What to watch: Women’s Basketball and Track and Field
A’ja Wilson and the United States women’s basketball team can move closer to their record eighth-consecutive Olympic gold medal Wednesday at the Paris Olympics, while Lin Yu-ting competes in boxing.
See the full schedule of events and read more on what to watch below:
Women’s basketball reaches knockout stage
Led by two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, the seven-time defending champion U.S. extended its impressive Olympic winning streak to 58 games Sunday. The U.S. women will take on Nigeria in the quarterfinals at 9:30 p.m. CEST/3:30 p.m. EDT at Bercy Arena.
Nigeria is the first African country to make the men’s or women’s elimination round at the Olympics.
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals to face the winner of Serbia’s quarterfinal matchup against Australia, tipping off at 11 a.m. CEST/5 a.m. EDT.
The other quarterfinal matchups are Spain versus Belgium at 2:30 p.m. CEST/8:30 a.m. EDT and Germany facing France at 6 p.m. CEST/12 p.m. EDT.
The winners of Spain-Belgium and France-Germany will meet in the semifinals Friday.
Men’s 400-meter final
The excitement in track and field continues with the men’s 400-meter final at 9:20 p.m. CEST/3:20 p.m. EDT at the Stade de France.
Kirani James of Grenada had the fastest time in Tuesday’s semifinals, finishing his heat in a season-best 43.78 seconds. Muzala Samukonga sprinted to the final in 43.81 seconds and set a Zambia national record. American Quincy Hall qualified at 43.95.
Additionally, the men’s discus final will start at 8:25 p.m. CEST/2:25 p.m. EDT, and the men’s steeplechase final will round out the day’s action at 9:43 p.m. CEST/3:43 p.m. EDT.
Lin Yu-ting’s semifinal bout
Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan fights Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey in a women’s 57-kilogram semifinal at 9:30 p.m. CEST/3:30 p.m. EDT at Roland Garros.
Lin and fellow boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria have been at the center of a clash over gender identity and regulations in sports, as critics have brought up their disqualification from the world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Association claimed they failed unspecified eligibility tests for women’s competition.
Lin won her opening Olympic boxing bout, beating Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan 5-0. She then defeated Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria 5-0 to advance to the semis and ensure she will win at least a bronze medal.
Khelif also clinched a medal when she won an emotional bout against Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary.
Olympic boxing does not stage bronze-medal bouts, so the losers of both semifinal fights receive bronze.
Lin is a two-time Olympian who did not medal in Tokyo in 2021. She has not spoken about the controversy during her Paris run but said after the quarterfinals that she is focused on winning a gold medal.