winners will fight on.

That includes Claressa Shields, whose name you’d think the Rio site would spell correctly. (They say one “s”, but her Twitter feed disagrees.) The American is the defending world and Olympic champion, and she fights in the middleweight semifinals at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The women’s lightweight class was turned upside-down when defending champion Katie Taylor (Ireland) was upset in the quarterfinals by Finland’s Mira Potkonen, who lost in turn to China’s Yin Junhua. Yin faces world champion Estelle Mossely (France) in the final.

Gold: Estelle Mossely, France

Silver: Yin Junhua, China

Bronze: Mira Potkonen, Finland

Bronze: Anastasiia Beliakova, Russia

Wrestling

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Gold. Gold. All Jordan Burroughs sees. Gold.

Men’s 57-Kilogram Freestyle

Qualifications start at 9 a.m. ET
Repechages start at 3 p.m. ET
Gold-medal bout at 4:30 p.m. ET

World champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia) took silver in 2012 in the 55kg class before wrestling reconfigured its weight classes. Iran’s Hassan Sabzali Rahimi has been one place behind his Georgian foe in the last two World Championships, taking third in 2014 and second in 2015.

Gold: Vladimer Khinchegashvili, Georgia

Silver: Hassan Sabzali Rahimi, Iran

Bronze: Viktor Lebedev, Russia

Bronze: Vladimir Dubov, Bulgaria

Men’s 74-Kilogram Freestyle

Qualifications start at 9 a.m. ET
Repechages start at 3 p.m. ET
Gold-medal bout at 5:30 p.m. ET

His Twitter handle is “alliseeisgold.” And the USA’s Jordan Burroughs has indeed seen a lot of gold in his international career: 2011 world champion, 2012 Olympic gold medalist, 2013 world champion, 2014 third-place finisher (his lone loss in a major international), 2015 world champion.

He may face a tough quarterfinal bout against Russia’s Aniuar Geduev, who took third place last year after giving Burroughs a tough time in the semifinals, losing 4-3. Burroughs went on to beat Unurbat Purevjav (Mongolia) 10-0 in the final.

Gold: Jordan Burroughs, United States

Silver: Sohsuke Takatani, Japan

Bronze: Aniuar Geduev, Russia

Bronze: Unurbat Purevjav, Mongolia

Field Hockey

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Great Britain has been very difficult to stop in Rio.

Women’s bronze-medal match, 11 a.m. ET
Women’s gold-medal match, 4 p.m. ET

The USA made such a good run through group play, upsetting Argentina and Australia and routing Japan and India. But a loss to Great Britain put the U.S. in a tough quarterfinal against Germany, which it lost.

The British team continued to cruise to the final, with convincing wins over Spain and New Zealand. The Netherlands, which won its group ahead of New Zealand and Germany, beat Germany on penalty shots to reach the final.

Gold: Great Britain

Silver: Netherlands

Bronze: Germany

Soccer

GUSTAVO ANDRADE/Getty Images

Sara Dabritz scored the goal that all but sealed Canada's fate in the semifinals.

Women’s bronze-medal match, noon ET
Women’s gold-medal match, 4:30 p.m. ET

Sweden managed to sit back and counter its way to ties and penalty-kick wins against the USA and Brazil. Can it do the same to Germany? Probably not.

Canada, combining the best of an older generation with a lot of good young talents, had a great run through the quarterfinals but looked flat against Germany in the semifinals. Now the Canadians have to regroup against Brazil, and the hosts will have a bit of fan support behind them.

Gold: Germany

Silver: Sweden

Bronze: Brazil

Modern Pentathlon

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

This would be Margaux Isaksen. We know because she was wearing No. 30.

Women’s Competition

Swimming, 11 a.m. ET
Fencing bonus round, 1 p.m. ET
Equestrian jumping, 2:30 p.m. ET
Running/shooting, 5 p.m. ET

This event gets slightly more “modern” with each new Olympics. In 2012, viewers got their first look at the biathlon-style combination of running and shooting, which had previously been run separately. This time, the bulk of the fencing competition was contested a day earlier.

