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Page 2B OLYMPICS East Oregonian Olympics on TV SATURDAY, AUG. 6 NBC — Rowing - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Men’s Cycling - Road Race (LIVE); Men’s Water Polo - U.S. vs. Croatia (LIVE); Men’s Cycling - Road Race (LIVE); Swimming - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Rowing - Qualifying Heats; Men’s Beach Volleyball - Gibb/ Patterson (U.S.) vs. Jefferson/Cherif (Qatar) (LIVE); Women’s Volleyball - U.S. vs. Puerto Rico (LIVE), 5 a.m.-3 p.m. Men’s Gymnas- tics -Team Competition; Swimming (LIVE): Men’s 400m Individual Medley - Gold Medal Final, Men’s 400m Freestyle - Gold Medal Final, Women’s 400m Individual Medley - Gold Medal Final, Women’s 100m Butterly - Semiinals, Men’s 100m Breast- stroke - Semiinals, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold Medal Final; Wom- en’s Beach Volleyball - Walsh Jennings/Ross (U.S.) vs. Artacho Del Solar/Laird (Australia) (LIVE), 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Men’s Gymnastics -Team Competition, 9:30-10:30 p.m. NBCSN — Men’s Archery - Team Round of 16 (LIVE); Women’s Shooting - 10m Air Rile Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Beach Volley- ball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Women’s Rugby - U.S. vs. Fiji (LIVE); Men’s Basket- ball - Australia vs. France (LIVE); Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Men’s Water Polo - Spain vs. Italy; Women’s Soccer - U.S. vs. France (LIVE); Men’s Basketball - U.S. vs. China (LIVE); Judo - Gold Medal Finals; Women’s Weightlifting - 48kg Gold Medal Final; Women’s Soccer - Brazil vs. Sweden (LIVE); Table Tennis - Singles First and Second Rounds; Boxing - Elimination Matches, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. MSNBC — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Women’s Handball - Norway vs. Brazil; Table Tennis - Singles First Round; Men’s Archery - Team Gold Medal Final (LIVE), 9 a.m.-2 p.m. USA — Equestrian - Eventing, Dressage; Women’s Field Hockey - U.S. vs. Argentina (LIVE); Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Women’s Fencing - Individual Epee Gold Medal Final, Noon-5 p.m. CNBC — Women’s Rugby - U.S. vs. Colombia (LIVE), Preliminary Round match TBA; Women’s Soccer - Germany vs. Australia (LIVE), 2-5 p.m. BRAVO — Tennis (LIVE), 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. TELEMUNDO — Boxing - Elimination Matches; Volleyball; Swimming - Qualifying Heats; Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. NBC UNIVERSO — Women’s Soccer - U.S. vs. France (LIVE); Basketball; Boxing - Elimination Matches, 1-5 p.m. NBC BASKETBALL CHANNEL — Men’s Basketball - Australia vs. France (LIVE), Australia vs. France Encore, China vs. U.S. (LIVE), Venezuela vs. Serbia (LIVE); Wom- en’s Basketball - Turkey vs. France (LIVE), China vs. Canada, Brazil vs. Australia, Belarus vs. Japan, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. NBC SOCCER CHANNEL — Women’s Soccer - Canada vs. Zimbabwe (LIVE), U.S. vs. France (LIVE), Russia vs. China (LIVE), Germany vs. Australia, Brazil vs. Sweden (LIVE), Colombia vs. New Zealand, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. ——— SUNDAY, AUG. 7 NBC — Women’s Beach Volleyball - Fen- drick/Sweat (U.S.) vs. Kolosinska/Brzostek (Poland) (LIVE); Rowing - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Women’s Cycling - Road Race (LIVE); Swimming - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Ca- noe/Kayak - Whitewater Qualifying (LIVE); Men’s Beach Volleyball - Dalhausser/Lucena (U.S.) vs. Naceur/Belhaj (Tunisia) (LIVE); Men’s Volleyball - U.S. vs. Canada (LIVE), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Women’s Diving - Springboard Synchronized Final; Women’s Gymnastics - Team Competition; Swimming (LIVE): Women’s 100m Butterly - Gold Medal Final, Men’s 200m Freestyle - Semiinals, Women’s 100m Backstroke - Semiinals, Men’s 100m Breaststroke - Gold Medal Fi- nal, Women’s 400m Freestyle - Gold Medal Final, Men’s 100m Backstroke - Semiinals, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold Medal Final, 4-9 p.m. Women’s Gymnastics - Team Competition, 9:35 a.m.