The Seven Olympic Races We Can’t Wait to Watch

WOMEN’S 3,000-METER STEEPLECHASE
10:15 a.m. Eastern, Monday, August 15

The steeplechase isn’t just a footrace; it’s high adventure. Runners glide over barriers and splash through a water pit with a spectator-friendly blend of balletic grace and gritty determination, and wet and messy spills are a fixture of the action. 

Ruth Jebet of Bahrain, who has broken 9:00 this year, and Hyvin Jepkemoi, the 2015 world champion, have a decided edge on the rest of the field. At the front, this steeplechase could turn into a duel. The poised American record holder Emma Coburn is the logical pick for third. 

MEN’S 10,000 METERS
8:25 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, August 13

Great Britain’s Mo Farah has won seven consecutive Olympics and world championships 5,000- and 10,000-meter finals. On August 13, the question won’t so much be whether he’ll win number eight but how he’ll do it—perhaps with a sustained 1,000-meter surge, or maybe by relying on his superior closing speed. 

Watch the latest Kenyan and Ethiopian team tactics try to thwart Farah, and then watch their futility. Farah’s the fastest man in the field, but as a racer, he’s also the smartest. American Galen Rupp, the 2012 silver medalist, had the world’s fastest 10,000-meter time in 2014 and could come home with another medal.

WOMEN’S 1500 METERS
9:30 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday, August 16

Shannon Rowbury or Jenny Simpson or both have an excellent chance of earning the first Olympic medals ever by an American woman in the 1500 meters. A year ago, Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba set a new 1500-meter world record and had the fastest time on the world list by six seconds. For Dibaba, Olympic gold in 2016 seemed virtually guaranteed. But this year her coach was arrested in a drug raid in Spain, and she has raced sparingly. 

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon has run two 3:56s this spring and she now seems a more solid bet to win. Keep your eyes on fierce British entrant Laura Muir, for whom that impossible cliché about “giving 110 percent” seems somehow real.

MEN’S 1500 METERS
8 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, August 20

World indoor champion Matthew Centrowitz has an uncanny knack for finding openings, even along the inside rail, at just the right moment in tight 1500-meter finishes. If the American finds his spot again in Rio, he could medal, adding to the two he already owns from world outdoor championships.

Asbel Kiprop, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world champion, would assure his place among the event’s immortals if he wins in Rio. But Kiprop came to virtual standstill when a rabbit got in his way in Monaco on July 15. He drifted back to sixth as his 20-year-old Kenyan countryman, Ronald Kwemoi, accelerated to a 3:30.49 victory. Kiprop, Kwemoi and Elijah Manangoi could score a Kenyan sweep of the 1500 medals—unless Centrowitz foils their plans.

MEN’S 800 METERS
9:25 p.m. Eastern, Monday, August 15

David Rudisha of Kenya has the 2012 gold medal, the world record, and the fastest time of 2016 in this two-lap event. But he’s been too fragile and inconsistent in recent times to rate as a shoo-in, and getting through preliminary rounds could prove tough for him. The semifinals in Rio will require close to all-out efforts in one of track’s most grueling disciplines.

Established stars Nigel Amos of Botswana and Mo Aman of Ethiopia are not at their peak. This creates opportunities for up and comers like Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France, Canada’s Brandon McBride, and young Americans Boris Berian and Clayton Murphy. Expect a fast first lap, with runners gasping for breath as they lurch toward the finish.

WOMEN’S 100 METERS
9:37 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, August 13

After an era of Jamaican dominance, the pendulum has swung back the Americans’ way in the women’s sprints. A United States sweep by Tori Bowie, English Gardner, and Tianna Bartoletta is possible in Rio; all three have run 10.78 or better this season. Jamaica’s two-time defending champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, hasn’t yet raced at the Americans’ level in 2016. Oregon graduate Gardner runs her fastest times at her home Hayward Field track, while Bowie has the edge at neutral venues. Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson and Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast could spoil an American trifecta.

WOMEN’S 4x100 RELAY
9:15 p.m., Friday, August 19

Memories of American baton-passing mishaps resulting in relay disqualifications seem fresh and abundant. But an American quartet set a new world record of 40.82 seconds in the 2012 London Olympic final, topping Jamaica by 0.59 seconds. If baton passes are smooth, an entirely different U.S. foursome, with Bowie, Gardner, Bartoletta, and Jenna Prandini, should be even more heavily favored this time and capable of a new record.