A school-record 16 current and former Princeton athletes will take part in the 2012 London Olympics, representing three countries in five different sports. Over the coming weeks, these Tigers will compete against their peers on the world’s biggest stage. Don’t miss a single game or event with our handy viewer’s guide:
(All starts listed in Eastern Time. Every competition will be streamed live on nbcolympics.com for cable subscribers; many events will also be shown on the old-fashioned television, often on tape delay.)
July 25: Women’s Soccer, Canada vs. Japan, noon — The first games of the Games are held in women’s soccer, which begins two days before the opening ceremonies to accommodate a 16-day tournament. Diana Matheson ’08 and the Canadian team will face Japan, the reigning World Cup champion, in the second overall competition of the 2012 Olympics. At the same time, check out the opener for the gold-medal favorite US team, which trained at Roberts Stadium this spring.
July 27: Opening Ceremonies, 4 p.m. (televised at 7:30) — Thousands of athletes from around the world will gather inside Olympic Stadium to officially kick off the Games. This year’s introduction will feature, among other things, 70 sheep and dozens of other assorted farm animals.
July 28: Women’s Pair rowing heats, 4:30 a.m. — Sara Hendershot ’10 won’t be partying too late during the opening ceremonies; she and teammate Sarah Zelenka begin competition in the women’s pair Saturday morning. After qualifying with a comeback victory at the US trials, the duo has a shot to take home some Olympic hardware. Other rowers in a similar boat, so to speak, with an early start include Sam Loch ’06 (Australian men’s eight, 5:10), Robin Prendes ’11 (US men’s lightweight four, 6:00) and Gevvie Stone ’07 (US women’s single sculls, 9:10).
Other events: Women’s Soccer, Canada vs. South Africa, 9:45 a.m.
July 29: Women’s Field Hockey, U.S. vs. Germany, 4:15 p.m. — Senior Katie Reinprecht and junior Julia Reinprecht (with junior Michelle Cesan, the team’s alternate, looking on) will become the first Princetonians to play field hockey at the Olympics since a quintet of men competed at the 1936 Berlin Games. (Another Tiger, Nate Franks ’07, is a member of the team’s coaching staff.) The Americans open against a tough German side, which won gold in 2004.
Other events: Men’s Lightweight Four repechages, 4:40 a.m.; Women’s Eight heats, 6:50.
July 30: Women’s Individual Epee, 5:30 a.m. — The field of 64 competitors, including junior Susie Scanlan and Maya Lawrence ’02, will be whittled down throughout the day, with the medal rounds starting around 2 p.m. Neither Scanlan, who left Princeton in the spring of 2011 to focus on Olympic qualification, nor Lawrence is ranked in the world’s top 25.
Also making his debut Monday will be Glenn Ochal ’08, rowing with the US men’s four at 5:40 a.m.
Other events: Men’s Eight repechages, 4:50.
July 31: Women’s Field Hockey, U.S. vs. Argentina, 2 p.m. — The second field hockey game, which will be shown live on MSNBC, is a rematch of last October’s Pan-American Games final, in which the Americans stunned then-top-ranked Argentina 4-2 to earn a trip to London. The U.S. may need to conjure some similar magic; only two teams from each group advance, and Argentina and Germany are both ranked in the world’s top three (America is 10th).
Other events: Women’s Single Sculls quarterfinals, 6:40 a.m.; Men’s Lightweight Four semis, 7:40; Women’s Soccer, Canada vs Sweden, 9:30.
Aug. 1: Men’s Individual Epee, 4 a.m. — You’ll have to wake up awfully early to see the first bouts for Soren Thompson ’05, but you might have more chances in the later rounds. Thompson, who finished seventh in the 2004 Olympics but missed the Beijing Games with a hamstring injury, has been ranked as high as seventh this year and has an outside shot to reach the podium.
Other events: Women’s Pair final, 6:50 a.m.; Men’s Eight final, 7:30.
Aug. 2: Women’s Eight rowing final, 7:30 a.m. — Princeton’s best chance for a medal comes on the sixth full day of competition. Not only will Caroline Lind ’06 attempt to win her second gold with the American eight, which has won five straight world championships, but the top challenger may be Canada, which features Andreanne Morin ’06 and Lauren Wilkinson ’11.
Other events: Men’s Four semis, 5:10 a.m.; Women’s Field Hockey, U.S. vs. Australia, 5:45; Women’s Single Sculls semis, 6:10.
Aug. 3: Men’s Steeplechase prelims, 8:30 a.m. — Donn Cabral ’12 has done amazing things this year: he anchored two winning races at Penn Relays, helped Princeton claim three Ivy League titles, won an NCAA championship in the steeplechase and qualified for London. He’ll run his biggest race yet on Friday. Reaching the final is not an unreasonable goal for Cabral, even if the odds are slightly against him; only two Americans have advanced out of the steeple prelims in the past three Olympics combined.
Other events: Women’s Soccer quarterfinal: Canada vs. Britain, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 4: Women’s Team Epee, 5:30 a.m. — Due to some quirks in the Olympic scheduling, only two of the three weapons are contested at the team level; as a result, Thompson and the men will not compete in a team epee competition, but the women will. That may be good news for the US team, including Scanlan and Lawrence, which is ranked fifth worldwide and came within a whisker of a medal at the most recent World Cup.
Other events: Men’s Four final, 6:30; Women’s Field Hockey vs. New Zealand, 2 p.m.
Aug. 5: Men’s Steeplechase final, 4:25 p.m. — If Cabral reaches the final, he’ll be playing with house money in a race that could end in a Kenyan sweep. Keep an eye on Evan Jager; the 23-year-old ran his first steeplechase less than four months ago, beat Cabral to win the event at the US trials and then set the American record in a blazing eight minutes, 6.81 seconds last week.
Aug. 6: Women’s Soccer semifinals, Canada vs. U.S., 2:45 p.m. — After going a disappointing 0-3 in last summer’s World Cup, the Canadian national side should be thrilled to reach the semifinals.
Other events: Women’s Field Hockey vs. South Africa, 5:45 a.m.
Aug. 8: Field Hockey semis/consolations, time TBD — The Princeton competitors start thinning out once the first week is over and the rowing events have been completed. Fun fact: Julia Reinprecht and Cesan are the two youngest players on the American field hockey roster.
Aug. 9: Women’s Soccer medal round, time TBD — After a convincing victory over Britain in the quarterfinals, Canada will be playing for a medal on Thursday, whether it is gold or bronze.
Aug. 10: Field Hockey medal round/consolations, time TBD — It will be a surprise if the U.S. plays for metallic rewards, but the team has already shocked the field hockey world once. Even if America doesn’t grab one of the top two spots in group play, it will have one more game on either Aug. 8 or Aug. 10, as consolation matches are also held for spots 5-12.
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