MICHAEL PHELPS COULD SWIM FOR HIS RECORD-TYING SEVENTH GOLD MEDAL LIVE IN PRIMETIME FRIDAY ON NBC

MICHAEL PHELPS COULD SWIM FOR HIS RECORD-TYING SEVENTH GOLD MEDAL LIVE IN PRIMETIME FRIDAY ON NBC

Dara Torres in the 50m Freestyle Semifinal & Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, All Live

First Night of Track & Field with Shot Put Gold Medal Final

BEIJING � August 14, 2008 � NBC's primetime coverage of the Beijing Olympics Friday begins at 8 p.m. ET/PT featuring live swimming gold medal finals: men's 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle and women's 200m backstroke and 800m freestyle. Michael Phelps will swim for what could tie Mark Spitz's 36-year old record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics. Phelps could face stiff competition from USA's Ian Crocker, who holds the world-record in this event. Also, in the 50m freestyle, the fastest men in the pool compete and if both Garrett Weber-Gale and Ben Wildman-Tobriner make it through the semifinal Thursday night they will be in contention for the gold. Also, Dara Torres will swim live in the 50m freestyle semifinal. Also live, is beach volleyball and USA men's volleyball taking on China. Track & Field kicks off with shot put in what could be a USA sweep with reigning world champion Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson and Christian Cantwell in the gold medal final and day one of the heptathlon.

Friday's coverage continues with the following:

NBC DAYTIME: Friday in daytime, Tyson Gay makes his first appearance of the Games in the first round of the 100m with Jamaicans Usain "Lightning" Bolt and Asafa Powell as his strongest competition. Also, swimming preliminaries continue and reigning world champion USA women's water polo takes on Russia.

NBC LATENIGHT: Featured in latenight, the women's 10,000m gold medal final in track & field and springboard diving competition.

CABLE: Live on cable, USA women's competition dominates. On CNBC, reigning Olympic gold medalist USA softball takes on Japan. On USA Network, USA women's soccer meets Canada in the quarterfinal and USA women's basketball looks to take down Spain. On MSNBC, women's volleyball keeps the USA vs. China rivalry exciting. Also on MSNBC, Rafael Nadal (ESP) takes on Novak Djokovic (SER) and James Blake (USA) meets Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) in men's tennis.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15 � DAY 7

NBC and NBC HD

10:00 p.m. � 1:00 p.m. Swimming Track & Field Women's Water Polo � USA vs. Russia

8:00 p.m. � Midnight Swimming � Gold Medal Finals (LIVE) Men's 100m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle Women's 200m Backstroke, 800m Freestyle Track and Field � Men's Shot Put Gold Medal Final Heptathlon Day 1 Beach Volleyball (LIVE) Men's Volleyball � USA vs. China (LIVE) *Note: LIVE Swimming Semifinal Women's 50m Freestyle

12:35 a.m. � 2:00 a.m. Women's Track & Field � 10,000m Gold Medal Final Women's Diving � Springboard Competition

CNBC and CNBC HD

Midnight � 4:30 a.m. Softball � USA vs. Japan (LIVE) Boxing � 57kg, 60kg Competition (LIVE)

5:00 p.m. � 8:00 p.m. Boxing � 57kg, 60kg Competition

USA and USA HD

2:00 a.m. � Noon Women's Soccer - Quarterfinal USA vs. Canada (LIVE) Women's Basketball � USA vs. Spain (LIVE) Softball - USA vs. Canada Women's Beach Volleyball - Tian Jia/Wang (CHN) vs. Nila/Ingrid (NOR) Ana Paula/Larissa (BRA) vs. Pohl/Rau (GER) Men's Archery � Individual Gold Medal Final Wome's Badminton - Doubles Gold Medal Final Cycling � Track Gold Medal Final Rowing - Semifinals (LIVE) Men's Canoeing - C-2 Whitewater Competition

MSNBC

5:00 a.m. � 5:00 p.m. Women's Volleyball � USA vs. China (LIVE) Women's Soccer � Quarterfinal China vs. Japan (LIVE) uarterfinal Norway vs. Brazil Baseball - USA vs. Cuba Tennis - Semifinals Nadal (ESP) vs. Djokovic (SRB) Blake (USA) vs. Gonzalez (CHI) Women's Water Polo � China vs. Italy (LIVE)

OXYGEN

6:00 p.m. � 8:00 p.m. Equestrian � Jumping Competition Tennis � Semifinal Gymnastics on Oxygen

TELEMUNDO

2:00 a.m. � 6:00 a.m. Swimming � Gold Medal Finals Baseball � USA vs. Cuba Women's Gymnastics � Individual All-Around Competition

