Screen Shots: Monday, August 5th, 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]!

In today’s lesson of “you will end up exactly where you are supposed to be no matter what,” Guatemala’s Adriana Ruano had her Olympic gymnastic dreams ended as a result of a severe back injury. Knowing how badly she wanted to remain in sports, her doctor recommended that she take up shooting instead. 12 years later, Ruano’s transition to women’s trap shooting is complete as she just brought home her country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. To the events!

Triathlon: Mixed Relay (Medal event) at 2 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: I had never heard of this before, but it looks interesting. Teams of 2 men and 2 women compete to see who can get E. coli from the Seine first. Wait, I may have misunderstood. I guess each team member completes a 300m swim, 8km (~5 mile) bike ride, and 2km (~1.25mile) run, and the team that finishes first wins. The E. coli is just a bonus!

Men's Gymnastics: Parallel Bars Final (Medal event) at 5:45 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: The men of the US swim team have caught a lot of flack for an underwhelming performance that saw them need a heroic performance by Booby Finke to save them from coming home without an individual gold medal for the first time since the last time the Olympics were held in Paris back in 1900. That is certainly sorry as hell but pales in comparison to what the US men have accomplished in gymnastics. How they came away with the bronze in the team all-around I’ll never know, because the only gymnast on that squad to qualify for an individual event was Stephen Nedoroscik on the pommel horse. It’s especially egregious considering how dominant our women are in the sport. I have a theory I’ll share in a bit. Let me gather my thoughts. 

Women's Gymnastics: Balance Beam Final (Medal event) at 6:36 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: How many women’s gymnastics events have we watched together at this point? Do I really have to explain why you should watch Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade, and Suni Lee?

Men's Gymnastics: Horizontal Bar Final (Medal event) at 7:31 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Okay, where were we? My hot take is that our men’s gymnastics team suffers because of how our country views masculinity. We have decided that gymnastics is not a “masculine” sport, so athletes who would excel in it go do something else. Now, not only do sports not have genders, but how you could look at gymnastics and think anything other than “that’s badass!” I’ll never know. They are literally out there performing the same moves as the superheroes we grew up idolizing. Someone fix this. Maybe things would be different if Paul Hamm’s 2004 individual all-around gold wasn’t so controversial, but that was a judging issue NOT a gymnast issue and we should have paraded him around like the champion he was.

Women's Badminton: Singles Gold Medal Match at 8 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Sports can be brutal. Spain’s Carolina Marin looked well on her way to defending her Olympic gold medal when she went down with a knee injury in her semifinal match. This is why winning a medal is nothing short of a miracle. You can be on top of your game and one wrong step and it’s all over. Hopefully, she makes a quick recovery.

Women's Gymnastics: Floor Exercise Final (Medal event) at 8:20 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: How many women’s gymnastics events have we watched together at this point? Do I really have to explain why you should watch Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade, and Suni Lee Jordan Chiles?

Men's Badminton: Singles Gold Medal Match at 9:40 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: The existence of badminton implies that somewhere out in the universe there is a goodminton.

Men's Track & Field: Pole Vault Final (Medal event) at 1 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Sweet vindication for growers around the world! This is simply a matter of whether or not Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis will set another world record or not. He is the US women’s gymnastics team to the rest of the world’s US men’s gymnastics team.

Women's Cycling: Track Team Sprint Finals at 1:58 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: The indoor arena where this takes place is called a velodrome and the steepness of the banking is insane.

Women's Track & Field: Discus Throw Final at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: I asked the expert, Coach Herbert Johnson, who was going to win this one and he said, “Allman. No contest.” Victoria Allman did win gold for the US in Tokyo and has 8 of the top 11 throws this year. Cuba’s Yaimé Pérez owns the other 3, including the world lead this year, but her best throws came earlier in the season. 

Women's Track & Field: 5000m Final (Medal event) at 3:10 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: An event for runners who specialize in other distances. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon is known for her dominance in the 1500m, but decided to run the 5000m for the first time since 2015 and set a then-world record while winning gold at the 2023 World Championships. Her countrywoman, Beatrice Chebet, dropped down from the 10,000m to run the 3rd fastest time ever last September at the same meet Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay claimed the world record as her own. Then you have reigning Olympic champion Sifan Hassan returning and representing the Netherlands as she attempts to make history by running this event, the 10,000m and the marathon. Here’s a story about my first 5k. 

Women's Track & Field: 800m Final (Medal event) at 3:45 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: This one figures to be a showdown between Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and Kenya’s Mary Morra. Hodgkinson’s 1:54.61 a couple of weeks ago is not only the best time in the world this year, but the 7th best time ever. As great as she is, she’s yet to bring home gold in a major competition. The US’ Athing Mu beat her at the Tokyo Olympics and then again at the 2022 World Championships in one of the most exciting finishes ever. Then, Morra got her last year at the 2023 World Championships. Can she finally turn that silver into gold? Here’s an interview I did with a former Division I 800m runner turned doctor!

Women's 3x3 Gold Medal Game: 4:05 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.

Men's 3x3 Gold Medal Game: 4:35 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: No clue who is going to be in this one yet, but hell of a turnaround by both US teams. I look forward to leading our country to gold in 2028.

Happy Watching!