5 to Watch: UConn Front & Center; Kieran Smith Goes For Gold
Women's full-court basketball finally gets underway in Tokyo Tuesday and that includes our huge UConn contingent, but there are other players with Connecticut ties competing in the Olympics as well. Simone Biles will have her first chance at a gold medal in Tokyo, and Connecticut's own Kieran Smith takes another shot at a medal in the pool.
U.S. women’s basketball team tips off against Nigeria
The U.S. women’s basketball team begins its run at a seventh straight Olympic title with a Group B battle against Nigeria at 12:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
UConn greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart, and Napheesa Collier will see their first action early Tuesday morning. The American team is loaded with WNBA superstars.
The team surprisingly stumbled going into the Games, dropping exhibitions against the WNBA All-Stars and Australia earlier this month. Still, the team is an overwhelming favorite to win gold once again.
Watch the game on USA Network at 12:40 a.m. ET Tuesday or stream it live here.
Tokyo Olympics
Puerto Rico Pride From New London to Tokyo
UConn doesn't have a monopoly on women's basketball players with Connecticut ties competing in the Tokyo Olympics. New London's India Pagan is playing for Team Puerto Rico.
Pagan is a 2017 graduate of New London High School where she was an all-state player who ended her high school career with more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She went on to stat at Stony Brook.
The 22-year-old center and Team Puerto Rico will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Puerto Rico takes on China in its first game Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET. You can watch it streaming live here.
Ridgefield's Kieran Smith goes for gold
Kieran Smith has already taken bronze in Tokyo. He came in third in the men's 400m freestyle Saturday night.
The Ridgefield swimmer has his chance at another medal tonight as he swims in the men's 200m freestyle final. Smith finished the semifinals with the second-best time, putting him in a prime position to reach the podium again. His race gets underway just after 9:30 p.m. ET tonight.
Swimmers Lilly King and Ryan Murphy will be looking to defend their Olympic crowns Monday night.
King will race in the final for the women’s 100m breaststroke, an event where she set the world record in 2017. She finished with the third-fastest time in Sunday’s qualifying, trailing fellow American Lydia Jacoby and South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker, who broke King’s Olympic record with a time of 1:04.82.
Murphy, on the other hand, set the world record in the men’s 100m backstroke at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After finishing tied for seventh overall in Sunday’s heats, he posted the top time in the semifinals, putting him in line to repeat in the event.
The women’s 100m backstroke will also be an intriguing final after the Olympic record was broken in three consecutive heats on Sunday. Canadian Kylie Masse and American teenager Regan Smith each owned the record for exactly one heat before Australian Kaylee McKeown raised the bar in the final race.
Monday night’s action will also feature semifinal races for the women’s 200m freestyle, men’s 200m butterfly, and women’s 200m individual medley.
Watch the swimming live in NBC’s primetime coverage, or stream live here beginning at 9:30 p.m. tonight.
Simone Biles leads USA Gymnastics into women’s team final
The GOAT of gymnastics will have her first chance to earn a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Simone Biles earned the top all-around score in qualifying, but there’s work to be done if she wants to come out on top in the women’s team final, which begins at 6:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Team USA finished with an overall score of 170.562 in qualifying, good for second place behind the Russian Olympic Committee’s 171.629. China, France and Belgium finished qualifying in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Biles will be joined by 20-year-old Jordan Chiles, 18-year-old Suni Lee and 18-year-old Grace McCallum in the team event. Lee finished third in qualifying with an all-around score of 57.166, while McCallum and Chiles finished 13th and 40th, respectively. While the U.S. owns two of the top three spots for all-around scores, ROC has the fourth, fifth and sixth-highest scores on its team.
Watch the women’s gymnastics team final live on the Olympic channel. You can stream full coverage here or with the Team USA tracker here.
Come sail away
The sailing events are underway at the Tokyo Olympics and tonight 2011 Connecticut College grad Maggie Shea will make her Olympic debut. Shea and her skipper, Stephanie Roble, are sailing in the 49er FX class events.
Born in Illinois, Shea came to Connecticut College in New London to sail in collegiate events. She served as team captain and was recognized as an All-American Honorable Mention, according to her bio on the U.S. Sailing website.
Shea and Roble will sail in the first three women's 49er FX races beginning tonight at 11:05 p.m. ET, midnight, and at 12:55 a.m. ET Tuesday morning. They will race again on Wednesday morning.
You can see tonight's races streaming live here beginning at 11:05 p.m. ET.
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5 to Watch: UConn Front & Center; Kieran Smith Goes For Gold - NBC Connecticut
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