What you must watch today
Football, women’s quarter-final, Great Britain v Australia (10am)
Great Britain have barely let their disrupted preparation for the tournament show, beating Chile and Japan and drawing with Canada to top Group E thanks to the goals of Ellen White (above). Now comes the business end of the tournament as knockout football raises the stakes. The reward for topping the group is a quarter-final with Australia, who finished third in Group G, behind Sweden and the United States. The last time Britain’s women played football at the Olympics, they were knocked out at the same stage in London against Canada. Win today and they guarantee themselves the chance to play for a medal.
Swimming, men’s 50m freestyle heats (11am) and women’s 50m freestyle heats (11.23am)
Twenty-one heats – 10 men’s and 11 women’s – all within an hour as the world’s best freestyle sprinters go in the “splash and dash”. It promises to be manic, mad and a lot of fun, with entries from the usual contenders such as the US (Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel), Brazil (Bruno Fratus), Greece (Kristian
Gkolomeev), Australia (Emma Mckeon) and Britain (Ben Proud), to more obscure countries such as Eswatini, East Timor and Palau. Geography lesson anyone?
Athletics, men’s 10,000m final (12.30pm)
The first medal to be contested on the track. We are guaranteed a new champion after Mo Farah, winner in 2012 and 2016, failed to qualify. As the world record holder, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei will be one to watch as he attempts to add to his Commonwealth and world titles. Do not discount the challenge of his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, or two-time New York Marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor, who won the Kenyan Olympic trials. For those on Brit watch, Sam Atkin and Marc Scott will be flying the flag.
Mixed triathlon (11.30pm-1.25am)
The mixed relay makes its Olympic debut. Teams of two men and two women compete over a short course (300m swim, 8km bike, 2km run) before tagging a teammate in a race lasting around 90 minutes. Great Britain should be in the medal mix after Alex Yee stormed to silver in the men’s event, followed by Georgia Taylor-brown doing the same in the women’s, despite a puncture on the bike. Jonny Brownlee and Jess Learmonth are expected to make up the team.
TOMORROW
Swimming, mixed 4x100m medley mixed relay (3.43am) Into the penultimate day of swimming action, and the question will be whether the British medal factory can churn out more gold in the new mixed relay event. Dressel will be chasing more success in the men’s 100m butterfly, likewise Katie Ledecky in the women’s 800m freestyle and Australia’s Kaylee Mckeown will try to double up in the women’s 200m backstroke. But the mixed relay is where British hopes lie and, after Adam Peaty helped the team qualify more than two seconds quicker than the US and China, prospects look good.
Shooting, women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (4am-9.10am)
Seonaid Mcintosh was in action on the very first day of these Games, finishing 12th in the women’s 10m air rifle. But that was not her main event, instead the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions is expected to be the one where she challenges for silverware – after all, she is ranked No 1 in the world. The withdrawal of team-mate Amber Hill, ranked as world No 1 in the women’s skeet, was a blow for the British team in terms of finally landing a first female Olympic shooting medal, but the blue-haired Mcintosh can step up to the plate.