Jesse Squire | On 16, Aug 2016

Tonight is hurdles night. Could Devon Allen be the new star?

Welcome to the fifth of our daily Olympic track and field viewer’s guides. We’re here to help you find out what, when, how, who and why to watch all of the action.

Today’s highlights:

Morning finals include the men’s triple jump and women’s discus.
Evening finals include the men’s high jump, women’s 1500 meters, and men’s 110 meter hurdles.

TV coverage

Things are always in flux, but these are what the current listings say. All times are Eastern.

NBC, 10:00-11:30am (live)
NBC, 8:00pm-midnight (live and tape delay)

You have plenty of other viewing options as well, mainly via the internet.

Important links

The IAAF’s live results page is awesome, bookmark it.
You also need our own Non-Track Fan’s Guides to the Olympics for men and women, even if you’re already a track fan.

Morning Session

The Schedule

Track and field competition schedules are best understood in a visual format since the sport is a sort of three-ring circus, with many things happening at once.

The basics are that competition begins at 8:30am (Eastern time) and goes until about noon.

8:30am: Women’s 5000 meter heats

Qualifying format: The top five in each of two heats plus the next five fastest will qualify to the final.
The favorites: Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia), Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya), Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia), Mercy Cherono (Kenya), Hellen Obiri (Kenya), Yasemin Can (Turkey), Yeshaneh Ababel (Ethiopia)
Americans: Kim Conley, Abbey D’Agostino, Shelby Houlihan
Canadians: Jessica O’Connell, Andrea Seccafien

8:45am: Women’s pole vault qualifying

Qualifying format: The finalists will be the top twelve or everyone over 4.60 meters (15′ 1″), whichever is more.
The favorites: Jenn Suhr (USA), Sandi Morris (USA), Yarisley Silva (Cuba), Fabiana Murer (Brazil), Ekateríni Stefanídi (Greece), Alana Boyd (Australia), Eliza McCartney (New Zealand)
Americans: Suhr, Morris, Lexi Weeks
Canadians: Kelsie Ahbe, Anicka Newell, Alysha Newman
Gold medal favorite Jenn Suhr is battling a nasty virus and it may take Michael Jordan-type heroics to get through qualifying.

8:50 am: Men’s triple jump final

The favorites: Christian Taylor (USA), Will Claye (USA), Dong Bin (China), Alexis Copello (Cuba)
Americans: Taylor, Claye, Chris Benard
Canadians: none
Bet worth taking: A Claye win pays 4:1.
Taylor is a huge favorite to win, and Claye is probably the next best in the field. The evening could be a bit of a Gator chomp, since both were teammates at Florida.

9:30am: Men’s 1500 meter heats

Qualifying format: The first six in each of three heats plus the next six fastest will qualify to the semifinals.
The favorites: Asbel Kiprop (Kenya), Elijah Manangoi (Kenya), Abdelaati Iguider (Morocco), Taoufik Makhloufi (Algeria), Matthew Centrowitz (USA), Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya), Nick Willis (New Zealand)
Americans: Centrowitz, Robby Andrews, Ben Blankenship
Canadians: Nate Brannen, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot

10:05am: Women’s 100m hurdles heats

Qualifying format: The first three in each of six heats plus the next six fastest will go to the semifinals.
The favorites: Brianna Rollins (USA), Kristi Castlin (USA), Nia Ali (USA), Cindy Roleder (Germany), Alina Talay (Belarus), Tiffany Porter (Great Britain), Cindy Ofili (Great Britain)
Americans: Rollins, Castlin, Ali
Canadians: Phylicia George, Nikkita Holder, Angela Whyte
The USA is so strong in this event that the 6th-place finisher at the Olympic Trials recently broke the world record. If you want an outsider to pull for in the heats, Angela Whyte is your woman; this is her 16th year of competing at the international level.

10:20am: Women’s discus final

The favorites: Sandra Perkovic (Croatia), Denia Caballero (Cuba), Julia Fischer (Germany), Dani Samuels (Australia), Nadine Müller (Germany)
Americans: none
Canadians: none
Bet worth taking: A Dani Samuels medal pays 5:2.
Perkovic is a strong favorite to win and at times throws distances not seen since the fall of the Eastern Block.

Men’s 200 meter heats

Qualifying format: The top two in each of ten (!) heats plus the next four fastest qualify to the semifinals.
The favorites: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Justin Gatlin (USA), LaShawn Merritt (USA), Alonso Edward (Panama), Andre De Grasse (Canada), Miguel Francis (Antigua)
Americans: Gatlin, Merritt, Ameer Webb
Canadians: De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendan Rodney

Evening Session

The Schedule

There are three big finals tonight, the men’s high jump, women’s 1500 meters, and men’s 110 meter hurdles.

