Summer Olympics 2016: Predictions and Results for Medal Events on Day 15
If you thought the first 14 days of the Olympics were jam-packed, buckle up and settle in with your thumb on the remote control for the 30 gold medals that will be awarded across 17 different sports on Day 15.
Almost every single Olympic sport will be on display. We'll have boxing, wrestling, taekwondo, basketball, soccer, handball, golf, badminton and plenty more. Even fencing, shooting, swimming and horseback riding will make cameo appearances in the modern pentathlon.
We have predictions for all of the action. Even the bronze-medal matches are covered in advance of the final major day of Olympic competition.
Athletics (Part 1)
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Women's High Jump (7:30 p.m. ET)
It's tough to take much from what transpired in Thursday's qualifying rounds, as six women made it to 1.94 meters in the high jump without missing any. Of the bunch, Spain's Ruth Beitia and Croatia's Blanka Vlasic entered as the biggest threats to medal.
Don't sleep on USA's potentially winning two medals in this event, though. Chaunte Lowe and Inika McPherson both made it through without any faults, and 19-year-old Vashti Cunningham has plenty of hops to get into the mix.
Gold: Blanka Vlasic, Croatia
Silver: Ruth Beitia, Spain
Bronze: Chaunte Lowe, United States
Men's Javelin Throw (7:55 p.m. ET)
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott destroyed the competition in Wednesday's qualifying round, launching his first and only throw 88.68 meters. No one else even threw 86 meters, and to put that number in better context, he won gold in 2012 by throwing 84.58 meters.
Julius Yego also qualified for the finals and poses the biggest threat to Walcott, as he placed fourth at the 2013 World Championships before winning gold in 2015.
Gold: Keshorn Walcott, Trinidad and Tobago
Silver: Julius Yego, Kenya
Bronze: Johannes Vetter, Germany
Men's 1,500-meter run (8 p.m. ET)
If you're hoping to see history on the track Saturday night, this might be your best bet.
Djibouti has only ever won one medal in the Olympics—a bronze by Ahmed Salah in the 1988 men's marathon. Ayanleh Souleiman is hoping to add to that list with a gold in the men's 1,500-meter run.
He'll have stiff competition from other members of his continent, as Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi and Asbel Kiprop won the two semifinals, while Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi is the reigning Olympic gold medalist and ran the second-fastest time in the first semifinal.
But Souleiman finished 0.04 seconds behind Kwemoi in his semifinal after trailing Kiprop by just 0.28 seconds in Tuesday's qualifying heat. He has a chance to win this one.
Gold: Asbel Kiprop, Kenya
Silver: Ronald Kwemoi, Kenya
Bronze: Ayanleh Souleiman, Djibouti
Women's 800-meter run (8:15 p.m. ET)
In Thursday's semifinal, Margaret Wambui and Caster Semenya both ran away from their competition, sitting back with the pack for the first 650-700 meters before throwing it into overdrive for the home stretch. Like Usain Bolt in the shorter men's sprints, both Wambui and Semenya made it look effortless, as though they had more in the tank that they didn't need to use.
Though she was the slowest semifinal qualifier, keep an eye on Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi. She placed sixth in this event four years ago and could at least rise up for a bronze.
Gold: Caster Semenya, South Africa
Silver: Margaret Wambui, Kenya
Bronze: Melissa Bishop, Canada
Athletics (Part 2)
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Men's 5000-meter run (8:30 p.m. ET)
While the world obsesses over Usain Bolt's gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter runs for the third consecutive time, Great Britain's Mo Farah is looking to double dip in the men's 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs for the second straight Olympics.
Farah even got tangled up and fell during the 10,000-meter run a week ago, but he still won gold. Chances are he'll win this one as well. He didn't have one of the fastest qualifying times, but he knows what it takes to win this event.
Gold: Mo Farah, Great Britain
Silver: Muktar Edris, Ethiopia
Bronze: Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopia
Women's 4x400-meter relay (9 p.m. ET)
With the exception of 1980 when USA did not compete, it has won either gold or silver in this event every year since it was added to the Olympics in 1972, including taking gold in each of its last five tries.
