Olympic Daily Glance, Day 14 — The end is near

Friday at the Olympic Games: Made for BBC prime time. Not much going on during the daytime hours over there. Then everything in their evening/our afternoon.

WHAT HAPPENED THURSDAY

Could the U.S. women’s teams be doing any better? At the same time the soccer women were winning a classic final against Japan, the water polo team was cruising to an 8-5 win in the final over Spain. Two golds down, two more to go? In semifinal action: The volleyball team swept South Korea, and the basketball team shrugged off a serious challenge from Australia.

Individually, U.S. women are faring quiet well as well. Claressa Shields took boxing gold, and Haley Anderson was a surprise silver medalist in the open water of Hyde Park.

And the men? Oh, just a pair of gold-silver finishes. As expected, Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee went 1-2 in the decathlon. Almost as expected, Christian Taylor and Will Claye finished 1-2 in the triple jump.

Not a bad day for the British Isles, either. The boxing arena was rocking as Britain’s Nicola Adams and Irish great Katie Taylor took their golds. Britain also took gold in taekwondo (Jade Jones) and gold and bronze in the slightly quieter dressage.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

Did well in women’s boxing, to my surprise. And taekwondo. Not as well in canoeing.

Congratulations, Australia, you’re off the hook. And China? You’re no longer making me look bad.

Overprojected: Germany 9, Britain 7, Turkey 6, Australia 6, New Zealand 4, USA 4. Tied at 3: Greece, Slovakia, Brazil.

Underprojected: South Korea 5, Colombia 5. Tied at 4: Canada, Spain, Cuba, North Korea, South Africa. Then Mexico at 3.

FRIDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

It’s getting more and more difficult to get up at 5 a.m. My apologies to the U.S. field hockey team.

3-6 a.m.: No TV.

• 3:30: Women’s field hockey, 11th-place game, USA-Belgium.
• 4:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg preliminary rounds. U.S. bouts listed separately.
• 4:15: Taekwondo, men’s 80kg preliminary round. Steven Lopez vs. Azerbaijan’s Ramin Azizov.
• 4:30: Canoe/kayak, men’s K1/K2/C1 and women’s K1 200-meter heats/semifinals. Tim Hornsby (K1) and Carrie Johnson.
• 5:30: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg preliminary round. Paige McPherson vs. … Britain’s Sarah Stevenson? Who’s making these draws?
• 6:30: Women’s field hockey, fifth-place game, China-Australia.

• 7:00: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around qualification.
• 7:00: Sailing, men’s 470 medal race. Rescheduled from yesterday. Picks: AUS-GBR-CRO
• 7:00: Swimming, men’s open-water. Picks: GRE-GER-RUS

8 a.m.: NBC Sports Network signs on with a delayed broadcast of USA field hockey.

• 8:00: Sailing, women’s 470 medal race. Picks: ESP-GBR-JPN
• 8:00: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle qualification rounds.
• 8:20: Wrestling, men’s 55kg freestyle, round of 16. Sam Hazewinkel.
• 8:30: Boxing, men’s semifinals. In order, half hour per class: Light fly, bantam, light welter, middle, heavy.

9 a.m.:

• 9:00: Sailing, women’s match race semifinals.
• 9:10: Wrestling, men’s 74kg freestyle, round of 16. Jordan Burroughs. He’s a big favorite.
• 9:10: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, quarterfinals.
• 9:20, NBC Sports Network: Men’s water polo, placement rounds, USA-Spain.
• 9:50: Rhythmic gymnastics, team qualification.

10 a.m.: NBC chose synchro? Over BMX?

• 10:00: BMX, men’s and women’s semis.
• 10:00, NBC: Synchronized swimming, team final. Picks: RUS-CHN-ESP
• 10:00, NBC Sports Network (at 10:20): Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg quarterfinals.
• 10:00, MSNBC: Men’s volleyball, semifinal, Bulgaria-Russia.
• 10:00, NBC Sports Network (at 10:45): Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, semifinals.
• 10:30: Women’s hockey, semifinal, New Zealand-Britain.
• 10:40: Men’s water polo, semifinal, Croatia-Montenegro.

11 a.m.: NBC recaps canoe/kayak and swimming.

• 11:30: BMX, women’s final. Picks: FRA-AUS-USA
• 11:40: BMX, men’s final. Picks: USA-AUS-LAT

Noon: NBC plans to show a lot of rhythmic gymnastics and more swimming.

• 12:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s basketball, semifinal, Spain-Russia.
• 12:00, MSNBC: Men’s handball, semifinal, Hungary-Sweden.
• 12:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg semifinals.
• 12:45: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, repechage/bronze.

1 p.m.:

• 1:30: Men’s water polo, placement rounds, Hungary-Australia.

2 p.m.: All this stuff, and MSNBC plans to show the Britain field hockey game from earlier.

• 2:00: Track and field, men’s pole vault final. Brad Walker is the lone American. Picks: FRA-GER-GER
• 2:00: Diving, men’s platform prelims.
• 2:03: Wrestling, men’s 55kg freestyle final. Picks: RUS-BUL-JPN-IRI
• 2:10: Track and field, women’s 4×400 first round.
• 2:30: Men’s volleyball, semifinal, Brazil-Italy.
• 2:35: Track and field, women’s hammer throw final. No Americans made it. Picks: RUS-GER-BLR
• 2:45: Track and field, men’s 4×100 first round.
• 2:45, MSNBC: Men’s soccer, bronze medal game, Japan-South Korea. Your 2002 World Cup special.
• 2:50, NBC: Wrestling, men’s 74kg freestyle final. Picks: USA-RUS-IRI-KAZ
• 2:50: Men’s water polo, semifinal, Italy-Serbia.

3 p.m.:

• 3:00: Women’s hockey, semifinal, Netherlands-Argentina.
• 3:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg repechage and bronze.
• 3:05, NBC: Track and field, women’s 5,000. Molly Huddle and Julie Culley. Picks: KEN-ETH-KEN
• 3:30: Boxing, men’s semifinals. In order, half hour per class: Fly, light, welter, light heavy, super heavy.
• 3:30: Men’s handball, semifinal, France-Croatia.
• 3:40: Track and field, women’s 4×100 final.  Picks: USA-JAM-TRI
• 3:55: Track and field, women’s 1,500. Shannon Rowbury and Morgan Uceny. Picks: MAR-ETH-RUS

4 p.m.: MSNBC has scheduled the France-Croatia handball semi for 4:30.

• 4:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s basketball, semifinal, USA-Argentina.
• 4:20: Track and field, men’s 4×400 final. Picks: USA-JAM-GBR

5 p.m.:

• 5:15: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg final.
• 5:30: Taekwondo, men’s 80kg final.

Also: nothing. I’ve listed absolutely everything. Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I’ll be doing this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report, and I’ll be helping Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.