There are only a few days left of the Tokyo Olympics but the events just keep on comin'. Day 14 includes sport climbing (we see you, Brooke Raboutou), six track and field finals starring major Team USA track stars, and a chance for Team USA women's basketball to grab that gold.
Here's a list of five events to watch at the Tokyo Olympics Thursday night into Friday morning, which from 4 p.m. PT on Aug. 5 to 7 a.m. PT on Aug. 6 San Diego time and Aug. 6 in Tokyo.
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1) Sport Climbing: Brooke Raboutou in Women's Combined Final
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And, the first-ever gold medal was doled out for Olympic women's sport climbing.
Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret made sports history at the Tokyo Olympics. She climbed her way to a combined 5.0 score. Right behind her were Japan's Nonaka Miho and Noguchi Akiyo, who tool siver and bronze with 45.0and 64.0 ranking points respectively. (In sport climbing, the goal is to have the lowest score).
Sport climbing – among the several sports debuting at the Tokyo Olympics – takes another turn in the spotlight when the women’s combined final goes down (or, rather, up) at 1:30 a.m. PT Friday.
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Representing San Diego in the event was former University of San Diego student Brooke Raboutou, who moved back to Boulder, Colorado, after college to focus on training for Tokyo.
Raboutou came in fifth with a combined score of 85.0.
At only 20-year-old, the showing was impressive. Raboutou is already considered a seasoned veteran in her sport. She’s been scaling rocks and walls at a fast pace her entire life – just ask her family, since sport climbing runs deep in the Raboutou roots.
The Olympian’s dad, Didier Raboutou, and mom, Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, are former rock climbing champions themselves. Brooke’s brother climbs, too.
She credits the support of her family and their shared love of the sport for her success as a sport climbing athlete. Raboutou recently joined NBC 7’s Olympic Dreams: San Diego to Tokyo podcast to talk about her training for Tokyo and her family.
You can listen to her episode here (June 28 episode) and below:
Listen/Subscribe to NBC 7’s Olympic Dreams: San Diego to Tokyo podcast wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts. On each episode, NBC 7 News Today anchor Steven Luke will sit down with athletes in their prime, each with their sights set on one thing: representing Team USA in Tokyo this summer. How will they achieve their Olympic dreams?
There are three disciplines in Olympic sport climbing: Bouldering, Speed, and Lead. Each participant must compete in all three, and a winner is determined by multiplying a competitor's placement in the various disciplines. The lowest score wins gold. Because each competitor must compete in all three disciplines, each climber must have a combination of speed, flexibility, and endurance if they wish to reach the podium.
On Wednesday morning, Raboutou successfully qualified for the finals with a stellar performance on the bouldering wall. She came in second in the field of 20 women on bouldering, was the 12th-fasted on the speed wall and climbed eighth-highest on the lead wall. Combined, she was fifth out of eight to move on to Friday’s final round.
The lowest and most cerebral of sport climbing's three disciplines is a strength of Raboutou's, as was on full display in the qualification round.
She topped three of the four boulder problems in four total attempts and was awarded a "zone hold" on the one boulder she failed to top, equivalent to half credit. The performance was good enough for second among the 20-woman field, bested only by Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, who is widely considered the best female climber in the world and the gold medal favorite.
Raboutou executed well enough in the other two disciplines, speed and lead climbing, to advance. She was 12th-fastest on the speed wall and climbed eighth-highest on the lead wall.
Raboutou's well-rounded American teammate, Kyra Condie, missed out on the final despite placing top-11 in all three disciplines.
2) US Women's Basketball Beats Serbia, Will Play For Gold
The U.S. women's basketball team is one win away from a seventh straight gold medal.
After a 79-59 win over Serbia in the semifinals, Team USA advances to face the winner of Japan and China in the final on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PDT. The team will look to tie the U.S. men's basketball team's record for most consecutive gold medals in a team sport.
The U.S., which won its 54th straight game, held Serbia to 30 percent shooting in a strong defensive performance.
Brittney Griner finished with 15 points and nine rebounds and Chelsea Gray added 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting to lead the United States.
3) Allyson Felix Becomes Most Decorated Track and Field Athlete
Allyson Felix earned the title of most decorated female Olympian in track and field history Friday morning, winning her 10th Olympic medal in the Women's 400m final.
Felix crossed the finish line in 49.46 seconds. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won gold (48.36 seconds), while Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won the silver medal (49.20 seconds).
The 35-year-old mother passed Jamaica's Merlene Ottey, who won nine Olympic medals (six golds and three silvers) and tied Carl Lewis for most track and field medals by an American.
Felix’s bronze highlighted a three-medal day for the Americans on the track. Paul Chelimo started the day with a bronze medal in the men’s 5000m, finishing behind Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed. The Americans added a silver in the 4x100m relay, when the team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini and Gabrielle Thomas finished second to Jamaica.
Maggie Malone was the United States’ lone competitor in the women’s javelin final after she posted the second-best overall result in qualifying, but she did not medal.
Paul Chelimo, who posted the second-fastest overall time in the men’s 5000m heats, took bronze in the finals.
4) A-Team: April Ross, Alix Klineman Get Gold for Beach Volleyball
April Ross already has a silver medal and a bronze medal in her collection. Now, she can add gold.
The United States’ top women’s beach volleyball pair took down Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in straight sets in Thursday night's gold medal match. Ross and Klineman took the first set, 21-15, before sealing gold in the second set, 21-16. The victory completes a perfect 7-0 run to the top of the podium for Ross and Klineman, as they became the second American pair to ever go undefeated at the Olympics. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings accomplished the feat three times (2004, 2008, 2016).
Ross and Klineman rolled through the preliminary round, dropping just one set total across three matches. That dominance carried over to the knockout rounds, where they won all four of their matches in straight sets.
Ross, who won silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016, completed her Olympic collection with the elusive gold. In doing so, the 39-year-old topped former teammate Kerri Walsh Jennings’ record as the oldest woman to ever medal in Olympic beach volleyball. Klineman, 31, was making her Olympic debut.
A U.S. pair has stood atop the podium in three of the last four Olympics, but Ross has yet to claim a gold medal. With Klineman by her side, that can change Thursday night.
5) US Women’s Volleyball Beats Serbia to Advance to Gold Medal Match
The United States women's indoor volleyball team will play in the gold medal match after a semifinal win over Serbia early Friday morning.
Team USA beat Serbia in straight sets, winning the first frame 25-19, the second 25-15 and the third 25-23.
The match was a rematch of the semifinals in Rio. Serbia got the better of the U.S. last time, winning a tight contest in the fifth set. Serbia claimed silver, its first Olympic women’s volleyball medal, after falling to Brazil in the championship match.
The U.S. will face the winner of Brazil-Korea's semifinal game in the gold medal match on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. PDT.