-10:35 p.m. NBCSN — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Women’s Archery - Team Round of 16; Women’s Basketball - U.S. vs. Senegal (LIVE); Men’s Basketball - Brazil vs. Lithuania (LIVE); Men’s Soccer - Germany vs. South Korea (LIVE); Women’s Archery - Team Gold Medal Final; Men’s Basketball - Croatia vs. Spain (LIVE); Weightlifting - Gold Medal Finals; Table Tennis - Singles Second and Third Rounds; Men’s Soccer - Brazil vs. Iraq (LIVE); Judo - Gold Medal Finals; Box- ing - Elimination Matches, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. MSNBC — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Men’s Fencing - Individual Foil Quarterinals; Men’s Handball - Croatia vs. Qatar (LIVE); Beach Volleyball - Prelimi- nary Round; Men’s Fencing - Individual Foil Semiinals and Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Equestrian - Eventing, Dressage, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. USA — Women’s Rugby - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Men’s Volleyball - France vs. Italy, 9-11 a.m. CNBC — Women’s Rugby - Quarterinal (LIVE); Men’s Soccer - Argentina vs. Algeria (LIVE); Women’s Shooting - Trap Gold Medal Final, 1-4 p.m. BRAVO — Tennis (LIVE), 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. NBC BASKETBALL CHANNEL — Men’s Basketball - Brazil vs. Lithuania (LIVE), Croatia vs. Spain (LIVE), Nigeria vs. Argen- tina (LIVE); Women’s Basketball - U.S. vs. Senegal (LIVE), Serbia vs. Spain, U.S. vs. Senegal Encore, Australia vs. Brazil, France vs. Belarus, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. NBC SOCCER CHANNEL — Men’s Soccer - Fiji vs. Mexico (LIVE), Fiji vs. Mexico Encore, Germany vs. South Korea (LIVE), Argentina vs. Algeria (LIVE), Sweden vs. Nigeria, Brazil vs. Iraq (LIVE), Honduras vs. Portugal, Denmark vs. Russia, Japan vs. Colombia, 9 a.m.-12:30 a.m. TELEMUNDO — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Boxing - Elimination Matches; Men’s Soccer - Fiji vs. Mexico, Honduras vs. Portugal, 7 a.m.-Noon NBC UNIVERSO — Swimming - Quali- fying Heats; Men’s Soccer - Argentina vs. Algeria (LIVE); Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Boxing - Elimination Matches; Men’s Soccer - Japan vs. Colombia (LIVE), Noon-8 p.m. ——— MONDAY, AUG. 8 NBC — Rowing - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Men’s Water Polo - U.S. vs. Spain (LIVE); Swimming - Qualifying Heats (LIVE); Ca- noe/Kayak - Whitewater Qualifying (LIVE); Women’s Volleyball - U.S. vs. Netherlands (LIVE); Men’s Beach Volleyball - Gibb/Patter- son (U.S.) vs. Huber/Seidl (Austria) (LIVE); Canoe/Kayak - Whitewater Qualifying, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Men’s Diving - Platform Syn- chronized Gold Medal Final; Men’s Gymnas- tics - Team Gold Medal Finals; Swimming (LIVE): Women’s 200m Freestyle - Semii- nals, Men’s 200m Freestyle - Gold Medal Final, Women’s 100m Backstroke - Gold Medal Final, Men’s 100m Backstroke - Gold Medal Final, Women’s 100m Breaststroke - Gold Medal Final, Men’s 200m Butterly - Semiinals, Women’s 200m Individual Medley - Semiinals; Women’s Beach Volley- ball - Walsh Jennings/Ross (U.S.) vs. Wang/ Yue (China) (LIVE), 5-9 p.m. Canoe/Kayak - Whitewater Qualifying, 9:35-10:35 a.m. NBCSN — Women’s Field Hockey - U.S. vs. Australia (LIVE); Women’s Fencing - Individual Sabre Round of 32; Women’s Basketball - U.S. vs. Spain (LIVE); Women’s Fencing - Individual Sabre Quarterinals; Women’s Rugby - Semiinals (LIVE); Table Tennis - Singles Third Round; Women’s Fencing - Individual Sabre Gold Medal Finals (LIVE); Archery - Individual Elimina- tions; Men’s Basketball - U.S. vs. Venezu- ela (LIVE); Men’s Water Polo - Croatia vs. Montenegro (LIVE); Weightlifting - Gold Medal Finals; Women’s Volleyball - Brazil vs. Argentina (LIVE); Boxing - Elimination Matches, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. USA — Equestrian - Eventing, Cross Country (LIVE); Equestrian - Eventing, Cross Country (LIVE); Table Tennis - Singles Third Round; Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Women’s Handball - Spain vs. Romania, 6 a.m.