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Olympic historians are actually split on the exact medal count for the Americans. Bill Mallon has the count at 996. Infostrada has it at 997.*There hasn’t been a consensus conclusion on which is correct.
But the U.S. Olympic Committee*had the*official number at 977 before the 2016 Games began, and the U.S. has won 20 golds so far in Rio.
Either way, the U.S. could get to 1,000 on Saturday. It has a total of 16 gold medal possibilities on the day. If it gets one or two during the day, things could set up for either the men’s or women’s 4×100-meter freestyle swim team to win Summer Olympics gold medal No. 1,000.
One of the first shots for gold comes at*10:06 a.m. ET, when the U.S. is favored in the women’s eight rowing final. The U.S. men will also compete in the men’s eight rowing final at 11:27 a.m., but don’t have as great a shot at gold.
At 1:04 p.m. ET, Logan Dooley is the U.S.’s lone representative in the men’s trampoline gymnastics qualification round. If he advances, the final is at 2:42, but Dooley is not expected to contend for a medal.
Two shooting gold medals will be handed out, and the U.S. has two participants (out of over 20) in each event. The finals are at 11:30 a.m. and 2:25 p.m., both ET.
Another decent gold medal candidate is the U.S. women’s cycling team pursuit squad. They’re the second favorite in the final, which*is at*4:14 p.m. ET.
The U.S. women’s sabre fencing team is in the*quarterfinals of its*competition at 8 a.m. ET. If it*advances past the quarters and the semis, the final is at*5:15 p.m.
In track and field, the U.S. has participants in all five medal events. Among them, Jeff Henderson and Jarrion Lawson have the best shot at gold in the men’s long jump at 7:53 p.m. ET. Elsewhere, Mason Finley is an underdog in the men’s discus in the morning at 9:50 a.m.*Galen Rupp is the Americans’*best bet in the men’s 10,000-meter at 8:27 p.m. English Gardner and Torie Bowie are the top two U.S. participants in the women’s 100-meter at 9:37. And Barbara Nwaba is one of three Americans competing in the women’s heptathlon.
The U.S. has four shots at gold in the swimming pool too. Simone Manuel will go for her second gold in the women’s 50-meter freestyle at 9:03 p.m. ET. Connor Jaeger and Jordan Wilimovsky will swim in*the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final at 9:11. All three are underdogs. But*both the U.S. women’s and men’s 4×100 medley relay teams are heavy favorites in their finals at 9:49 and 10:04 respectively.
We’ll continue to update this article*throughout the day as the results of the various events come in.
When the U.S. does reach the 1,000 mark, whether it’s Saturday or Sunday, the achievement will highlight the remarkable dominance of American athletes at the Summer Games. Here’s a look at the all-time Summer Olympics gold medal top 10 heading into Saturday:
United States — 997
Soviet Union — 395
Great Britain — 243
China — 214
France — 207
Italy — 202
Germany — 180
Hungary — 172
East Germany — 153
Sweden — 144
The U.S. has more than*2,400 Summer Olympic medals overall, nearly 1,100 combined Summer and Winter Olympic gold medals, and more than*2,700 total Olympic medals.