The Rio Olympics: A Crib Sheet – The Atlantic

Who to Watch:

• Men: The men’s individual all-round can be seen Wednesday. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura is the favorite to take gold (Update: he won gold); watch out, though for China’s Deng Shundi, widely viewed as the gymnast most likely to upset Uchimura. Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti, the defending Olympic champion, is also in the mix.

• Women: The spotlight is on USA’s Simone Biles, 19, viewed as the world’s best gymnast. She could achieve a first in Rio: five gold medals. You can watch her Thursday at the Women’s gymnastics all-around final.

What We’re Watching Next:

Thursday, 8/11: Women’s individual all-round final

Sunday, 8/14: Men’s floor exercise final

Tuesday, 8/16: Women’s floor exercise final

The Story So Far:

• The U.S. women’s team dominated their rivals to win gold, earning the highest score in all four gymnastics events (184.897). It’s the USA’s fifth successive global title. Russia, which scored 176.888, claimed silver; China with 176.003 won bronze. On the men’s side, Japan won the team all-round, shocking China, the favorites, who took bronze; The Russian men won silver. The U.S. finished fifth.

Football (Soccer)

Who to Watch:

• Men: Brazil is the favorite to win, but the Seleção appear to be wilting under pressure—though they finally scored a goal, four in fact, at the games on Wednesday. Their biggest rivals are Germany and no one watching the beautiful game will have forgotten the 7-1 drubbing the Brazilian men suffered at the hands of the Germans in the FIFA World Cup semifinal in, where else, Brazil.  

• Women: Team USA’s women, the defending champions, are the favorites to take gold; Their Brazilian counterparts, who are also favored, will have home-crowd support in Rio. Germany and France are also in the running.

What We’re Watching Next:

Friday, 8/12:  Women’s quarterfinals

Saturday, 8/13: Men’s quarterfinals  

The Story So Far:

• Brazil finally scored a goal at the games, beating Denmark 4-0. Their previous games—against South Africa and Iraq—ended in goalless draws. On the women’s side, after a 2-2 draw against Colombia, the U.S. women won their preliminary games against France and New Zealand, to sit atop their group. Brazil, meanwhile, with victories against Sweden and China (and a draw against South Africa) sits atop its group.The quarterfinals start Friday.

Track and Field

Who to Watch:

• Men: Two words: Usain Bolt. No one has beaten the Jamaican powerhouse in the 100 meters or 200 meters at an Olympic or world-championships final since 2007. But Bolt is coming off a hamstring injury and hasn’t been at his best in either the 100m or the 200m. Count him out, though, at your own peril. His main rival is likely to be Justin Gatlin, the American who has returned to the games after serving a four-year ban for doping.

• Women: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price is vying for her third consecutive Olympic gold in the 100m. No woman has ever achieved that. Also, South Africa’s Caster Semenya, who is seen as a contender in the 800m.

What We’re Watching Next:

Friday, 8/12: The track-and-field events start