PARIS, France — The track and field competition will be off and running on Friday including the long-awaited Olympic debut for Sha'Carri Richardson.
Here's some of the key events coming up on Friday, Aug. 2 at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
When is Sha'Carri Richardson running?
Richardson missed the Tokyo Games because of a positive marijuana test at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials. She will debut as the favorite in the women's 100-meter dash in a first-round heat that starts at 11:50 a.m. CEST (5:50 a.m. EDT).
Richardson is the reigning world champion in the event, and her 10.71-second sprint at the U.S. trials in June made her the fastest woman in the world this year.
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica said Wednesday she will not run in the 100, where she was expected to challenge Richardson for gold. Richardson will still face tough competition from three-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, who has won the race twice. Fraser-Pryce is competing in her fifth and final Olympics.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, the two-time reigning Olympic champion in the 100 and 200, will miss the Paris Games because of an injury.
Medals will also be handed out Friday in the men’s 10,000-meter competition.
Swimming medals on the line
Over in the pool, it’s time to crown the world’s fastest swimmer in the men’s 50-meter freestyle.
Plus, more swimming medals are on the line including in the women’s 200-meter backstroke and men’s 200-meter individual medley.
And BMX racing will crown their men’s and women’s Summer Games champions.
U.S. men's soccer quarterfinal matchup
The U.S. men's soccer team will play Morocco in its first Olympic quarterfinal match in 24 years — since the 2000 Sydney Games.
The Americans are playing in the Olympics for the first time since 2008. They bounced back from their opening loss to France by winning back-to-back games against New Zealand and Guinea.
The match is set to begin at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. EDT) in Paris.
The other men's quarterfinal matchups are Japan vs. Spain starting at 5 p.m. CEST (11 a.m. EDT) at Lyon Stadium; and Egypt vs. Paraguay starting at 7 p.m. CEST (1 p.m. EDT) at Marseille Stadium.
A clash between bitter soccer rivals France and Argentina at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. EDT) at Bordeaux Stadium will round out the night. It's a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final in which Argentina won in a penalty shootout.