London 2012: Day 5.

(A day of relative calm has found your intrepid recapper to find his job to bring him peace. Sit, relax, and meditate on tonight's primetime coverage in the ritual known as "open threading".)

Today's Olympic WTF?: "WTF do they have both canoeing and kayaking events?" They're two different things in terms of rider position, boat shell and paddle. Competitive canoeists kneel in their boat, while kayakers are seated within the shell. A canoe shell is open, while a kayak shell encloses the rower (with a watertight seal around the rower's waist in most instances). Canoe paddles are single-blade, with the rower alternating generally paddling position with each stroke (assuming the rower is attempting to move forward in a straight line, of course; in a slalom, the paddle may stay port or starboard for several strokes when necessary). Kayak paddles are double-blade, and the rower just uses whichever blade is on the right side of the boat for their steering needs, or paddles in the classic figure-eight motion when sprinting. And while you might think these things don't make much of a difference, at a world-class level they do. It's not unheard of for athletes to switch back and forth, or even compete in both boats, but it's rare. Even rarer is being good at both.

Got more WTF questions? Let me know, because I still have almost two weeks of space to fill. And now without further ado, on to the recap of Day 5, and your guide to day 6:

Archery: Khatuna Lorig beat Sherab Zam of Bhutan 6-0 in the 1/32 round, then advanced to tomorrow's 1/8 with a 6-4 win over Louise Laursen of Denmark. Jake Kaminski was not so fortunate, losing 6-5 to Moldovan Dan Olaru in the 1/32 round; Brady Ellison fared slightly better, beating Mark Javier of the Philippines 7-1 before falling by the same score to Australia's Taylor Worth. Lorig, therefore, becomes the last American standing in Archery.

Badminton: The big story of the day, of course, was the explusion from the Olympics of four women's doubles teams, including the reigning world champions, for the crime of match-fixing in order to secure more favorable quarterfinal opponents. Today featured Round of 16 singles matches, as well as quarterfinals in women's and mixed doubles.

Basketball: France opened women's group B with a 64-60 win over Canada. Australia beat Brazil 67-61 and Russia topped Great Britain 67-61. In group A, China drubbed Angola 76-52, the Czechs handled Croatia 89-70, and Team USA absolutely steamrolled Turkey, 89-58 led by 18 from Angel McCoughtry. Croatia, Angola, Great Britian, and Brazil are effectively toast; China, the US, France, and Russia are probably safely through to the quarters.

Beach Volleyball: Jason Gibb and Sean Rosenthal beat Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins in straight sets. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings beat Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria, but the unthinkable happened: they lost a set. It was the first set the pair have ever lost together in the Olympics.

Boxing: It was a disastrous day for USA Boxing. Joseph Diaz Jr lost 21-15 to Cuban Lazaro Alvarez Estrada in bantam, Michael Hunter II lost a 10-10 decision on judges' vote to Russian Artur Beterbiev in the heavyweight class, and super heavyweight Dominic Breazeale was taken down 19-8 by Russian Magomed Omarov.

Canoe/Kayak: Italy's Daniele Molmenti captured the gold in the men's K1 slalom, with Vavrinec Hradilek of the Czech Republic taking silver and the bronze going to German Hannes Aigner.

Cycling: Kristin Armstrong captured USA GOLD in the women's individual time trial, beating out German Judith Arndt and Russia's Olga Zabelinskaya. No American medal in the men's event, which was won by Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins of the UK; his teammate Christopher Froome won the bronze, while German Tony Martin took silver.

Diving: Troy Dumas and Kristian Ipsen weren't able to beat the gold-medal winning Chinese duo of Luo Yutong and Qin Kai, but they did bring home USA bronze in the men's synchronized 3m springboard. Russians Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov won the silver.

Equestrian: off day.

