What to watch at Olympics today: Sha’Carri Richardson, Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky — and so much more

We’ve reached the most action-packed day of the Paris Olympics.

Medal events in 16 sports, including swimming, track and field and gymnastics.

Stars everywhere — from Sha’Carri Richardson in the women’s 100 meters, to Simone Biles and Stephen Nedoroscik in vault and pommel horse finals, respectively, to Katie Ledecky’s final race of the Olympics, the 800-meter freestyle. Oh — and the women’s soccer tournament reaches the quarterfinals.

From the third round of men’s golf (3 a.m. ET) to the women’s surfing gold medal match (5:12 p.m. ET), it’s a full slate. Here’s what we’re following.

Events to watch

Biles, Nedoroscik return for more

Time: 10:20 a.m. ET, 4:20 p.m. in Paris (women’s vault); 11:16 a.m. ET, 5:16 p.m. in Paris (men’s pommel horse)
TV: NBC and Peacock

What to watch: Biles continues her gold medal aspirations when she competes in the individual vault competition. Having already secured gold in the team and individual all-around events, she is the favorite to capture a third in the vault — an event she won in 2016.

Biles enters the vault competition as the leader from qualifying after posting a 15.3. Jade Carey, who stuck the landing on a terrific vault in the team final, will also be representing the U.S. in the individual vault competition. Rebeca Andrade, the Brazilian star who won silver in the individual all-around, finished second in vault qualifying with a score of 14.683.

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After the vault, Nedoroscik — who finished the job for the U.S. men’s team as it won a bronze in the team competition — competes in pommel horse, his specialty. With a 15.2 in qualifying, he matched Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan for the highest score. An American has not won gold on pommel horse since Peter Vidmar in 1984.

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It’s Sha’Carri time

Time: 3:20 p.m. ET, 9:20 p.m. in Paris
TV: USA Network and Peacock

What to watch: American Sha’Carri Richardson is the favorite to capture gold in the 100-meter dash at Stade de France, staking her claim as the fastest woman in the world.

Richardson, making her Olympic debut, is the reigning world champion. At the U.S. track and field trials, Richardson defended her American title with a time of 10.71 seconds in the 100-meter final. She won her heat Friday in 10.94 seconds.

Her path to gold became easier when one of her challengers, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, withdrew from the race, but Richardson will still have to contend with Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

The semifinal takes place at 1:50 p.m. ET, 90 minutes before the final.

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USWNT, Canada in women’s soccer quarterfinals

Time: 9 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. in Paris (U.S. vs. Japan); 1 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. in Paris (Canada vs. Germany)
TV: Universo and Peacock

What to watch: The women’s quarterfinals have clear stakes: Win this round, and you are guaranteed to play for a medal.

The United States takes on Japan in the first of the quarterfinals. The U.S. swept the group stage, giving up just two goals in three games. The front line trio of Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman dazzled for Emma Hayes’ squad and will need to continue that stellar play if the Americans want to medal.

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Canada is in the quarterfinals against the odds. FIFA docked the team six points in the group stage because of a drone-spying scandal before its first match against New Zealand. The Canadiens, reigning gold medal winners, needed to win all three matches to get through — and they did.

Canada takes on Germany, the No. 4 team in the FIFA world rankings, in a matchup of the last two Olympic gold medal winners. Spain plays Colombia and France plays Brazil in the other games.

A potential Canada-U.S. showdown looms in the semifinals.

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Ledecky goes for record gold

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. in Paris
TV: NBC and Peacock

What to watch: The penultimate night of swimming action at La Defense Arena includes four medal events — and most notably, Katie Ledecky’s pursuit of a ninth career gold medal.

Ledecky is the favorite in the 800-meter freestyle, one of her defining events. A win will break the record for most gold medals by a female swimmer and tie her for the most by a female Olympian. It would also be the fourth medal of the 2024 Games for Ledecky, who plans to return in four years in Los Angeles. American Paige Madden and Australia star Ariarne Titmus are among the other medal contenders.

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Canadian Summer McIntosh eyes her third Olympic gold at just 17 years old. McIntosh will swim in the 200-meter individual medley — and faces tough competition from American Kate Douglas, the reigning world champion in the event. Douglass won gold in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday.

Crouser goes for third straight shot put gold

Time: 1:35 p.m. ET, 7:35 p.m. in Paris
TV: USA Network and Peacock

What to watch: Shot put is one of the quintessential field events of the athletics competition, a display of tremendous strength as athletes toss a heavy sphere as far as possible.

Ryan Crouser is the gold standard in the men’s shot put. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion, he set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023.

With a win Saturday, Crouser would be the first male shot putter to win three Olympic gold medals. His top competition might be fellow American Joe Kovacs, who won silver in Tokyo.

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Men’s decathlon concludes

Time: 3:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 p.m. in Paris
TV: USA Network and Peacock

What to watch: The men’s decathlon is one of the ultimate feats of strength and endurance at the Olympic Games. An event that lasts over two days, the winner claims the title of the best male athlete in the world.

The 10 events, in order: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters.

Canadian Damian Warner, the defending gold medalist, returned for Paris, but the decathlon is missing two key athletes. Kevin Mayer of France, the world record holder from 2018, withdrew from the competition due to a thigh injury. Canadian Pierre LePage, the reigning world champion, is also out due to a back injury.

German Leo Neugebauer, a 24-year-old in his first Olympics, led the field after the first five events Friday, with Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico second and Sander Skotheim of Norway third.

Friday highlight

Franz Wagner with AUTHORITY! 😤 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/NJfXsrPxyF

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 2, 2024

Germany forward Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) is having himself an Olympics. He took on France’s entire team on this dunk, part of a 26-point effort to lead Germany to an 85-71 win over France.

Germany went 3-0 in the group stage, with Wagner averaging 21.7 points per game. Men’s basketball group play wraps up Saturday, including the U.S. against Puerto Rico at 11:15 a.m. ET.

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(Photo: Andrej Isakovic / AFP via Getty Images)