Better yet, Russia had been the top challenger to USA in the previous 12 years, but its entire track and field team was banned from the Olympics, so there shouldn't be anyone coming close to USA in this one.
If there is a contender, it's going to be Jamaica. Jamaica took silver in 2000 before three consecutive bronze medals and was the only country to come within three seconds of USA in Friday's heats.
Gold: United States
Silver: Jamaica
Bronze: Ukraine
Men's 4x400-meter relay (9:35 p.m. ET)
As on the women's side, this is usually USA's event. The Americans took silver in 2012 but won gold in 2008, 2004, 1996, 1992, 1988 and 1984.
One country that isn't often in the mix in the men's 4x400-meter relay is Jamaica, which has been shut out of this event in three straight Olympics. But the Jamaicans looked strong Friday night, posting the fastest qualifying time by overtaking USA in the final few meters.
If Jamaica does win, it would only add to an already ridiculous haul of gold medals on the track this week.
Gold: United States
Silver: Jamaica
Bronze: Bahamas
Badminton
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Men's Bronze-Medal Match (7:30 a.m. ET)
Lin Dan, China vs. Viktor Axelsen, Denmark
The only player from a pool with four participants, Lin Dan dominated Group E, winning his six sets by a combined margin of 126-60. But he ran into some trouble in his 2-1 quarterfinal win over Srikanth Kidambi before a tough semifinal loss to Lee Chong Wei in which the third and final set went into a bit of overtime with Lee winning 22-20.
Viktor Axelsen made it into the semifinals before dropping a set, but he wasn't dominating quite like Lin, allowing at least 11 points in each set in the tournament before his 2-0 loss to Chen Long.
It should be a good match, but as the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist, Lin entered as one of the favorites to medal and has played like it for the entire week.
Men's Gold-Medal Match (8:20 a.m. ET)
Chen Long, China vs. Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia
Lee Chong Wei became the No. 1 seed for the round of 16 with some absolutely ridiculous wins in group play. Lee won his opener against Soren Opti, 21-2, 21-3, and won one of his two sets in the next match by a 21-8 margin. Even in the quarterfinals, he had little trouble with Chou Tien-Chen, winning 21-9, 21-15 before squeaking by Lin Dan.
Chen Long has faced slightly stiffer competition, but he has held his opponent to 15 points or fewer in eight of his nine sets in this tournament.
Chen and Lee are the furthest thing from strangers. They met in the semifinals of the 2012 Olympics with Lee winning 21-13, 21-14. But they also met in the finals of each of the past two BWF World Championships with Chen winning 21-19, 21-19 and 21-14, 21-17, respectively.
Gold: Chen Long, China
Silver: Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia
Bronze: Lin Dan, China
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Basketball
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Women's Bronze-Medal Game (10:30 a.m. ET)
France vs. Serbia
The only two countries to lose to USA by a margin of fewer than 30 points will wage war for the bronze medal.
Thus far, France has been the better team and should be the favorite.
Serbia lost its first three games before stringing together three consecutive wins by single-digit margins to reach the semifinals, where it lost to Spain for a second time. The French have been more consistent, scoring between 67-74 points in each of their last six games while Serbia's point totals have been all over the map.
Sandrine Gruda has been France's rock in the paint over the past several games, including recording a double-double in the quarterfinal win over Canada. She may be too much for Serbia to handle, which has been out-rebounded by a considerable margin in six of its seven games.
Women's Gold-Medal Game (2:30 p.m. ET)
United States vs. Spain
With all due respect to Spain, you're only fooling yourself if think USA is losing this game. USA is to women's basketball what Russia was to Olympic hockey in the 1960s and 1970s but without the caveat that anyone can be beaten in hockey when a goalie stands on his head for three periods.
USA has been so much more dominant than everyone else that Spain would need to play a perfect game, hope that USA has a poor performance and still pray for a minor miracle.
Against all other countries, Spain is undefeated in these Olympics. Against USA, Spain lost 103-63 after trailing by 15 in the opening quarter.
Maybe USA doesn't win this one by 40 points, but there will be at least one stretch where you blink and USA has suddenly scored 10 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. It's just what they do.