Fencing: In men's epee, Soren Thompson was wiped out 15-4 by Jorg Fiedler of Germany in the round of 32, but Seth Kelsey beat China's Li Guojie 8-7, Nikolai Novosjolov of Estonia 15-11, and Venezuelan Silvio Fernandez 15-9 to reach the semifinals. Kelsey then lost 6-5 to Ruben Limardo Gascon of Venezuela before falling 6-5 to South Korea's Jinsun Jung in the bronze medal match. Limardo Gascon took the gold, beating Norwegian Bartosz Piasecki 15-10. In women's sabre, Mariel Zagunis beat Indonesian Diah Permatasari 15-7 in the round of 32, then Seira Nakayama of Japan 15-9. Dagmara Wozniak also reached the quarterfinals, beating Egyptian Salma Mahran 15-6 and Azza Besbes of Tunisia 15-13. Wozniak bowed out in the quarters, losing 15-13 to Russia's Sofya Velikaya, but Zagunis moved on to the semis with a 15-6 win over China's Zhu Min. Zagunis was tripped up 15-13 in the semifinals by South Korean Jiyeon Kim, who then went on to win the gold with a 15-9 win over Velikaya; Ukranian Olga Kharlan beat Zagunis 15-10 to take the bronze.

Football: Men's group play concludes. Group A sorted itself out when Great Britain beat Uruguay 1-0, which by itself put the hosts and Senegal through to the quarterfinals. Senegal settled for a 1-1 draw with UAE. In group B, Mexico beat Switzerland 1-0 to advance, and South Korea also moved on with a 0-0 draw againt Gabon. In group C, Brazil took out New Zealand 3-0, allowing Egypt to secure a place in the quarterfinals with their 3-1 win over Belarus. Finally, in group D both the Japan-Honduras and Spain-Morocco matches ended in scoreless ties; Japan and Honduras advance.

Gymnastics: Kohei Uchimura of Japan captured the gold in the men's individual all-around. Marcel Nguyen of Germany scored the silver, while Danell Leyva racked up a USA bronze. The other American, John Orozco, finished eighth.

Handball: In group A, Montenegro beat Angola 30-25, Brazil drilled Great Britain 30-17, and Croatia nipped Russia 30-28. Because Angola has yet to play Great Britain, the loser of their upcoming match is eliminated (and both would be in the event of a tie); the other four teams, then, are almost certainly secure in advancement to the quarterfinals. Group B saw Norway and South Korea tie at 27, France surprised Sweden 29-17, and Spain beat Denmark 24-21. In contrast to group A, nobody is secure in advancement, although France and South Korea are in really good shape at this point.

Hockey, Field: In men's action, Australia obliterated Spain 5-0, South Africa tied Great Britain 2-2, and Pakistan beat Argentina 2-0 in group A. In group B, The Netherlands beat Belgium 3-0, New Zealand topped India 3-1, and Germany nudged South Korea 1-0. Field hockey's format is that the top two teams in each group advance directly to the semifinals, which means India and Belgium are already effectively eliminated, but nobody's set to advance just yet.

Judo: Men's -90kg was won by South Korean Dae-Nam Song, who beat Cuba's Asley Gonzalez to claim the gold. Ilias Iliadis of Greece and Japan's Masashi Mishiyama shared the bronze. In the women's -70kg, Lucie Decosse of France beat German Kerstin Thiele to win the gold; the bronze was shared by Colombia's Yuri Alvear and Edith Bosch of the Netherlands.

Rowing: In the men's single sculls semifinals, Ken Jurkowski finished last in his heat, and will race in the D final (13th-18th place) tomorrow. The men's light double sculls and quad sculls semifinals also took place, with no American involvement. In men's pair, Thomas Peszek and Silas Stafford finished fourth in their semifinal, and will thus race in the B final (7th-12th place). Sarah Hendershot and Sarah Zelenka finished fourth in the women's pair, which was won by Great Britain's Helen Glover and Heather Stanning -- the first gold medal of the games for the hosts. Australians Kate Hornsey and Sarah Tait took silver, and the bronze went to New Zealand's Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown. Team USA finished fourth in the men's eight; Germany won the gold, Canada silver, and Great Britain bronze. The women's quad sculls final was won by Ukraine, easily outpacing the Germans; the Americans claimed USA bronze.

Sailing: Off day for men's Finn and men's Star. Men's RS-X: Robert Willis finished 11th and 25th in races 3-4, falling to 13th overall. Men's 49er: Erik Storck and Trevor Moore teamed for 7th and 13th place finishes in races 5-6; they slip to 7th place. Women's Laser Radial: Paige Railey finished 4th and 9th in races 5-6, moving back up to 7th. Men's Laser: Races 5-6 saw Rob Crane improve to 32nd after 16th and 26th place finishes. Women's RS-X: Farrah Hall's tribulations continue, as a pair of 18th place finishes in races 3-4 leave her right there in 18th, though that is a three-place improvement. Lastly, Team USA beat New Zealand but lost to Russia in women's Elliott, and slip from a third-place tie to sole fourth.