7:30pm: Men’s high jump final

The favorites: Bogdan Bondarenko (Ukraine), Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), Derek Drouin (Canada), Erik Kynard (USA), Guowei Zhang (China)
American: Kynard
Canadian: Drouin
Bet worth taking: Kynard pays 10:1 to win.
The vertical jumps are always a little hard to predict, but it certainly appears that the medals will come from the five favorites listed above. Barshim and Bondarenko have the most upside, but haven’t been clearing the same stunning heights this year that they did in 2014. Kynard used to be the most inconsistent of the top jumpers but retooled over the winter and is now one of the most consistent.

7:35pm: Women’s javelin throw qualifying

Qualifying format: Two groups throw at 7:35 and 8:50pm, with the top twelve overall going to the final and 63.00 meters (206′ 8″) doing so automatically.
The favorites: Tatsiana Khaladovich (Belarus), Linda Stahl (Germany), Barbora Spotáková (Czech Republic) , Sunette Viljoen (South Africa), Kathryn Mitchell (Australia), Christina Obergföll (Germany)
Americans: Kara Winger, Brittany Borman, Maggie Malone
Canadians: Liz Gleadle
Winger an Gleadle should get to the final. Borman and Malone could do it with near-PR throws.

7:40pm: Men’s 110 Hurdles semifinals

Qualifying format: The top two in each of three heats plus the next two fastest will go to the final, held later in the evening.
The favorites: Omar McLeod (Jamaica), Devon Allen (USA), Dimitri Bascou (France), Ronnie Ash (USA), Orlando Ortega (Spain), Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (France)
Americans: Allen, Ash, Jeff Porter
Canadians: Johnathan Cabral
Kevin Sully previewed this for us. The semis and the final are both tonight. McLeod has been the best of the year so far, but Allen is doing things no young hurdler has done since Skeets Nehemiah in the late 70s.

8:05pm: Women’s long jump qualifying

Qualifying format: Two groups will compete simultaneously in adjacent pits. The top 12 overall will go to the final, with 6.75 meters (22′ 1¾”) doing it automatically.
The favorites: Brittney Reese (USA), Ivana Spanovic (Serbia), Tianna Bartoletta (USA), Janay DeLoach (USA), Shara Proctor (Great Britain), Sosthene Taroum Moguenara (Germany), Christabel Nettey (Canada)
Americans: Reese, Bartoletta, DeLoach
Canadians: Nettey

8:10pm: Women’s 400m hurdle semifinals

Qualifying format: The top two in each of three heats plus the next two fastest will go to the final.
The favorites: Dalilah Muhammad (USA), Sara Slott Petersen (Denmark), Eilidh Doyle (Great Britain), Zuzana Hejnová (Czech Republic), Ashley Spencer (USA), Sydney McLaughlin (USA)
Americans: Muhammad, Spencer, McLaughlin
Canadians: Noelle Montcalm, Sage Watson
17-year-old McLaughlin will be the center of attention, but she’ll have to run a lot better here than she did in last night’s heats in order to make the final.

8:35pm: Men’s 400m hurdle semifinals

Qualifying format: The top two in each of three heats plus the next two fastest will go to the final.
The favorites: Kerron Clement (USA), Yasmani Copello Escobar (Turkey), Javier Culson (Puerto Rico), Nicholas Bett (Kenya)
Americans: Clement, Byron Robinson
Canadians: none

9:00pm: Women’s 200 meter semifinals

Qualifying format: The top two in each of three heats plus the next two fastest will go to the final.
The favorites: Dafne Schippers (Holland), Elaine Thompson (Jamaica), Tori Bowie (USA), Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain), Deajah Stevens (USA), Jenna Prandini (USA)
Americans: Bowie, Stevens, Prandini
Canadian: Crystal Emmanuel

9:30pm: Women’s 1500 meter final

The favorites: Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia), Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), Jenny Simpson (USA), Laura Muir (Great Britain), Sifan Hassan (Holland), Dawit Seyaum (Ethiopia)
Americans: Simpson, Shannon Rowbury
Canadians: none
Bet worth taking: A Simpson medal pays 14:1.
Kevin Sully previewed this for us. In short, Dibaba looks all but unbeatable. Expect the chattering classes to have something to say about this, and with good reason. After her, it’s still a middle-distance race which means to expect the unexpected.

9:45pm: Men’s 110m hurdle final

This is another of the few events which conduct semis and finals in the same night. I’m not sure who that favors, if anyone.