Gold: United States
Silver: Spain
Bronze: France
Boxing
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Women’s Fly Gold Bout (1 p.m. ET)
Nicola Adams, Great Britain vs. Sarah Ourahmoune, France
As the reigning Olympic gold medalist as well as the gold medalist from the 2016 World Championships, Nicola Adams entered this 12-boxer field as the clear favorite to win gold. And in her two matches to reach the final, she has not disappointed, winning each by a score of 3-0 and only losing one of her eight rounds in the eyes of the judges.
But Sarah Ourahmoune is on quite the run, too, building on her bronze medal in 2016 with three consecutive shutout wins in Rio. She hasn't faced anyone of Adams' caliber, though, as even the projected silver medalist (China's Ren Cancan) ended up on Adams' side of the bracket. This will likely be the end of the French woman's road.
Gold: Nicola Adams, Great Britain
Silver: Sarah Ourahmoune, France
Men’s Bantam Gold Bout (1:15 p.m. ET)
Shakur Stevenson, USA vs. Robeisy Ramirez, Cuba
At this final stage in the tournament, fatigue could be a major factor, but it shouldn't be for Shakur Stevenson. The 19-year-old American was one of four bantamweight boxers given a bye into the round of 16 before also receiving a free pass through the semifinals when Russia's Vladimir Nikitin was ruled out due to injuries sustained in his previous three matches.
Robeisy Ramirez, on the other hand, has been in four fights that each went the full three rounds, including his second-round bout against Morocco's Mohamed Hamout that was won by split decision.
On equal amounts of rest, maybe this is a closer fight. But if it comes down to the third round, Stevenson should have more gas left in the tank to get the job done.
Gold: Shakur Stevenson, United States
Silver: Robeisy Ramirez, Cuba
Men’s Middle Gold Bout (2 p.m. ET)
Arlen Lopez, Cuba vs. Bektemir Melikuziev, Uzbekistan
These two met less than a year ago in the finals of the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships with Arlen Lopez eking out a 2-1 win over Bektemir Melikuziev. It was the only match of the tournament that Lopez failed to win by a 3-0 margin, while Melikuziev was barely getting through the previous rounds with four consecutive 2-1 wins.
The difference this time around is that Melikuziev is the one cruising. In his three matches, there was only one instance of a judge awarding a round to his opponent. Meanwhile, Lopez unanimously lost a round to France's Christian Mbilli in the quarterfinals, which could be enough of an opening for the 20-year-old Melikuziev to capitalize.
Gold: Bektemir Melikuziev, Uzbekistan
Silver: Arlen Lopez, Cuba
Canoe Sprint
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Men’s Kayak Single 200m (8:07 a.m. ET)
So little separates first from last in these canoe sprint races but especially this one. A total of 16 kayakers qualified for the semifinals after the opening heats, and the difference between having the fastest time and missing the semifinals altogether was 1.169 seconds.
Then, in the semifinals, Sweden's Petter Menning—who had medaled in this event in three consecutive World Championships—was eliminated while Serbia's Marko Novakovic missed out on the final by 0.003 seconds.
Brutal stuff. If these predictions end up being right, it's pure luck. The projected gold medalist may well finish in eighth place.
Gold: Maxime Beaumont, France
Silver: Liam Heath, Great Britain
Bronze: Ronald Rauhe, Germany
Men’s Canoe Double 1000m (8:22 a.m. ET)
Germany is tough to beat in this event. It has medaled in seven consecutive Olympics, including gold in 1992, 1996, 2004 and 2012. And based on the qualifying heat that Sebastian Brendel and Jan Vandrey paddled Friday morning, they should be in the medal mix for an eighth straight time.
But the team to beat might be Brazil, as Isaquias Queiroz has been the star of canoe sprint events thus far. Queiroz entered the game with a crazy back story—he was burned by scalding water as a toddler, kidnapped at the age of five and lost a kidney after falling from a tree when he was 10—and he's becoming quite the decorated Olympian with two medals already to his name this week.
Gold: Brazil
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Ukraine
Women’s Kayak 4 500m (8:47 a.m. ET)
This event has been a two-horse race for the past three decades: 1996 was the only year during that time in which Germany and Hungary failed to win gold and silver in some order. Germany has five gold and two silver in the last seven Olympics while Hungary has two gold and four silver.
