A fan’s guide to Friday’s must-see action

Canada’s big shot:

Dylan Armstrong has spent the past four years looking to get that one extra centimetre. That’s how much Canada’s shot put star missed the podium by in Beijing 2008, with a 21.04-metre throw. Last year, Armstrong used all of his six-foot-four, 345-lb. body to throw 22.21-metres at the Canadian Championship, the best throw in the world in 2011. One year later, Armstrong has one day to make history.

Approximate time to watch: Men’s shot put finals: 3:20 p.m. Eastern/12:20 p.m. Pacific

Waterworld marathon:

Imagine swimming non-stop for 15 minutes. That’s what Ryan Cochrane will do when he jumps into the 1,500-metre heats. Four years ago, a 19-year-old Cochrane surprised everyone with a then-Olympic record in his heat. For the finals, had already spent too much energy and won bronze. This time, look for Canada’s golden hope in the pool to race more strategically en route to the finals.

Approximate time to watch: Men’s swimming 1500m freestyle heats – TSN 5:20 a.m. Eastern/2:20 a.m. Pacific

Another race for rowing hardware:

David Calder and and Scott Frandsen are looking to add to Canada’s rowing hardware. The men’s and women’s eight both took silver, and now this pair has their shot at gold. The duo had the fourth best qualifying time in the semi-finals, and only 0.01 from the No. 3 spot.

Approximate time to watch: Rowing men’s pair finals – CTV 5:20 a.m. Eastern/2:20 a.m. Pacific

Update: Calder and Frandsen finish in 6th place.

Korean Bulls-eye:

No one from South Korea has ever one a men’s individual archery gold medal. The best hope at breaking this drought is Im Dong-Hyun, the archer best known for his incredibly poor vision (20/200 in his left eye, 20/100 in his right). Forget his eyesight: Im broke the world record for 72-arrows mere hours before the opening ceremony with a score of 699. World records are one thing, but writing his name into South Korea’s archery history books would be another.

Approximate time to watch: Archery men’s individual finals (watch online) 10:30 a.m. Eastern/7:30 a.m. Pacific

Update: Im Dong-Hyun suffers a shocking loss to Holland’s Rick van der Ven in the 1/8 finals.

Win or go home for Canadian soccer:

Canada trailed Sweden in their final group match 2-0 from two shots. It took the next 70 minutes to work back and grind out a tie 2-2 against the elite team. With the single point, Canada qualified for the knockout round, despite finishing third in their group. Now, they are up against the host nation, UK, who won all three of their group matches, including a opening match versus Brazil. Canada has no problem going up against the heavy home crowd, but they’ll hope to silence them once 90 minutes have been played.

Approximate time to watch: Wonen’s soccer quarterfinals, Canada vs. Japan – OLN 2:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Pacific.

Thursdays recap:

Gymnastics History: Gabrielle Douglas is the first African-American women to win Olympic gold in an all-around gymnastics event. The 16-year-old broke an Olympic record in the process of becoming the third American in a row to win gymnastics’s highest feat, a mere two days after winning gold with the U.S. team.

Simply the (2nd) best: Canadian rowers love silver. Following the men’s eight silver-medal performance on Wednesday, the women’s eight followed suit. Both teams were up against countries with long unbeaten streaks (the German men and American women), and couldn’t pull off the upset. Canada’s only two silver medals so far have come from or rowing eight’s, so everyone can bask in this amazing feat while the country waits for gold.