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What to watch on Day 14 of the Tokyo Olympics

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JapanтАЩs womenтАЩs basketball team looks to book a spot in the gold medal game, while action at the National Stadium continues with the menтАЩs and womenтАЩs 4├Ч100-meter relays as we head into the final three days of competition at the Tokyo Games.

Here are the key events to look out for on Day 14.

If youтАЩre wondering where to watch the action in Japan, check your local TV listings or make use of this handy streaming guide from The Japan Times.

Sport climbing: Hitting the wall

A night after Tomoa Narasaki came agonizingly close to taking one of the first three sport climbing medals at the Olympics, JapanтАЩs Miho Nonaka and Akiyo Noguchi will look to get Japan on the board in one of the debut sports at these Games.

The climbing competition combines speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing, multiplying each competitorтАЩs final ranks to determine their score.

ItтАЩs a format that has received mixed reviews from the athletes, but the menтАЩs final didnтАЩt lack for drama, and viewers can expect more of the same when the womenтАЩs competition gets underway at 5:30 p.m.

Japan's Akiyo Noguchi competes in the women's sport climbing lead qualification on Wednesday. | AFP-JIJI
JapanтАЩs Akiyo Noguchi competes in the womenтАЩs sport climbing lead qualification on Wednesday. | AFP-JIJI

Basketball: Midnight for Cinderella?

The Akatsuki Five have shocked many with their performance at these Games, with a thrilling quarterfinal win over Belgium putting them a step away from the gold medal game in womenтАЩs basketball.

Team Japan may be lacking in size but it has discovered a winning formula with a combination of speed, 3-point shooting and tenacious defense.

And donтАЩt tell head coach Tom Hovasse that JapanтАЩs success comes as a surprise.

тАЬIтАЩve told all these players and everybody in the locker room to believe,тАЭ Hovasse said. тАЬAnd if you have that belief in each other, if you have that belief in yourself, if you have that belief in the staff, you can do a lot of things.тАЭ

Action at Saitama Super Arena starts at 8 p.m. Earlier, the U.S. takes on Serbia in the other womenтАЩs semifinal.

Soccer: Japan hungry for bronze

The color of medal that JapanтАЩs menтАЩs soccer team had their eyes on may be off the table, with Spain showing that Japanese soccer still has a way to go when it comes to closing the gap with the worldтАЩs best, but thereтАЩs little doubt the team is hungry to come away from the Tokyo Games with bronze.

Japan hasnтАЩt won a medal in menтАЩs soccer since 1968, and as the JTтАЩs Dan Orlowitz writes, the teamтАЩs young players are keen to make sure overagers like captain Maya Yoshida and Hiroki Sakai reach the podium.

тАЬIтАЩm sure this loss is more frustrating for Maya and Hiroki than it is for any of us,тАЭ midfielder Takefusa Kubo said after the loss to Spain. тАЬI want to give them a bronze medal.тАЭ

The bronze medal match against Mexico begins at 8 p.m.

Elsewhere, after a schedule and venue change in order to avoid the hottest part of the day, Sweden is scheduled to take on Canada in the gold medal match of the womenтАЩs soccer tournament at 9 p.m. in Yokohama.

Athletics: Track heats up

The second-last night of athletics in Tokyo features a juicy lineup of enticing races and field events.

Six sets of medals will be handed out in the evening with the finals of the womenтАЩs and menтАЩs 4├Ч100-meter relays starting at 10:30 p.m. and 10:50 p.m., respectively.

Oblique Seville of Jamaica runs toward victory in the heats of the men's 4x100-meter relay on Thursday with Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain and Yuki Koike of Japan trailing behind. | REUTERS
Oblique Seville of Jamaica runs toward victory in the heats of the menтАЩs 4├Ч100-meter relay on Thursday with Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain and Yuki Koike of Japan trailing behind. | REUTERS

Much of Japan will be focused on the menтАЩs event, with Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryu and Yuki Koike posting a season-best 38.16 to qualify for the final. The silver medalists in Rio will start from Lane 9.

One menтАЩs team that wonтАЩt be passing the baton under the bright lights of the National Stadium is the pre-Olympic favorite U.S., following what sprinting legend Carl Lewis called an тАЬembarrassingтАЭ performance in the heats.

On the womenтАЩs side, JamaicaтАЩs Elaine Thompson-Herah has her eyes on a third gold medal of the Games, with a strong U.S. team potentially standing in the way.

Other finals include the menтАЩs 5,000 meters, the womenтАЩs javelin, the womenтАЩs 400 meters and the womenтАЩs 1,500 meters.

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