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Paris Preview, Monday, July 29: Men's gymnastics and more swimming showdowns

Swimmers will bring the heat in the pool and the U.S. women’s basketball team opens its pursuit of a record eighth straight gold medal.

WASHINGTON — Monday's slate for the Paris Olympics includes compelling swimming finals and a gymnastics showdown.

Here's a guide of what to look out for:

Swimming

The women's 100-meter breaststroke will kick the day off, with 2016 gold medalist Lilly King looking to regain the top spot. 

The women's 400-meter individual medley final begins at 2:30 p.m. ET at Paris La Defense Arena. Canada's Summer McIntosh is a favorite after lowering her own world record (4:24.38) at the Canadian Olympic trials in May. Qualifying heats start at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. 

Credit: AP
Summer McIntosh, of Canada, competes during a heat in the women's 400-meter freestyle at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

McIntosh also will compete in the women's 200 freestyle, the last swimming final of the night. McIntosh won her country's first medal of the Paris Olympics when she beat out the U.S.'s Katie Ledecky for silver in the 400 freestyle Saturday night.

For the men, it's the 200-freestyle final followed by the men's 100 backstroke final.

Diving

Staying in the water (or above it, as the case may be), the men's synchronized 10-meter platform diving final kicks off Monday morning. Britain's Tom Daley will attempt to defend his title with partner Noah Williams. No divers from Team USA are in the final.

Men's gymnastics finals

The U.S. men's gymnastics team has a hard act to follow after Simone Biles, Suni Lee and the rest of the U.S. women wowed Sunday in her return to the Olympic stage in the all-around qualifier. 

Team USA qualified for Monday's final, which begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The United States hoping to pull off a long-shot team bronze. In individual events, Frederick Richard and Paul Juda qualified in the all-around, and Stephen Nedoroscik qualified on the pommel horse. 

Credit: AP
Frederick Richard, of United States, look on as he competes during men's artistic gymnastics qualification round at the 2024 Olympics, July 27, 2024.

China is the favorite to win its fourth Olympic team title after posting a total of 263.028 at qualifying. Japan is a seven-time Olympic champion and finished second at 260.594. Japan's Daiki Hashimoto will defend his all-around title. The Japanese won silver in Tokyo in 2021, while China took bronze. Defending champion Russia is ineligible due to the war in Ukraine.

RELATED: Here's how Team USA, Simone Biles did in the qualifier for All-Around gymnastics

Women's basketball

The U.S. women's basketball team opens its pursuit of a record eighth straight gold medal. Team USA will face Japan at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. EST) at Pierre Mauroy Stadium. The U.S. women are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak; they haven't lost since 1992 in Barcelona. Japan took silver in Tokyo after losing to the U.S. 90-75.

The U.S. team is led by two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. Five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi returns for her sixth Games.

Also, host France will take on Canada at 5:15 p.m. CEST (11:15 a.m. EST).

Shooting 

The women's 10-meter Air Rifle shooting final could give the U.S. another chance to bring home a gold medal. Team USA's Sagen Maddalena has advanced to the finals with the fourth-highest score during the qualifier. 

Biking 

Two U.S. athletes will race in the men's cross-country mountain biking competition. Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins are hoping to medal after an American cyclist took home silver in the women's cross-country competition Sunday. 

RELATED: Paris Rewind, July 27: USA wins its first medals of the 2024 Olympics

Tennis

The biggest highlight of the Roland Garros schedule is Rafael Nadal taking on Novak Djokovic in the second match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. It is the 60th meeting of the longtime tennis rivals, more than any other two men have played against each other in the sport’s Open era, which began in 1968.

Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, has 24 Grand Slam titles, making him the only man in tennis history with more than Nadal’s 22.

Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff also play on Monday.

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