On Thursday, each athlete fenced against every other athlete, and points were awarded. On Friday, they’ll fence ladder-style: No. 36 faces No. 35, the winner faces No. 34 and so on. Each win is another point, as NBC explains.

First-time Olympian Isabella Isaksen was 20-15 in the first day of fencing, placing her eighth on the ladder. Her older sister, three-time Olympian Margaux Isaksen, was fourth overall in London and stands 14th now.

Poland’s Oktawia Nowacka won 27 bouts, handily taking first place so far. Germany’s Lena Schoneborn, the 2015 world champion, is second. Defending champion Laura Asadauskaite (Lithuania) is 11th. World champion Sarolta Kovacs (Hungary) is 18th but still ahead of the other two medalists from London, Great Britain’s Samantha Murray and Brazil’s Yane Marques.

Gold: Lena Schoneborn, Germany

Silver: Laura Asadauskaite, Lithuania

Bronze: Chen Qian, China

Taekwondo

GEOFF ROBINS/Getty Images

Steven Lopez is much more flexible than the typical guy pushing 40.

Women’s 67-Kilogram

Round of 16, 8 a.m. ET
Quarterfinals/semifinals, 2 p.m. ET
Repechage, 7 p.m. ET
Bronze-medal bouts, 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET
Gold-medal bout, 9 p.m. ET

The USA’s Paige McPherson, a bronze medalist in 2012, has one of the later bouts of the morning, opening against Azerbaijan’s Farida Azizova at 10:30 a.m. ET. Silver medalist Nur Tatar (Turkey) also is in the draw.

Sweden’s Elin Johansson won two consecutive Grand Prix titles in 2013 and 2014 before ceding that crown to France’s Haby Niare. They’re ranked second and first, with Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Chia Chuang third and Tatar fourth.

Gold: Haby Niare, France

Silver: Elin Johansson, Sweden

Bronze: Nur Tatar, Turkey

Bronze: Paige McPherson, United States

Men’s 80-Kilogram

Round of 16, 8:15 a.m. ET
Quarterfinals/semifinals, 2:15 p.m. ET
Repechage, 7:15 p.m. ET
Bronze-medal bouts, 8:15 and 8:45 p.m. ET
Gold-medal bout, 9:15 p.m. ET

Steven Lopez, the most accomplished member of the USA’s First Family of taekwondo, opens his fifth Olympic campaign against Russia’s Albert Gaun at 8:15 a.m. He won gold in 2000 and 2004, then bronze in 2008. He’s not a young man anymore at 37, but he made the quarterfinals at last year’s World Championships.

Gaun is ranked fourth in the world behind Iranian world champion Mahdi Khodabakhshi, Moldova’s Aaron Cook (formerly of Great Britain) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Cheick Sallah Cisse. If Lopez beats Gaun, he would likely face 2013 and 2015 Grand Prix champion Lutalo Muhammad (Great Britain), who also took bronze in 2012.

Gold: Mahdi Khodabakhski, Iran

Silver: Aaron Cook, Moldova

Bronze: Lutalo Muhammad, Great Britain

Bronze: Cheick Sallah Cisse, Cote d’Ivoire

Track and Field

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Yeah. Sandi Morris cleared that one.

No morning session in the stadium, though we will have two races in one of the odder Olympic competitions outside in the day time.

Men’s 50-Kilometer Race Walk

7 a.m. ET

This will take a while. The fastest time in the world this year belongs to French walker Yohann Diniz, at three hours, 37 minutes, 48 seconds. Four Chinese walkers broke 3:44:00 in a race in March, led by Wang Zhendong in 3:41:02. Last year, Slovakia’s Matej Toth had the year’s fastest time (3:34:38) and won the world title in separate races.

Australia’s Jared Tallent has already received an Olympic gold medal in this event this year. It was a belated award from 2012, when Russia’s Sergey Kirdyapkin finished first but ran afoul of anti-doping authorities.

Gold: Matej Toth, Slovakia

Silver: Jared Tallent, Australia

Bronze: Wang Zhendong, China

Women’s 20-Kilometer Race Walk

1:30 p.m. ET

It seems cruel to hold a distance race like this in the midday heat.

