Screen Shots: Sunday, August 4th, 2024

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what you should watch on TV. It’s going to be a very sports-centric list since that’s really the only thing we have left that you simply must watch live. Speaking of watching things, you should watch me on YouTube! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

After today’s events, I’m barely hanging on. Too much excitement. Spoiler alert: a picture of me as a child is somewhere in this post. To the events!

Women's Cycling:  Road Race (Medal event) at 8 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: I take a spin class semi-regularly that’s about 45 minutes long. I’m always pretty wiped out when it’s over. Imagine my surprise when I was checking out the men’s version of this event and the announcer said, “Okay, coming up on three hours completed in this one…which means we have roughly three and a half hours to go.”

Men's Table Tennis Singles Gold Medal Match: 8:30 a.m. ET on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Historically, China has dominated the men’s table tennis world. Not only have they not missed a podium since 1988, but they have won both gold and silver every Olympic Games since they hosted in 2008 and swept all 3 medals. However, that streak comes to an end this year after Sweden's Truls Möregårdh upset the #1 ranked table tennis player in the world, China's Wang Chuqin. Can Fan Zhendong manage to keep China’s gold medal streak intact or will Möregårdh’s Cinderella run continue?

Men's Gymnastics: Rings Final (Medal event) at 9 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: I’ve spent all Olympics ranting about how terrible the pommel horse looks, and rightfully so, but this apparatus is right up there. It looks like it was designed specifically to dislocate shoulders. Perfect for the athlete who wants to look like the Vitruvian Man with bruised armpits.

Women's Gymnastics: Uneven Bars Final (Medal event) at 9:40 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Can we please take a second to appreciate how straightforward the naming process is for gymnastics apparatus? You know exactly what you’re going to get with every single one. No Simone Biles in this one as she gets a well-deserved break. Instead, we get a rematch of the competitors who were battling it out for bronze during the Individual All-Around final. Suni Lee came away with it after coming up clutch on the floor exercise, but Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour and Italy’s Alice D’Amato weren’t messing around. Nemour’s qualifying score was the highest by over half a point.

Men's Badminton: Doubles Gold Medal Match at 10:10 a.m. ET on CNBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: We respect badminton in this household.

Men's Gymnastics: Vault Final (Medal event) at 10:25 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: My preschool brought in a gymnastics coach to work with us. There’s only so much a toddler can do, but it was a great introduction to the sport as well as the most basic aspects of coordination. We even had a little showcase for our families where we all got trophies. I never pursued anything gymnastics-related after this, a decision I’ve never regretted thanks to this video. As a bonus, here’s me with my trophy.

Women's Tennis: Doubles Gold Medal Match at 11 a.m. ET on CNBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: We talked about the Refugee Olympic team. There’s also an Individual Neutral Athlete team for athletes from Russia and Belarus, who were banned for their roles in the war in Ukraine. INA athletes Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider will be representing that team in this match against the Italian duo of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.

Women's Basketball: Germany vs. United States at 11:15 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: The US women blew out Germany a couple of weeks ago in a pre-Olympics tune-up, but there’s reason to believe that this one should be closer. Satou Sabally, who missed a significant amount of time with an injury leading up to the Olympics, has looked more and more like herself as the tournament has gone on. She dropped 33 points on Japan’s head the other day. The US women had a close call (for them) against Belgium, and haven’t looked quite as sharp as they have spent the prelims figuring out roles and rotations. I’ll always bet on the team with A’ja and Stewie, but this will be a good test.

Women's Swimming: 50m Freestyle Final (Medal event) at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström made up her mind to focus on this event heading into this Olympic Games before being talked into giving the 100m freestyle a shot. Well, she won gold there. Can she pull off the double? 

Men's Swimming: 1500m Freestyle Final (Medal event) at 12:36 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen is looking for a second gold medal after winning the 800m freestyle. He was also an extra in the Game of Thrones “Red Wedding” scene. You decide which accomplishment is cooler.

Men's 3x3 Basketball: United States vs. Netherlands at 1:05 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Canyon Barry has almost single-handedly turned around Team USA’s fortunes. There’s been a lot of pearl-clutching about how to reach the level of dominance we should be at in this one by the time we’re hosting in 2028. While I totally get that and would like to see some NBA guys participate, I’d be lying if I wasn’t enjoying this crew of “Where are they now?” all-stars battling their asses off.

Men's Swimming: 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (Medal event) at 1:12 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com 

Women's Swimming: 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (Medal event) at 3:35 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Not only do swim relays always slap, but these are the last 2 swim relays of these Olympics.

Women's Track & Field: High Jump Final (Medal event) at 1:50 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers were battling it out most of the year until Mahuchikh’s monster 2.10m (6’10.5”) jump last month broke the world record that has stood since 1987. Does she have more in the tank or did she peak too soon? Keep an eye on American Vashti Cunningham. If she’s healthy, she can make some noise. Fun fact: her dad is former NFL star QB Randall Cunningham.

Men's Track & Field: Hammer Throw Final (Medal event) at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Have I got an origin story for you! The hammer throw apparently originated in Ireland at the Tailteann Games way back in 2000 BC when Cuchulainn took a chariot axle with the wheel still attached, spun around, and threw it. I once attended a wedding with a lot of Irishmen, and I can confirm that this is VERY on-brand.

Men's Fencing: Foil Team Gold Medal Match at 2:30 p.m. ET on E!, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Daniel Wiffen should show up after his swim just to add to the drama.

Men's Track & Field: 100m Final (Medal event) at 3:55 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Find a more in-depth preview here. Usain Bolt is the standard in the men’s 100m, and Noah Lyles has been very loud about how he’s gunning to change that. This bravado has gone over about as well as you would imagine in track-obsessed Jamaica. Their 2 contenders, Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville, certainly have the talent to shut him up. Seville has defeated Lyles before and Hurricane Kishane has run the fastest time in the world so far at 9.77 seconds. 

While these 3 have been the talk of the track world, there are more podium contenders than lanes. Americans Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Akani Simbine of South Africa, and Ferdinand Omanyala of South Africa are all blazing fast, and that’s without mentioning veteran Canadian Andre De Grasse and reigning 100m gold medalist Lamont Jacobs of Italy. It might be worth tuning in for the semifinals of this one at 2:05 p.m. because the battle just to get to the finals is going to be something.

Men's Tennis: Singles Gold Medal Match at 4:30 p.m. ET on CNBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: A heavyweight bout if I’ve ever seen one. Nobody has won more Grand Slam singles titles than Novak Djokovic. He’s pretty much accomplished everything you could hope to as a singles player…except bring home a gold medal for Serbia. To do that, he’ll have to go through tennis’ latest young phenom, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. Alcaraz has already won 2 Grand Slam titles in 2024 alone, including a Wimbledon win a couple of weeks ago where he took down Djokovic in straight sets. All signs point to this one being a battle.

Happy Watching!