What to Watch - Aug. 21

Today is the 17th and final day of the XXXI Olympiad with the closing ceremonies tonight.

The men's marathon takes off at 8:30 a.m. (EST) this morning. The Americans aren't really favored to medal even though Meb Keflezighi finished fourth in London. Galen Rupp, who typically competes in distance events on the track, qualified after running his first marathon at the trials in Los Angeles. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge owns the top time in the world this year, running the 26.2 miles at 2:03:05.

At the same time, the U.S. men's volleyball team looks to follow the women's team's lead in the bronze medal match. Team USA faces Russia in the consolation game. Winner claims bronze. Loser gets nothing.

American Claressa Shields has made it to the finals in the 75 kg women's boxing division. She will defend her London gold against Nouchka Fontijn if the Netherlands at 1 p.m. (EST).

The U.S. women's basketball team won gold yesterday as the men look to do the same today. USA takes on Serbia, which is one of the teams that previously gave them trouble before, at 2:45 p.m. (EST). With all the talent on the roster, there's no question that the U.S. should win this game but that hasn't panned out in too many blowouts thus far. As long as they can remember tok play defense, they'll win gold for the third straight games. One other motivating factor, as if a gold medal wasn't enough, is that it's Coach K's last Olympic game as the Team USA head coach.

I haven't read much about the plans for the closing ceremony tonight. The closing ceremony is typically a "party" with lots of music and the athletes mixing with one another. This sounds right up Rio's alley. There is usually a part to give people a taste for the next summer games, in this case Tokyo, and the flame will be passed on to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the 2018 winter games.

Simone Biles has been selected as the flag bearer for Team USA. This is not surprising. While the opening ceremony flag bearer is typically someone with success at previous Olympics, the one for the closing ceremony is often someone with a lot of success at that particular games. Since most the swimmers leave before the end of the games, Biles made it an easy decision between her and say Katie Ledecky. Hopefully the USA has some more medals to sport at the ceremony to cap off a great games!