What to Watch For: Day 7

From 9:00 to 9:30 during tonight’s primetime coverage of the Olympics NBC is airing the following “Russian-born Nastia Luikin and fellow countrywoman Shawn Johnson join Bob Costas to reflect on last night’s women’s gymnastics all-around final and perhaps look forward to 2012.” Couldn’t get more boring, right? Well, actually the most exciting Olympic event that is taking place during that time period is probably Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Qualification or the Women’s Team Foil fencing. So to be honest, it’s not like we’re missing out on that much while Costas tries to sound smart by asking complicated questions to two teenage gymnasts who hardly attend classes during the school year. Anyways, don’t despair because there is a good amount of programming tonight after the aforementioned interview. In the women’s 200m backstroke final (10:03 PM ET), American’s Elizabeth Beisel and Margaret Hoelzer go for gold against a talented field that includes reigning gold medalist Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe. Then, at 10:10 PM ET, be sure to watch Michael Phelps as he goes for his seventh gold medal of these games in the 100m butterfly final. A win won’t come easy for Phelps though, as he faces stiff competition from fellow American and world-record holder Ian Crocker and Serbia’s Milorad Cavic, who had the fastest time in the semifinals. In the men’s 50m freestyle finals (10:39 PM ET), American Ben Wildman-Tobriner will go for a podium spot against a tough field of swimmers, which includes France’s Alain Bernard and Australia’s Eamon Sullivan. We’ll also get our first glimpse of track and field at these games, especially of the qualifications of men’s shot put, in which the U.S. could sweep the medals.