Berks County will be well represented at the Paris Olympics starting July 27 and here’s how to watch our athletes at the Games.
There are eight athletes with ties to Berks competing — five in women’s field hockey, two in track and and field and one in swimming.
The U.S. field hockey team members from Berks are Ashley Hoffman (Twin Valley), Kelee Lepage (Twin Valley), Phia Gladieux (Oley Valley), Karlee Kisha (Hamburg) and Meredith Sholder, who played at Emmaus but hails from Berks County.
Hoffman’s mother, Brenda, played on the 1984 U.S. women’s team which won a bronze medal.
In track and field, two weightmen with Berks connections will be competing. Discus thrower Sam Mattis and shot putter Eric Favors, who will be representing Ireland, train at Garage Strength.
In swimming, Daniel Boone High School standout and current Notre Dame star Chris Guiliani will compete in three individual events and two relays for the U.S. Guiliani won the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was second in the 50 and 200 freestyles to qualify in those events. He will also swim on the U.S.’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle relay teams.
The Games officially open on Wednesday, July 24 but Berks athletes will not start competing until Saturday, July 27.
NBC has the U.S. TV rights and will be showing the Games on several of its channels and streaming live on Peacock.
All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time. Paris is six hours ahead of the eastern United States.
Women’s field hockey
There are two pools of play in the women’s tournament with the U.S. in Pool B. The top four finishers in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
The U.S. starts pool play in field hockey against against Argentina at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, July 27 with the match being shown on CNBC and streamed on Peacock.
The U.S.’s second match is against Spain at 7 a.m. Monday, July 29 with the match not only streaming on Peacock but also being shown on the USA network.
The U.S.’s third match in pool play is against Australia at 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 31 with the match being shown on E! and streamed on Peacock.
The team’s fourth match in pool play is against Great Britain at 11 a.m. Aug. 1 and will be shown on USA network and streamed on Peacock.
The U.S.’s final game in the qualifying round is at 7:15 a.m. Aug. 3 against South Africa and will be shown on USA network and streamed on Peacock.
Should the U.S. advance out of pool play, the quarterfinals are on Monday, Aug. 5.
Swimming
Daniel Boone grad Chris Guiliani will be very busy in Paris, beginning at 5 a.m. Saturday, July 27 with heats in the 4 x 100 relay which will be shown on USA. The finals are later that day at 3:50 p.m. and will be shown on NBC. Both morning and evening swim sessions will also be streamed on Peacock.
July 28: Guiliani gets into the pool at 5 a.m. for his first individual event – the heats of the 200 freestyle which will be on USA network. The semifinals in the 200 free are at 2:50 p.m. and will be shown on NBC.
July 29: If he qualifies for the 200 free finals, Guiliani will swim at 2:40 p.m. and it will be shown on NBC.
July 30: This shapes up to be a busy day for Guiliani. The 100 freestyle heats start 5 a.m. and will be shown on USA network and streamed on Peacock. Guiliani won this event at the U.S. Trials. The semifinals will be later in the day at 2:30 p.m. and shown on NBC. The heats in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay will also be held in the morning session, with the finals ending the evening program at 3:59 p.m. NBC will televise the evening session.
July 31: The men’s final in the 100 free is scheduled for 4:15 p.m., the day’s last event, and will be televised on NBC.
Aug. 1: Should Guiliani swim in the 100 freestyle finals, he won’t have long to rest with the heats in the 50 freestyle starting at 5 a.m. They will be shown on USA network. The 50 semifinals are at 2:40 p.m. and will be shown on NBC.
Aug. 2: The 50 finals are at 2:30 p.m. and will be on NBC. Unless Guiliani swims the freestyle on any of the U.S.’s medley relays, the 50 free would be his last event. The swimming competition ends Aug. 4.
Again, all sessions will also be streamed on Peacock.
Track and field
Sam Mattis will be competing in his second Olympics. He finished 8th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The University of Pennsylvania graduate and former NCAA champion will compete in the qualifying rounds on Monday, Aug. 5. Group A’s round is at 4:10 a.m. and Group B’s is at 5:35 a.m. The morning session will be shown on USA and streamed on Peacock, but the event will not be covered for each individual thrower because so many track and field events are happening at the same time.
Should Mattis, a native of East Brunswick, N.J., qualify for the finals, he will throw at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7. It will be streamed on Peacock.
Favors competes in the shot put, starting at 2:10 p.m. on Aug. 2. It will be streamed on Peacock.
The shot put finals are Saturday, Aug. 3 starting at 1:35 p.m. and will be streamed with parts of the event being covered by NBC.
Also in the men’s shot put is Penn State graduate Joe Kovacs, a native of the Lehigh Valley. Kovacs has finished second in the Olympics twice, both times to fellow American and world record holder Ryan Crouser, and has won the world championship twice and finished second twice in the world championships.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment