Usain Bolt will make his first appearance at the Rio Olympics in the 100m Heats, but he will not be the only big name on show, as the women's 100m final, with Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce looking to defend her title, and the men's 10,000m final, led by Mo Farah, will also be ready to continue the rock and roll start that athletics had on day one in Rio 2016.
Almaz Ayana was the woman who astounded everyone with a run for the ages on Friday, winning the women's 10,000m title by obliterating the world record. Records and chances-to-get-more-astounded are certainly possible on Saturday as well, especially with five medal events taking place at the Olympic Stadium. Apart from the women's 100m final and the men's 10,000m final, medals will also be given for the men's long jump, men's discus throw and women's heptathlon.
Get the report and final times of men's 100m HERE
Great Britain will hope for a repeat of that spectacular Saturday from the London Olympics, when Farah, in the 10,000m, Greg Rutherford, in the men's long jump, and Jessica Ennis, in the women's heptathlon, all won gold medals.
All three are in contention for the gold medal on the first athletics Saturday of the Rio Olympics as well, and with Ennis leading the field in the heptathlon after day one and Farah, well, being Farah, a repeat is certainly possible. Rutherford only scraped through to the final, after two foul jumps, but he is in the finale and Team GB will have great hopes on all three to perform again.
Perform is what Bolt always does on the big stage, and while Saturday will only bring the heats of the men's 100m, the Jamaican will be keen to qualify without any worries. Justin Gatlin and Yohan Blake are his biggest rivals to the gold medal, and they will also want as smooth a progress into the semifinals as possible.
The main focus, though, will be the women's 100m final. The three semifinals will take place earlier in the day, before the finale is scheduled at 10.27 p.m. local time (7.17 am IST next day).
Fraser-Pryce is the favourite to defend her title and with it become the first woman to win the women's 100m Olympic gold medal three times, but she will face stiff competition from the likes of English Gardner, of the USA, Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers, who Shelly-Ann will run against in Semifinal 2, and fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson.
After a disappointing first day in track and field, India will have very few competitors on Saturday. Lalita Babar and Sudha Singh will be present in the women's 3000m steeplechase heats, while Nirmala Sheoran will run in Heat 1 of the women's 400m.
Where to Watch Live
The athletics action begins at 9.30 a.m. local time (6 p.m. IST, 1.30 p.m. BST). Bolt will be on view at around 12 p.m. local time (8.30 p.m. IST). The women's 100m final is at 10.37 p.m. local time (7.17 a.m.), while the men's 10,000m final is at 9.27 p.m. local time (6.07 a.m. IST).
India: TV: Star Sports and DD National. Live Streaming: Starports.com and Hotstar.
USA: TV: NBC. Live Streaming: NBC Sports live extra, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics app.
UK and Ireland: TV: BBC. Live Streaming: BBCiPlayer.
Jamaica: TV: Television Jamaica CVM.
Brazil: TV: SporTV, Globo, Fox Sports and ESPN.
Netherlands: TV: NOS.
Australia: TV: Channel 7, 7Two and 7Mate. Live Streaming: Channel 7 online.
Germany: TV: ARD and ZDF.
