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Day 5: What to watch Tuesday night, Wednesday morning at the Tokyo Olympics

Posted at 3:56 PM, Jul 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-27 21:18:12-04

Each day of the Tokyo Games, NBC Olympics will provide a rundown of the biggest athletes and the biggest events to watch across a variety of sports. Every single event can be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, and many can also be seen on the television networks of NBC. For even more events, visit the Olympic schedule page to find listings for specific sports or TV networks.

Katie Ledecky faces a rematch with Ariarne Titmus in one of her two events for the day, gymnasts compete in the men's individual all-around final and medals are awarded in rugby and basketball 3x3. Here's what to watch on Day 5 of the Tokyo Olympics. 

Primetime on NBC

Tuesday night in primetime, NBC will air live coverage of swimming finals highlighted by Katie Ledecky's quest for two golds in one night. The broadcast will also feature coverage of Team USA in the women's gymnastics team final.

NBC Primetime: July 27

  • Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBC
  • Live Stream: Watch

Beach Volleyball

Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne won their opening match of the Olympics in what was also their first match ever paired together. Gibb's usual partner, Taylor Crabb, tested positive just a few days before the start of the Games and had to be replaced. Enter Bourne, who has competed against Gibb but never alongside him. Bourne was called in as a last-minute replacement, and after just a couple practice sessions together, the duo successfully defeated an Italian pairing in the tournament opener. Now, they'll try to keep the magic going against Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland in their second preliminary match.

Gibb/Bourne (USA) vs Heidrich/Gerson (SUI)

  • Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Swimming

This will be Katie Ledecky's busiest day of the Olympics. At around 9:41 p.m. ET, she'll jump in the pool for the 200m freestyle final and a rematch against Australia's Ariarne Titmus. Titmus, who was the top qualifier out of the 200m semifinal, dethroned Ledecky in the 400m freestyle on Monday and currently has the best time this year in the 200m. Less than 90 minutes later (around 10:54 p.m. ET), Ledecky will be back in the water for the first-ever women's 1500m Olympic final. The longer the race goes, the stronger Ledecky gets — she'll be the heavy favorite in that one.

Other finals happening on Day 5: men's 200m butterfly, women's 200m individual medley and men's 4x200m freestyle relay.

Swimming Finals

  • Start Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBC
  • Live Stream: Watch

Swimming Heats

  • Start Time: 6 a.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Men's Volleyball

After a win over France and a loss to ROC, the United States is now 1-1 in preliminary play for men's volleyball. Their next opponent, Tunisia, is 0-2 in the tournament and has yet to win a set.

United States vs. Tunisia

  • Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Men's Rugby

The U.S. men finished the preliminary round with a 2-2 record, but were then eliminated in the quarterfinals after a come-from-behind win by Great Britain. Four teams — New Zealand, Great Britain, Argentina and Fiji — remain in the tournament, and all remaining matches will take place on Day 5 as the men's tournament draws to a close. 

Semifinals

  • Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Medal Matches

  • Start Time: 4:30 a.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Road Cycling

The U.S. has won gold in women's time trial at the last three Olympics thanks to Kristin Armstrong. This year it'll be up to Chloe Dygert, who has been coached by Armstrong, to carry on the tradition. Dygert won the world title in 2019, becoming the youngest cyclist (male or female) to do so. Dygert suffered a serious leg laceration while trying to defend her title the following year, which kept her out of action for a while, but she's back and looking to return to the top. Although she finished 31st in the road race a few days ago, she'll be a contender in the time trial if she's at full strength.

Women's Time Trial

  • Start Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: CNBC (starts at 11 p.m. ET)
  • Live Stream: Watch

Men's Basketball

The U.S. men saw their streak of 25 straight Olympic wins come to an end at the hands of Evan Fournier and France on Sunday, but a matchup with Iran will provide a good bounce-back opportunity. Jrue Holiday led Team USA in scoring with 18 points in the opener.

United States vs. Iran

  • Start Time: 12:40 a.m. ET
  • Live Stream: Watch

Women's Water Polo

The U.S. women are off to a strong start in their bid for a third-straight water polo title. After blowing out Japan in the opener, the Americans won a much closer match against China to move to 2-0 in group play. Maggie Steffens and Stephania Haralabidis currently lead the team in scoring with six goals apiece as they head into a matchup with Hungary.

United States vs. Hungary

  • Start Time: 1 a.m. ET
  • Live Stream: Watch

Diving

Andrew Capobianco and Michael Hixon will represent the U.S. in the men's synchronized springboard final. The pair finished fourth at the 2021 World Cup in Tokyo behind reigning Olympic champion Jack Laugher and new partner Daniel Goodfellow. Hixon was part of the silver medal duo in Rio alongside Sam Dorman. This is Capobianco's Olympic debut. 

Men's Synchronized Springboard Final

  • Start Time: 2 a.m. ET
  • TV Channel: USA
  • Live Stream: Watch

Basketball 3x3

Despite being upset by Japan in the final game of the round robin, a 6-1 record was enough for the U.S. women to secure their spot in the semifinal round of the inaugural basketball 3x3 tournament. On the final day of 3x3 at the Tokyo Olympics, they'll compete in the semifinals against France at 4 a.m. and then head to either the gold medal game or the bronze medal game.

Semifinals

  • Start Time: 4:00 a.m. ET
  • Live Stream: Watch

Bronze and Gold Medal Games

  • Start Time: 7:45 a.m. ET
  • Live Stream: Watch
    • Women's Gold: 8:55 a.m. ET
    • Men's Gold: 9:25 a.m. ET

Men's Gymnastics

The U.S. men finished fifth in the team event on Monday but look to rebound in the individual all-around. Three-time Olympian Sam Mikulak and newly minted U.S. all-around champ Brody Malone are the only two Americans competing in the event. 

Look to the current world all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy as the gold medal favorite just two days after helping ROC capture the men's team event. He scored a 15.166 on the parallel bars and never dipped below a 14.366 on any apparatus during that competition. 

Men's Individual All-Around Final