China and Russia dominated this event last year, but we won’t see Russia this time. China’s Liu Hong, the 2012 bronze medalist, posted a time of 1:24:38 in June 2015. She also has the fastest time this year (1:25.56). Second is Mexico’s Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez.

Gold: Liu Hong, China

Silver: Lu Xiuzhi, China

Bronze: Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, Mexico

Women’s Pole Vault

7:30 p.m. ET

“What can I say to whoever will be the champion? They will be second by default,” Russian pole vaulting legend Yelena Isinbayeva said, per Russia Today. Like dozens of Russian track and field athletes, Isinbayeva has been banned from competition in Rio.

But American Sandi Morris has vaulted higher than Isinbayeva this year, anyway. She has cleared 4.93 meters. Fellow American Jenn Suhr beat Isinbayeva to win gold in 2012. Cuba’s Yarisley Silva took silver in 2012 and the world championship last year.

The shocker from qualifying: Brazilian veteran Fabiana Murer, who had been in fine form, did not clear any height. She’s out.

Gold: Sandi Morris, United States

Silver: Yarisley Silva, Cuba

Bronze: Jenn Suhr, United States

Men’s Hammer Throw

8:05 p.m. ET

Poland’s Pawel Fajdek, winner of the last two world championships, has the best 10 throws of the year, all over 80 meters. In qualifying, he could only throw 72 meters. He’s out.

But Polish hopes are still alive. Wojciech Nowicki had the top throw in qualifying. He and Ivan Tsikhan (Belarus) were the only throwers to beat the automatic qualifying line, though Tajikistan’s Dilshod Nazarov and defending champion Krisztian Pars (Hungary) were close.

Gold: Ivan Tsikhan, Belarus

Silver: Dilshod Nazarov, Tajikistan

Bronze: Wojciech Nowicki, Poland

Women’s 5,000 Meters

8:40 p.m. ET

The heats for this race drew plenty of publicity when New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin and the USA’s Abbey D’Agostino fell. They encouraged each other to finish and embraced at the finish line. Organizers gave them a berth in the final, but D’Agostino suffered a torn ACL, among other knee injuries, so she will not compete.

As in most distance races, the runners from Kenya and Ethiopia are such solid favorites that if they can make the team, they’re contenders. Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana already won the 10,000 meters, and she has the two fastest times at this distance this year. Defending gold medalist Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) is not here; silver medalist Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) is.

Gold: Almaz Ayana, Ethiopia

Silver: Mercy Cherono, Kenya

Bronze: Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenya

Women’s 4x100-Meter Relay

9:15 p.m.

You're out! No, wait, you're back in, if you can come back and run by yourself and post a faster time than at least one of the teams that qualified.

That was the U.S. women's day in the relay semifinal. Allyson Felix was bumped by a Brazilian runner and couldn’t make a clean exchange. Brazil was disqualified, and the USA made the most of a second chance. (The team's lead runner, by the way, was new Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta.)

Now comes the bad news: Jamaica has won the last two world championships, with the USA second; Jamaican sprinters haven’t looked the least bit slow in Rio so far; the USA has to get the baton around the track again.

Gold: Jamaica

Silver: United States

Bronze: Great Britain

Men’s 4x100-Meter Relay

9:35 p.m.

Again, get the baton around the track. The USA tends not to do that, but the Americans managed it in the semifinals Thursday.

If they hand off cleanly again in the final, they’ll still face a tough challenge from Jamaica. Look back at the 100-meter race, and it bodes poorly for the USA. Usain Bolt beat Justin Gatlin for gold, Yohan Blake was well ahead of Trayvon Bromell in the final, and Nickel Ashmeade bested Marvin Bracy in the semifinals.

China set the Asian record in the first semifinal, but Japan broke it in the second, actually beating Jamaica across the line. But Jamaica ran the semifinal without Bolt, and Canada ran well without Andre De Grasse.

Gold: Jamaica

Silver: United States

Bronze: Canada