-2 p.m. MSNBC — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round (LIVE); Women’s Volleyball - China vs. Italy; Men’s Basketball - Serbia vs. Australia (LIVE); Men’s Shooting - Trap Gold Medal Final; Judo - Gold Medal Finals (LIVE); Sailing, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. CNBC — Men’s Water Polo - Hungary vs. Australia; Women’s Rugby - Bronze Medal and Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Table Tennis - Singles Fourth Round, 2-5 p.m. GOLF CHANNEL — Golf Central Live From the Olympics, 6 a.m.-Noon & 3-5 p.m. BRAVO — Tennis (LIVE), 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. NBC BASKETBALL CHANNEL — Men’s Basketball - Serbia vs. Australia (LIVE), U.S. vs. Venezuela (LIVE), Nigeria vs. Argentina (LIVE); Women’s Basketball - Spain vs. U.S. (LIVE), Serbia vs. Canada, Japan vs. Brazil, Senegal vs. China, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. TELEMUNDO — Beach Volleyball - Preliminary Round; Boxing - Elimination Matches; Basketball; Boxing - Elimination Matches, 7:30 a.m.-Noon NBC UNIVERSO — Volleyball; Basketball; Boxing - Elimination Matches, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, August 6, 2016 Gymnastics Douglas eager to prove critics wrong By WILL GRAVES Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — Gabby Douglas tried to block out the criticism when national team coordinator Martha Karolyi named the reigning Olympic champion to the 2016 gymnastics team last month despite a so-so performance at trials. Emphasis on tried. Yes, Douglas wasn’t crisp on beam either night in San Jose. Yes, there were a handful of other athletes Karolyi could have chosen instead with minimal effect on the Americans’ chances of steamrolling their way to gold in Rio. And yes, Douglas understands every- thing she does now will be compared to that euphoric summer four years ago when she rapidly morphed from prodigy to superstar. Yet Karolyi chose her anyway, conident there was nothing wrong with Douglas that a little quality time at the Karolyi Ranch in the southeast Texas woods couldn’t ix. The second-guessing on social media came anyway. Douglas heard it loud and clear. “I mean everyone makes mistakes and after trials it was hard because there was a lot of negativity, but whatever,” Douglas said Thursday after inishing a solid round of podium training inside the Olympic Arena. “I feel like shutting it all the way (down) and I have to prove myself.” Funny, but the poised and professional gymnast that AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell United States’ Gabrielle Douglas trains on the un- even bars ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. always seems to turn it on when it is absolutely neces- sary was back just three days before team qualifying. There was Douglas working the beam Thursday evening without so much as a wobble. There was Douglas gliding over the uneven bars. It’s a testament to how much Douglas has improved over the last month — much of that time spent under Karolyi’s close, personal supervision — that she’s assured of a spot in the all-around with three-time world champion Simone Biles while Aly Raisman and Laurie Hernandez are ighting for the third all-around spot even though both inished well ahead of Douglas at trials. That’s how quickly Douglas seems to respond when she’s able to retreat into the sanctity of the ranch. “She kind of has us in a little bubble,” Douglas said. “It’s great we all get to go down there and she whips us into shape.” It’s exactly what Karolyi had in mind when she selected Douglas over alternates MyKayla Skinner, Ashton Locklear and Ragan Smith and 2015 world championship team member Maggie Nichols. It would be a stretch to call Karolyi sentimental, but she’s uniquely attuned to what makes Douglas work. It happened last fall when Douglas struggled in training ahead of the world championships before coming alive once the team got to Britain, where she inished runner-up to Biles in the all-around and qualiied for the bars inal. Karolyi believes it can happen again. “I know Gabby for many years,” Karolyi said. “Like I said, she’s peaking a little bit later and she deinitely needs organized and structured training system installed before competitions and she reacts well to that. She responds very, very well. I feel that she is ready to compete.” Nowhere is her renewed conidence more visible than on beam. After hopping off once during both nights at trials — mistakes that overshadowed largely clean routines elsewhere — Douglas attacked it during training in the green- splashed arena. Podium training is basically a dress rehearsal, a chance for the gymnasts to get a feel for the equipment, the lighting and the energy. No wonder she looked so at home. She’s been here before. “It’s not really feeling any different (than in London),” Douglas said. “We’ve done so many routines we’re kind of like on autopilot right now. It’s go, go, go, go.” It’s a sense of urgency that Douglas has long thrived on. A pep talk with Christian Gallardo — who took over as her full-time coach between U.S. Cham- pionships and Olympic Trials — helped, too. “The biggest thing we talk about is going out and doing her gymnastics,” Gallardo said. “Her gymnas- tics are beautiful, consistent, clean. She doesn’t have to worry about anything other than going out and being Gabby Douglas.” When she steps into the arena on Sunday, she’ll be the irst reigning Olympic champion to return to the ensuing games since Nadia Comaneci in 1980. It’s heady territory and despite her occa- sionally uneven route back to this point, Douglas is trying to enjoy it. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. The crown she’s worn for four years has proven heavy at times. “I’m not going to go out here and listen to any nega- tive thing,” she said. “Just shine bright and do what I’m capable of doing.” Las Vegas Sevens tipped to change the game taking Rio bets Rugby By FOSTER NIUMATA Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — It’s taken rugby 92 years to get back in the Olympic Games, and yet Argentina great Agustin Pichot called it the right moment. Pichot, a key member of the team which got rugby sevens approved for Olympics inclusion in 2009 and who has become vice chairman of World Rugby, could barely contain his excitement on Friday, the day before the competition begins. In terms of modern milestones, he puts rugby’s return up there with the irst Rugby World Cup in 1987 and the game going professional in 1995, and he predicted big things, especially outside of its Anglo-Saxon strongholds. “Being here, in a Latin country, in South America (where rugby wasn’t very popular), is a great statement,” Pichot said. “The challenges are big but change will come. “We’re speaking English here (in the news conference), but many nations do not speak English, and what we will see now, from these games, is a lot of countries that are not Anglo-Saxon are going to start looking at rugby as a different option. I’ve seen it in Colombia, Mexico, many countries. We have an opportu- nity to grow rugby really, really big.” Growth has already been massive since the IOC voted 81-8 to approve rugby for the 2016 and 2020 Games. In the seven years since, global partic- ipation has doubled to 7.73 million, and the percentage of female players has risen from 10 percent to more than 30, according to World Rugby. So sure in the product was World Rugby, that chairman Bill Beaumont Associated Press AP Photo/Martin Meissner South Africa men’s rugby sevens captain Kyle Brown holds a ball with the olympic rings during a training session ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016. expects a huge upsurge in interest from the Olympic TV coverage. “I’m hoping, I’m pretty conident, that clubs will be inundated at the start of next season in Europe, with girls wanting to play rugby. You’ll ind in schools, there will be a knock on the door of the PE teacher, and saying ‘Look, we want to play this game,”’ Beaumont said. “This is the biggest kickstart the game’s ever had, espe- cially for women and girls, and it’s up to clubs, if they are sensible, to realize this is a fantastic opportunity for them to create a new market beyond the traditional Saturday afternoon, 15-a- side rugby club.” Beaumont wasn’t fazed by the lack of star power in the lineups. Stars of the 15s game such as Bryan Habana and Quade Cooper, and former NFL running back Jarryd Hayne failed to make their national squads, but Beau- mont said new stars will emerge. World Rugby was also conident of ticking all the boxes needed to stay in the Olympics after 2020, boxes such as attendance, stadium atmosphere, TV ratings, and impact on social media. The Olympic competition follows the most successful annual rugby sevens