8:00 a.m. � Noon Women's Soccer - Quarterfinal (LIVE) Beach Volleyball Boxing

Midnight � 1:00 a.m. TBA

UNIVERSAL HD

24-hour MSNBC & CNBC HD Simulcasts and Coverage

NBC OLYMPIC BASKETBALL CHANNEL

2:30 a.m. � 2:30 p.m. Women's Qualfiying Round 2:30 a.m. � 4:15 a.m. Russia vs. Brazil (LIVE) 4:45 a.m. - 6:30 a.m. China vs. Mali (LIVE) 6:30 a.m. � 8:00 a.m. Czech Republic vs. New Zealand 8:00 a.m. � 9:45 a.m. USA vs. Spain (LIVE) 10:15 a.m. � 12:00 p.m. S. Korea vs. Belarus (LIVE) 12:00 p.m. � 1:45 p.m. Latvia vs. Australia 1:45 p.m. � 2:30 p.m. USA vs. Spain (2nd half re-air)

NBC OLYMPIC SOCCER CHANNEL

6:00 a.m. � 6:00 p.m. Women's Quarterfinals 6:00 a.m. � 8:00 a.m. Match #1 (LIVE) 9:00 a.m. � 10:45 a.m. Match #2 (LIVE) 10:45 a.m. � 12:30 p.m. Match #3 12:30 p.m. � 2:15 p.m. Match #4 2:15 p.m. � 4:00 p.m. USA Match Re-air 4:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. Match of the Day (re-air)

NBCOlympics.com - LIVE STREAMING BROADBAND COVERAGE:

Men's Archery � Individual Competition, Semifinals & Gold Medal Final Men's & Women's Badminton � Semifinals & Gold Medal Finals Baseball Women's Fencing � Team Foil Competition Men's Fencing � Team Epee Semifinal & Gold Medal Final Men's & Women's Field Hockey Men's Judo - +100kg Competition & Gold Medal Final Women's Judo - +78kg Competition & Gold Medal Final Sailing Men's Shooting � 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Competition & Gold Medal Final Skeet Competition Women's & Men's Basketball Cycling � Track Events Equestrian � Individual Jumping Competition Women's & Men's Handball Women's Soccer Softball Men's Table Tennis � Team Competition Women's Table Tennis � Team Competition Team Bronze Competition Men's & Women's Tennis � Semifinals Women's Weightlifting � 75kg Men's Weightlifting � 85kg Women's Wrestling � Freestyle 48kg 55kg Competition Water Polo

NBC PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS:

If all has proceeded according to plan so far, Michael Phelps' quest for a potential record-tying seventh gold medal may have to go through teammate and world record-holder Ian Crocker in the 100m butterfly in one of his most critical tests at the Beijing Olympics. Meanwhile, in what feels like a heavyweight boxing match, the sprinters take to the pool to determine who is the "World's Fastest Swimmer" in a thrashing, all-out race from wall to wall in the 50m freestyle. The American contenders are first-time Olympians Garrett Weber-Gale and Ben Wildman-Tobriner. They will try to out-sprint rising stars Eamon Sullivan of Australia and "The Hovercraft" Alain Bernard of France. Plus, Dara Torres continues her remarkable comeback in the 50m freestyle semifinals.

The traditional Olympic sport of Track & Field begins this day, featuring the men's shot put, where Team USA has several medal threats. Leading the deep American team should be gentle giant Reese Hoffa, the reigning world champion, and Adam Nelson, who won the 2005 world title. Plus, day one of the heptathlon.

NBC DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS:

Here's your first look at triple world champion Tyson Gay, who ran the fastest 100m under any conditions (9.68) at the USA Olympic Trials, as he begins his pursuit of the title of "World's Fastest Man" in the 100m. Jamaicans Usain Bolt, who set the world record in New York this spring, and Asafa Powell are the other top gold medal contenders.

The reigning world champion USA Women's Water Polo Team plays its third preliminary game, this time squaring off against world bronze medalist Russia.

NBC LATENIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

In the longest race on the track this summer, Team USA has its strongest contenders in recent memory with Shalane Flanagan, the American record holder, and Kara Goucher, bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships, in the women's 10,000m.

USA NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS:

Friday night is Ladies' Night as two of the best squads from Team USA are in action. For the USA Women's Soccer Team, the pressure is turned up a notch as the elimination round begins with a quarterfinal matchup against Canada, while the USA Women's Basketball Team plays its fourth qualifying round game against Spain, both live. Both teams could stand on the top of the podium by the end of the Beijing Olympics.

MSNBC:

In one of the most compelling team sports matchups of the Beijing Olympics, the USA Women's Volleyball Team takes on host country and defending Olympic champion China, live on MSNBC. The Americans are coached by "Jenny" Lang Ping, who was the star of China's 1984 Olympic gold medal team, which defeated the USA in the final, and remains one of the most popular stars in Chinese sports history. The volleyball venue will be buzzing when China's sports hero clashes with the host country's most popular Olympic team.

CNBC LATENIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

The gold-medal favorite USA Softball Team plays Japan, one of the few countries that could block the three-time defending Olympic champs' path to a fourth straight Olympic gold medal.

OXYGEN HIGHLIGHTS:

If last night's women's all-around final left you wanting more, then Oxygen will be the place to turn for a full wrap-up and analysis of the sure to be compelling conclusion, expected to feature American gold medal contenders Shawn Johnson, the reigning world champion, and Nastia Liukin, the nine time world championship medalist.