Could Belarus break up the duopoly? It won Friday morning's first heat by nearly three seconds—which is a pretty ridiculous margin in a 90-second race. With another run like that, Belarus could win gold.
Gold: Germany
Silver: Hungary
Bronze: Belarus
Men’s Kayak 4 1000m (9:12 a.m. ET)
In Friday morning's heats, Czech Republic and Germany qualified directly to the finals, the former winning the second heat by slightly more than three seconds and the latter winning the first heat by a little less than that.
Which order they finish in is up in the air, but Germany and Czech Republic were head, shoulders, bow and stern ahead of the field.
Gold: Czech Republic
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Slovakia
Cycling Mountain Bike
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Women's Cross Country (11:30 a.m. ET)
As if the crashes and explosions on the road course earlier in the Olympics wasn't enough, the cross-country course in Rio was nearly destroyed by fire earlier this week. Officials have assessed the damage and determined that the race can take place as scheduled, but there certainly have been a lot of cycling snafus this month.
Provided nothing else goes wrong, Denmark's Annika Langvad and Switzerland's Jolanda Neff will be the favorites for gold in the women's mountain biking.
Neff was one of two women to enter both the road race and the cross-country race—the other was France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. They are the two best multi-discipline female cyclists in the world right now, with Ferrand-Prevot ranking No. 1 in the world in 2015, winning four world titles in the same calendar year.
Gold: Annika Langvad, Denmark
Silver: Jolanda Neff, Switzerland
Bronze: Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, France
Diving
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Men's 10m Platform (Semifinal at 10 a.m. ET; Final at 3:30 p.m. ET)
During Friday's preliminary dives, three men ran away from the field. Great Britain's Tom Daley posted a high score of 571.85. China's Qiu Bo and Chen Aisen came in at 564.75 and 545.35, respectively.
No one else even reached 500.
USA's David Boudia won gold in this event four years ago—and silver in the 10m synchro last week—but he had a dreadful third dive in qualifying, failing to even score 50 points in that round. Despite that hiccup, he placed fourth overall and remains a serious threat to medal.
Boudia won silver in both the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, but it was Qiu who won gold in both of those events, as well as the 2011 and 2012 World Championships. In fact, he hasn't ever finished in worse than second place in this event.
Could this finally be the year that Daley finishes ahead of that duo? Great Britain's star diver took bronze in 2012 and 2015, but six more dives like he had Friday and he'll take home a gold.
Gold: Qiu Bo, China
Silver: David Boudia, United States
Bronze: Tom Daley, Great Britain
Football
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Men's Bronze-Medal Match (12 p.m. ET)
Honduras vs. Nigeria
Despite going just 1-1-1 in pool play, Honduras got into the quarterfinals because its goal differential (even) was better than Argentina's (negative-1). It then sneaked past South Korea 1-0 despite committing 23 fouls in the match. The 6-0 blowout loss to Brazil almost felt inevitable.
Nigeria also entered the quarterfinals with no goal differential, but it won its group with a 2-1 record and clearly outplayed Denmark to reach the semifinals. An early breakdown on defense against Germany had the Nigerians playing from behind for 81 minutes, unable to make the comeback.
Nigeria seems like the obvious pick, but it was a weird year of soccer long before the Olympics began. Maybe Honduras can complete the dream run for a medal.
Men's Gold-Medal Match (4:30 p.m. ET)
Brazil vs. Germany
It took a little while for Brazil to get going, tying both South Africa and Iraq at 0-0 in its first two games. But the Brazilians have been on fire since then, beating Denmark 4-0 to win Group A, beating Colombia 2-0 to advance out of the quarterfinals and destroying Honduras 6-0 to reach the gold-medal match.
In case you weren't counting, that's a combined margin of 12-0 in five games. They've been so dominant that they almost have more goals than their opponents have shots on goal (13).
Germany has played well since sneaking into the quarterfinals with come-from-behind ties against Mexico and South Korea, but the Germans are nowhere near the unstoppable force that Neymar and company have been. Unless Brazil cracks under the home-field pressure like its women's volleyball teams did against Germany, it should win gold here.
Gold: Brazil
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Nigeria
Golf
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Women's Final Round (6 a.m. ET)
While the men's tournament was notably devoid of most of the top golfers, the world's top women are both playing and thriving.
New Zealand's Lydia Ko is No. 1 in the world rankings, according to Altius Directory, and she had a great round on Friday to get to within striking distance of first place. Her third round 65 (six under) was the best score of the day, vaulting her into a tie for second place with USA's Gerina Piller at nine under.
Everyone is looking up at world No. 2 Inbee Park, though. South Korea's star golfer only shot a one under Friday, but after consecutive 66s on the first two days, she's alone in first place at 11-under.
One golfer who was in great shape heading into Friday was Canada's Brooke Henderson. She entered the day at eight under and tied for third place, but she had a brutal day on the course, finishing with a 75 to drop seven strokes off the lead. She's one of 10 golfers who will enter the final round at either four or five under.
At this point, though, they'll all need some help from the top four golfers. If Park, Ko, Piller and China's Shanshan Feng (ranked No. 8 in the world) just shoot even par, it would take one heck of a round for anyone to catch them.
Gold: Inbee Park, South Korea
Silver: Lydia Ko, New Zealand
Bronze: Shanshan Feng, China
Handball
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Women's Bronze-Medal Match (10:30 a.m. ET)
Netherlands vs. Norway
It's hard to believe Netherlands even got this far. It went 1-2-2 in pool play with its only win coming against Argentina, which went 0-5 with a negative-46 goal differential. Despite its silver medal at the 2015 World Championships, no one expected the Dutch to beat Brazil in the quarterfinals, let alone stomp Brazil by a 32-23 margin.
But Norway has been the favorite in every match thus far, having won gold at the 2012 Olympics and the 2015 World Championships. Russia needed extra time and a late goal to eliminate the Norwegians in a thrilling 38-37 semifinal to send them to this consolation game.
Not only will Norway win, it should do so by a comfortable margin.
Women's Gold-Medal Match (2:30 p.m. ET)
France vs. Russia
A much-needed rematch of arguably the best game in pool play, Russia's 26-25 win over France was the only loss for the French and is what allowed the Russians to last this deep into the tournament with an undefeated record.
France's Alexandra Lacrabere had 11 goals in that match and has scored at least five goals in every match except for the blowout win over Argentina in which she didn't even need to play.
Might she have another monster performance up her sleeve for sweet revenge, or will Russia get through this whole tourney without experiencing the agony of defeat?
Gold: France
Silver: Russia
Bronze: Norway
Modern Pentathlon
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Men's Modern Pentathlon (starts at 11 a.m. ET; final event starts at 5 p.m. ET)
The modern pentathlon has to be the most unique event in the Olympics.
Over the past two weeks, we've watched a lot of athletes who specialize at running, swimming, shooting, fencing or horseback riding, but there hasn't been any crossover between those events. You won't see Usain Bolt fencing or Katie Ledecky shooting a laser rifle.
But if you don't have time to watch a full day of each discipline—let alone a full week of each one—the modern pentathlon is your microwaved version of the whole thing, with each athlete competing in all five disciplines.
The best part is when they combine two of them: running and shooting. The athletes run four 800-meter laps, shooting a laser rifle at targets before each one.
For whatever reason, Europe has produced nearly every gold medalist in modern pentathlon, with Sweden and Hungary combining for 32 total medals in the men's event. Every other country combined has just 37.
But Sweden doesn't have a representative this year, and Hungary's two participants (Adam Marosi and Bence Demeter) didn't get out to great starts in Friday's fencing ranking round.
Russia's Aleksander Lesun did, though, and he entered the day as the favorite for gold. He placed fourth in 2012 before medaling in each of the 2013-16 World Championships.
Gold: Alexander Lesun, Russia
Silver: Omar Elgeziry, Egypt
Bronze: Valentin Belaud, France
Rhythmic Gymnastics
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Individual All-Around Final (2:20 p.m. ET)
Yes, this is the discipline of gymnastics that many people are probably only familiar with because of Will Ferrell's routine with the ribbon in Old School. But it's a much more complex artform when it isn't being performed by an out-of-shape, middle-aged man.