Shooting: South Korean Jangmi Kim won the women's 25m pistol, with China's Ying Chen taking silver and the bronze going to Ukraine's Olena Kostevych. American Sandra Uptragraff finished 28th in qualifying, failing to advance.

Swimming: Heats and semis: Jessica Hardy and Missy Franklin kinda mailed in their qualifying heats for the women's 100 free, but both have qualified for the final. Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands set an Olympic record in the semifinals. Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte each won their qualifying heat in the men's 200 backstroke, then won their semifinals as well to claim the middle lanes of tomorrow's final. In the women's 200m breaststroke, Rebecca Soni and Micah Lawrence finished 1-3 in the same qualifying heat; they drew different heats in the semis, where Lawrence finished 3rd and advanced while Soni set a new world and Olympic record in winning the second heat. In the same heat, Suzaan van Biljon of South Africa set a new African record. Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps tore up the men's 200 IM heats and semis, though Hungary's Laszlo Cseh slipped between them on time in the semifinal. The end result of all of that: Team USA has two swimmers in every individual medal final tomorrow.

As for today's medals: It wasn't a great day. Americans were shut out in both the men's 200 breaststroke and women's 200 fly. In the former, Hungary's Daniel Gyurta took the gold with a new world record; Britain's Michael Jamieson won the silver and Ryo Tateishi of Japan secured the bronze. Scott Weltz finished 6th, Clark Burckle 7th. China's Jiao Liuyang won the gold in the women's 200 fly, setting a new Olympic record. Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain won silver, Japan's Natsumi Hoshi won bronze; Kathleen Hersey was 4th and Cammile Adams 5th. All was not lost, however, as Adrian Nathan brought home USA GOLD in the men's 100 free, with James Magnussen of Australia taking silver and the bronze going to Canada's Brent Hayden. In the women's 4x200, Lauren Perdue, Shannon Vreeland, Alyssa Anderson, and Dana Vollmer got Team USA to the finals; Vollmer, Franklin, Vreeland, and Allison Schmitt turned that opportunity into USA GOLD, setting an Olympic record after an absolutely brilliant anchor leg by Schmitt. Australia won the silver, France bronze.

Table Tennis: China swept the remaining men's quarterfinals, with Zhang Jike beating Jiang Tianyi of Hong Kong 4-1 and Wang Hao scoring a 4-0 win over Japan's Seiya Kishikawa. Tianwei Feng of Singapore won the bronze in women's singles with a 4-0 win over Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa; Li Xiaoxia of China won the gold by beating her teammate Ding Ning 4-1.

Tennis: In third-round singles action, John Isner defeated Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-5/7-6 and Serena Williams took out Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-1/6-0, but Venus Williams was knocked out 6-7/6-7 by Angelique Kerber of Germany. Other results included Roger Federer beating Uzbeki Denis Istomin 7-5/6-3, Andy Murray having some trouble with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis before escaping in three sets, Maria Kirilenko dispatching Julia Goerges of Germany, Maria Sharapova requiring three sets to dispose of German Sabine Lisicky, Daniela Hantuchova losing in straight sets to Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters beating Ana Ivanovic 6-3/6-4, and Lleyton Hewitt taking Novak Djokovic to three sets before falling 4-6/7-5/6-1. In doubles, Roger Federer and Stanislaus Wawrinka got plowed in the first set, but came back to beat Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond beat Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elisa Vesnina 6-3/6-3, and the Williams sisters match with Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci was postponed; there was another epic match today as Brazilians Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo dropped Czechs Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 1-6/6-4/24-22. In mixed doubles, Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan beat Italians Errani and Andreas Seppi 7-5/6-3; Liezel Huber and Brad Bryan's match against Germany's Lisciki and Christopher Kas was postponed.

Volleyball: All six matches today were sweeps. In women's group A, Japan beat the Dominican Republic, Russia defeated Algeria, and Italy prevailed over Great Britain; in group B Turkey dispatched Serbia, South Korea handled Brazil, and Team USA dealt with China. Russia, Italy, and the USA are through to the quarterfinals, and Japan and China are almost certain. Nobody's really eliminated yet, however.

