U.S. Women’s Basketball Begins Group Play to Highlight Monday’s Olympic Action

Although Team USA is coming off a loss in the WNBA All-Star Game, a defeat against Japan on Monday would be its first loss in the Olympics since 1992.

Diana Taurasi and Co. are looking to extend a 55-game Olympic winning streak for Team USA on Monday. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

The first weekend of the Olympics is behind us. Now that Monday is here, I’m sure many of you will have to lie to your bosses about how much you’re watching or try to sneak in bits of the best action around work tasks. I’ll do my best to make that easier for you.

Dan Gartland and I will also keep our daily recap podcasts coming. New episodes of Sports Illustrated’s Daily Rings have been published before NBC’s prime-time coverage is even over.

Here’s what I’ll be watching Monday, July 29.

This is not a comprehensive list; visit Olympics.com for a full schedule. All events will stream live on Peacock. I’ll also be tweeting out a schedule of medal events, Team USA games and other favorites each day.

My Day 3 Olympics viewing guide! Enjoy your Monday #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Y6XpRuxDQB

— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) July 29, 2024

Basketball

The U.S. women’s basketball team enters Paris looking for its eighth straight Olympic gold medal. Some more stats: How about a 70–3 all-time Olympic record, including a current 55-game winning streak that dates back to 1992? 

Of course, the last time we saw them in action, they lost to the WNBA all-star team. But that may be even more reason to check out how this stacked team responds. A few of their stars include Diana Taurasi (on her sixth Olympic team), Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum (who won gold playing 3x3 hoops in Tokyo). They’ll start their Olympic schedule against Japan at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Rugby

The U.S. women opened their tournament Sunday with a pair of dominant wins, 36–7 over Japan and 24–5 over Brazil. They’ll play one final pool game against France at 9:30 a.m. ET and then a quarterfinal in the afternoon. While the U.S. is assured of advancing, the morning game will have an impact on seeding.

The U.S. women have been knocked out in the quarterfinal round in each of the past two Olympics. No U.S. team—men’s or women’s—has reached the semis since rugby sevens was introduced to the Olympics in 2016. A quarterfinal win would set up the chance to play for a medal on Tuesday.

U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston is looking to add a gold medal to his legendary resume. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Skateboarding

The men’s street final was postponed 48 hours because of rain Saturday, but will finally take place Monday morning. The women were on the course Sunday, so if you watched you are already familiar with an event that has them riding around ramps, railings and stairs, collecting scores for both runs and tricks. 

One name to keep an eye on: Team USA’s Nyjah Huston. He’s 29 (twice the age of women’s gold medalist Yoshizawa Coco) and already a legend in the sport. He’s won six gold medals at world championships and 12 golds at Summer X Games, and an Olympic medal is the one thing he’s missing after falling short when the sport debuted in Tokyo. The men's street gold medal round starts at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Lightning round

• It’s another big night in the pool. A pair of 2016 gold medalists will look to recapture their titles in their respective events: Lilly King in the women’s 100m breaststroke and Ryan Murphy in the men’s 100m backstroke. We’ll also see the men’s 200 free, women’s 200 free and women’s 400 IM finals.

• Seven-year NBA veteran Chase Budinger will make his Olympic beach volleyball debut alongside Miles Evans against a French duo at 10:00 a.m. ET.

• After the U.S. took gold and silver in women’s foil fencing Sunday, Team USA has another medal shot in the men’s foil with Nick Itkin.

• The men’s mountain bike cross-country race starts at 8:10 a.m. ET.

• The men’s gymnastics team final, featuring Team USA and star Fred Richard, starts at 11:30 a.m. ET.