In fact, the ribbon is just one of the four apparatuses that the Olympic gymnasts are expected to manipulate. There's also hoop, ball and clubs, and Russia's pair of Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva were on point with all four in Friday's qualifying round.
No surprises there, though, as Russia has owned this discipline for more than a decade. Russia took gold in the individual all-around in each of the past four Olympics, picking up two silvers and a bronze, as well.
And those two women entered as the best in the world. Kudryavtseva wasn't old enough to compete in 2012, but the 19-year-old has won gold at the World Championships in each of the past three years. Mamun took silver in 2014 and 2015.
If there's a specific apparatus you're looking for, they'll start with the hoop at 2:20 p.m. with ball scheduled to begin at 2:53, clubs at 3:26 and the famous ribbon at 3:59.
Gold: Yana Kudryavtseva, Russia
Silver: Margarita Mamun, Russia
Bronze: Ganna Rizatdinova, Ukraine
Taekwondo
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Women's Plus 67kg (Starts at 8 a.m. ET; Final at 9 p.m. ET)
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Milica Mandic will be one of the favorites to win in this women's weight class, but she hasn't advanced beyond the quarterfinals at the Taekwondo GrandPrix in any of the past three years.
That leaves 22-year-old Zheng Shuyin as the top candidate for gold in Rio, as she won that medal in 2015.
Mexico's Maria Espinoza will also be in the mix. The 29-year-old won gold in 2008 and bronze in 2012 and has taken silver at the last two GrandPrix championships.
Gold: Zheng Shuyin, China
Silver: Maria Espinoza, Mexico
Bronze: Milica Mandic, Serbia
Bronze: Jackie Galloway, United States
Men's Plus 80kg (Starts at 8:15 a.m. ET; Final at 9:15 p.m. ET)
If you haven't watched this weight class since the last Olympics, you won't recognize many names. The only top-eight finisher from London who is competing in Rio is silver medalist Anthony Obame. And unfortunately for him, he's likely going to have a quarterfinals showdown with Sajjad Mardani, who won gold at the 2015 Taekwondo GrandPrix.
M'bar N'diaye took silver in that event after bowing out in the quarterfinals in both 2013 and 2014.
Gold: Sajjad Mardani, Iran
Silver: M'bar N'diaye, France
Bronze: Dmitriy Shokin, Uzbekistan
Bronze: Anthony Obame, Gabon
Triathlon
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Women's Triathlon (10 a.m. ET)
No Americans medaled or even came close to doing so in the men's triathlon on Thursday, but there's a chance that it could be three American women on the podium after Saturday's 1,500-meter swim, 38.5-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer run.
USA's Gwen Jorgensen is the clear favorite, having won the 2014 and 2015 World Triathlon Series. At one point, she had a streak of 13 consecutive series wins.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Jorgensen finished 2015 ranked No.1 in the world while fellow Americans Sarah True and Katie Zaferes finished third and fifth, respectively.
The triathlete most likely to break up the USA party is Great Britain's Helen Jenkins, who both won the race before Jorgensen's streak began and was the one to finally break it in 2016.
Gold: Gwen Jorgensen, United States
Silver: Helen Jenkins, Great Britain
Bronze: Sarah True, United States
Volleyball
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Women's Bronze-Medal Match (1 p.m. ET)
Netherlands vs. United States
It seems that Pool B was the place to be for women's volleyball. Netherlands was the runner-up to USA before this meeting for the bronze, and the third- and fourth-place teams from that pool are now battling for the gold medal.
When these two countries met back on Aug. 8, it was one of the best matches of pool play. Netherlands won the first and third sets while USA took sets No. 2 and 4, forcing a tiebreaking fifth set that USA won 15-8. As has been the case for most countries, USA had no answer for Netherlands' Lonneke Sloetjes but was able to win despite her 20 kills.
But what happened 12 days ago means little compared to how each country responds to its disappointing exit from the semifinals. Will USA channel the energy that beach volleyball's Kerri Walsh-Jennings brought in her bronze-medal match? And can Netherlands bounce back from a 3-1 loss to China in which all four sets were nail biters?
USA should be the better team, but we'll find out in the first few points which side wants it more.