Water Polo: In women's group B, Australia annhiliated the British 16-3 and Russia beat Italy 7-4; in group A Hungary beat China while Team USA and Spain battled to a 9-9 tie. A note: I didn't realize it, but the only point of group play in this year's women's event is to seed the quarterfinals; all eight teams will be advancing.

Weightlifting: Lu Xiaojun of China won the gold in men's 77kg, with his teammage Lu Haoije taking silver. Cuban Ivan Cambar Rodriguez won the bronze. In the women's 69kg, North Korea's Jong Sim Rim won the gold, Roxana Daniela Cocos of Romania the silver, and the bronze went to Maryna Shkermankova of Belarus.

MEDAL COUNT: China has slipped back into the overall lead with 30 medals, one ahead of Team USA. Japan is third with 17, then France and Germany knotted at 13. China's still out in front on gold, too, with 17; Team USA has 12, South Korea 6, France 5, and North Korea 4. Kazakhstan, sadly, is now tied with Germany and Italy in sixth.

Tomorrow (all times Central):

Remember, all events available live streaming if you can get it to work. The broadcast details I give here are TV-specific. They also don't necessarily imply coverage of any particular competitor or team matchup unless specified.

Archery: Tomorrow, the women's individual event concludes while the men take a day off. Khatuna Lorig will shoot at 3:39am in the 1/8 round against PENDING. Quarterfinals begin at 8, semis at 8:52; the bronze medal match will be at 9:21, and the gold at 9:37. (tape delay highlights: NBCSN, 1:20-2pm)

Badminton: Men's doubles quarterfinals at 3am. At 6:30, women's singles quarterfinals and mixed doubles semifinals, and the men's singles quarterfinals and the wreckage of the women's doubles semifinals are at 11am. (tape-delay highlights: MSNBC 3-3:30pm)

Basketball: Men's group A features France-Lithuania, Argentina-Tunisia, and Team USA against Nigeria at 4:15pm. In group B we get Australia-China, Brazil-Russia, and Spain-Great Britain.(All games LIVE on either NBCSN or NBC Specialty; USA-Nigeria at 4pm on NBCSN)

Beach Volleyball: Jennifer Kessy and April Ross meet Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan of Spain at 10:30am, while Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser face the Czech Republic's Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala at 3pm. That will conclude this half of the preliminary bracket; at 4pm the "lucky losers", otherwise known as a small repechage round, will kick off. That's not something the Americans have to concern themselves with, however, as they've all guaranteed advancement to the round of 16 at this point (even Gibb/Rosenthal are through despite their loss to Poland the other day). (LIVE: NBCSN 9:30-10:30am, NBC 10:30-11:30am; tape delay: NBCSN 7:45-8:35am, NBC Primetime)

Boxing: Round of 16 bouts in men's lightweight and middleweight. Lightweight Jose Ramirez fights Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan at 3pm; middleweight Terrell Gausha meets Vijender Singh at 3:45. (tape delay: NBCSN 2-3:45pm, CNBC 4-7pm)

Canoe/Kayak: Men's C2 slalom semifinals start at 7:30am, with the final at 9:18. The women's K1 slalom semis are at 8:12, the final at 9:57. No Americans remain in either event. (LIVE: men's C2 final, NBC 9:15-9:40pm; tape delay: women's K1 final, NBC Late Night)

Cycling: Men's and women's team sprint track events are tomorrow; Team USA did not qualify, because we don't do the velodrome thing very well. The women have quals at 10am, first round at 10:30, and the final at 11:59; for the men, it's 10:15, 11:46, and 12:15. The men's team pursuit qualifications are also tomorrow, at 10:42 (LIVE: NBC 11:45am-12:20pm)

Diving: off day.

Equestrian: Day one of the Dressage Grand Prix. Jan Ebeling and Rafalca perform at 12:15pm. (tape delay highlights: MSNBC 12:30-1:30pm)

Fencing: Women's team foil starts with a play-in between Egypt and Great Britain at 3am; the quarterfinals commence at 4:30 with Team USA (Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, Nicole Ross, and Doris Willette) facing South Korea. (Not televised today.)

Football: off day.

Gymnastics: Women's all-around final starts at 10:30, with Gabby Johnson and Aly Raisman repping the stars and stripes. (tape delay: NBC Primetime)

Handball: Men's group A: France-Tunisia, Great Britain-Argentina, Sweden-Iceland. Group B: Spain-Korea, Croatia-Hungary, Serbia-Denmark. (LIVE: MSNBC Serbia-Denmark 1:30pm, Sweden-Iceland 4pm.)