world series, which started in 1999. The series drew 715,000 fans over the 10 tournaments, 6,000 hours of action broadcast to more than 100 countries for the irst time, 61 million video views, and a 250 percent audience increase across all media platforms. Two-thirds of tickets for the Olympic sevens have been sold, said Brett Gosper, the World Rugby CEO. He said he was conident there will not be the disappointing gaps in the stadium crowds that have been seen at soccer matches. RIO DE JANEIRO — The odds are good the U.S. will win the gold medal count once again in the Olympics. The odds are even better this year that there will be some money bet on it. Bookmakers in Las Vegas are making the U.S. the favorite to defend the gold medal crown from the London Olympics, with an over/under of 43.5 gold medals for the Americans. China is the only other country close to the U.S., with bookies putting that coun- try’s gold medal line at 36. It’s the irst time since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney that bettors in Nevada have been able to put money on the games. So far, they haven’t exactly caught Olympic fever. “We’ve probably had 10 people come to the counter to bet it,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, who sets odds at the South Point hotel sports book. Betting on the Olympics is nothing new. Betting parlors in Britain did good business four years ago for the London Olympics, and have posted odds for years on both big and obscure events at the games. But bettors in the U.S. have been shutout since the 2000 Olympics because of an agree- ment Nevada gaming authori- ties made not to offer betting on amateur sports. The prohibition was lifted in Nevada last year. Boxing Balderas, Hernandez try to boost US fortunes in opener By GREG BEACHAM Associated Press AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes This photo taken March 9, 2016, shows USA Boxing team member Carlos Bal- deras posing for photo at the 2016 Team USA Media Summit in Beverly Hills, Calif. RIO DE JANEIRO — Carlos Balderas qualiied for the Olym- pics nearly nine months ago, and he has been waiting anxiously for his next ight ever since. The American lightweight only has to wait a few more hours after the opening ceremonies in Rio. Balderas ights in the opening session of the grueling, 16-day Olympic boxing tourna- ment on Saturday morning. “It’s everything I’ve been thinking about since November,” Balderas said. “The only thing that’s been in my mind is bringing back a medal.” His friend and roommate, light lyweight Nico Hernandez, also ights on a big irst day for the eight-person U.S. team. After the American men failed to win any Olympic medals for the irst time in London, the new U.S. ighters believe their teamwork can help them exceed relatively low outside expectations in Brazil. “We’re deinitely close, because we’re all young,” Hernandez said. “I’m the oldest one on the team, and I’m 20. We’ve all been on the same team since juniors, so we’ve been traveling together for a couple of years now. We’re really close, like family. I think that helps us a lot. We all support each other.” Balderas and Hernandez are key parts of the tight-knit core on a U.S. team that has bonded through years of shared competi- tion. All six American men were born less than two years apart. “The vibe is really, really cool,” Balderas said. “Because me, Nico, Tony (Vargas), Shakur (Stevenson), we’ve pretty much been together since the youth team. We were always around each other. It’s not like somebody came out of nowhere and just took a spot. Everybody was always very cool with each other.” The U.S. men could use all the good vibes they can get. They haven’t won a gold medal since Andre Ward triumphed in Athens in 2004. They claimed just one bronze medal in Beijing — and none at all in London, an embarrassment for the most successful boxing nation in Olympic history. USA Boxing hired veteran Irish coach Billy Walsh last year, but his plans are necessarily focused on Tokyo in 2020. He hopes the current team’s talent will be enough to counteract their oppo- nents’ years of centralized training. “It’s a massive challenge,” Walsh said. “There deinitely is a skill level that we need to change. It’s a Tokyo project.”