Women's Gold-Medal Match (9:15 p.m. ET)
China vs. Serbia
Midway through China's match against Brazil, something snapped.
The Chinese were making mental and physical errors left and right in the first set and were blown out 25-15. But for the next four sets—as well as the four sets against Netherlands—it was China that looked like the unbeatable squad seeking a third consecutive gold medal when, in fact, that had been Brazil's role in winning each of its first 16 sets in the tournament.
China's Zhu Ting has simply taken over. She had 26 spikes and two blocks in the win over Brazil and was even more dominant against Netherlands, tallying 31 kills and two blocks. Even though Serbia won the first match against China by a 3-0 margin, this is a different team than we saw for the first week of the Olympics.
If Zhu has one more match like she has been having, there will be nothing Serbia can do to stop China.
Gold: China
Silver: Serbia
Bronze: United States
Water Polo
17 of 18
Men's Bronze-Medal Match (12 p.m. ET)
Montenegro vs. Italy
It's rather surprising Montenegro even got this far, considering how it fared in pool play. It only averaged 7.2 goals per game and had fewer points in the standings than any other country that reached the quarterfinals. Yet Montenegro came out and scored nine goals in regulation and another four in the penalty shootout to upset No. 1 seed Hungary once the bracketed portion of the tournament began.
Against Croatia in the semifinals, though, Montenegro fell behind 3-0 in the first four minutes and was never able to claim the lead.
When these teams met in pool play, Italy emerged with a 6-5 win, getting three goals from Francesco Di Fulvio. It should be a slightly higher scoring game this time around, but look for the Italians to remain the better team.
Men's Gold-Medal Match (4:50 p.m. ET)
Croatia vs. Serbia
It's not the final that was anticipated at the end of pool play, but Croatia vs. Serbia is what we expected before the tournament began.
These two countries met in the finals of the 2015 World Championships with Serbia winning 11-4.
Slobodan Nikic should be the star of the show for Serbia. He had a pair of goals in Thursday's semifinal win over Italy and has won three gold medals in the World Championships.
Serbia started out slow with a loss and two ties in its first three matches, but it has won four straight by a multi-goal margin since having its back pushed up against the wall. It will ride that momentum to Olympic gold.
Gold: Serbia
Silver: Croatia
Bronze: Italy
Wrestling
18 of 18
Men's 86kg Freestyle Wrestling (qualifying rounds begin at 9 a.m. ET)
Pick a wrestling event in the past two years and Russia's Abdulrashid Sadulaev probably won it.
He's only 20 years old, but he's already the best in the world. He proved as much at the 2015 World Championships, winning five of his six matches in shutout fashion. The year before that, Sadulaev went through the quarterfinals, semifinals and gold-medal match by a combined score of 31-0. If he were to lose in this tournament, it might be the most shocking upset of the entire Olympics.
Among those fighting for silver, Turkey's Selim Yasar and Bulgaria's Mihail Ganev have fared well at the last two World Championships and should each make deep runs.
Gold: Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Russia
Silver: Selim Yasar, Turkey
Bronze: Mihail Ganev, Bulgaria
Bronze: Reineris Salas, Cuba
Men's 125kg Freestyle Wrestling (qualifying rounds begin at 9 a.m. ET)
Overwhelming favorites in the combat sports have had mixed results in Rio. France's Teddy Riner took care of business in men's judo last week, but USA's Jordan Burroughs was surprisingly ousted in Friday's quarterfinals of the men's 76kg freestyle wrestling weight class.
Which path will Turkey's Taha Akgul take?
Akgul won gold at the 2012-14 European Championships, as well as the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. When the competition should have been getting tougher in 2015, Akgul only got more dominant, winning both his semifinal (against Russia's Bilyal Makhov) and the championship bout (against Azerbaijan's Jamaladdin Magomedov) by a score of 10-0.
Those men figure to be two of the top challengers to Akgul, but who's to say they'll put up any more of a fight this year?
Gold: Taha Akgul, Turkey
Silver: Bilyal Makhov, Russia
Bronze: Geno Petriashvili, Georgia
Bronze: Jamaladdin Magomedov, Azerbaijan
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