Hockey, Field: In women's group A, Korea meets Japan, China faces the Netherlands, and Belgium takes on Great Britain. Group B includes South Africa-Germany, New Zealand-Argentina, and Team USA-Australia at 4:45am. (LIVE: NBCSN USA-Australia 4:45am, China-Netherlands 8:35-9:30am joined in progress)

Judo: Kyle Vashkulat will, at around 4:12am, be the in the final 1/32 match of the men's -100kg event. Things will proceed from there to the gold medal match at 10:10. In the women's -78kg, Kayla Harrison draws a bye into the 1/16 round, where she'll take on Russia's Vera Moskalyuk at around 5:15am. Gold match at 10am. (tape delay highlights: MSNBC 3:30-4pm)

Rowing: Kristin Hedstrom and Julie Nichols row in the semifinals of the women's light double sculls at 4:30am, while Genevra Stone races in the semifinals of the women's single sculls at 5:10am. Team USA is in the B final of the men's light four at 5:40 and in the semifinals of the men's four at 5:50; at 6:30 Team USA races for the gold in women's eight. The finals of the men's double sculls and lightweight double sculls will also take place, with no Americans in the field. (tape delay highlights: NBC 1:20-2pm, Primetime)

Sailing: We continue as before, with the addition of the first two races of the men's 470. (Not televised today.)

Shooting: At 3am, 4:30, and 6 Walton Eller will be shooting qualification rounds for men's double trap; Josh Richmond will do the same at 3:30, 5, and 6:30. Should either or both advance, they'd take part in the final at 9am. Emil Melev shoots in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol qualifications at 5:20, followed at 6:10 by Keith Sanderson. (tape delay highlights: NBCSN 3:45-4:15pm)

Swimming: Phelps goes for medal number 20 on another busy day. Heats (and semis for all but the women's 800 free): men's 50 free (Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones, heats at 4am with semifinals at 1:30), women's 800 free (Katie Ledecky and Kate Ziegler, 4:19), men's 100 fly (Tyler McGill and Michael Phelps, 5:14 and 2:54), and women's 200 backstroke (Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Franklin, 5:31 and 1:56). Finals: women's 100m free (Jessica Hardy and Franklin), men's 200 backstroke (Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte), women's 200 breaststroke (Rebecca Soni and Micah Lawrence), men's 200 IM (Lochte and Phelps). (tape delay heats highlights: NBC 9-10:30am and 11:30-11:45am; tape delay highlights and finals: NBC Primetime)

Table Tennis: Men's semifinals; at 4am China's Zhang Jike takes on Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany, while China's Wang Hao meets Chuang Chih-Yuan of Taipei at 5am. Bronze medal match at 8:30, and the gold at 9:30. (tape delay semifinals: NBCSN 12:30-1:20pm; tape delay finals: NBC Late Night)

Tennis: Except for the delayed mixed doubles first rounders from today, it's all quarterfinal action tomorrow, including the postponed doubles quarterfinals. Singles action includes Serena Williams facing Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters against Maria Sharapova, Maria Kirilienko against Petra Kvitova, and Angelique Kerber against Victoria Azarenka. Men's singles feature Andy Murray against Nicholas Almagro, Novak Djokovic facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kei Nishikori against Juan Martin Del Potro, and American John Isner meets Roger Federer. (LIVE: Bravo, 6am-2pm)

Volleyball: Men's group A involves Australia-Bulgaria, Poland-Argentina, and Great Britain-Italy; in group B Serbia meets Germany, Russia faces Tunisia, and Team USA will face Brazil at 2pm. (LIVE: MSNBC Poland-Argentina 10:45a, NBC USA-Brazil 2pm; tape delay: NBCSN Serbia-Germany 6:15-7:45am)

Water Polo: Spain-Australia, Kazakhstan-Greece, and Italy-Croatia make up group A; group B has a match with plenty of political intrigue as Montenegro meets their former partner in marriage Serbia, while Romania faces Hungary and Team USA takes on Great Britain at 12:20pm. (LIVE: MSNBC Montenegro-Serbia AND Romania-Hungary back-to-back 8am; NBC USA-Great Britain 12:20pm)

Weightlifting: Off day.