Ready, Set, Gold on Foxtel

From 7.30pm AEST tonight, Matt Shirvington and Eddie McGuire will host London 2012: Ready, Set, Gold – a live preview show with in-studio guests including Daley Thompson, Susie O’Neill, Rove McManus and Tania Bryer.

Tomorrow Foxtel airs the official films of: London 1948, Melbourne 1956, Mexico City 1968, Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008.

Then Live coverage of the first official day of competition commences from Saturday evening AEST, and includes the Swimming, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, Basketball, Badminton, Handball, Rowing and Equestrian Dressage.

The first of Foxtel’s 302 live gold medals that will be broadcast is the Women’s 10m Air Rifle final, which will take place from 7.55pm on Saturday, July 29, live on LONDON 8.

Other highlights to watch out for this weekend:

Cycling – Men’s Road Race
Saturday July 28 at 7.00pm – live on Foxtel’s LONDON 2
Just six days after the finish of the Tour de France, the widely anticipated duel for gold between Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss could set the wheels in motion for a Great Britain v Australia rivalry that has the potential to dominate the cycling events in London.

Swimming – Finals
Including Men’s and Women’s 400m Individual Medley finals, Men’s 400m Freestyle final and Women’s 4x100m Freestyle relay final
Sunday July 29 from 4.30am – live on Foxtel’s LONDON 1
Repeated at 7am, midday and 4.30pm Sun July 29
The evening will be dominated by the first four swimming finals, the highlight being Stephanie Rice and Michael Phelps defending their 400m individual medley titles. Our women’s 4x100m freestyle team should also battle it out with the Americans and the Dutch for a place on the podium, while Thomas Fraser-Holmes (400m individual medley) is the best placed of our men for a medal.

Women’s Basketball – AUS vs GB
Sunday July 29 at 7.15am – live on Foxtel’s LONDON 4
The Opals start their campaign for Gold, with their first match against Great Britain. Australia’s women have long proven their Olympic pedigree with four consecutive podium finishes, winning bronze in 1996, before going one better in 2000, 2004 and 2008. However, on each occasion, the US has been the stumbling block, beating the Opals in the past three gold-medal showdowns and twice in Atlanta, including the semi-final.

Women’s Hockey – AUS vs NZL
Sun July 29 at 5.30pm – live on Foxtel’s LONDON 2
The hockey competition starts at Riverbank Arena in Olympic Park with six women’s preliminary matches, including the Hockeyroos v New Zealand. Boasting three gold medals from the last five Games (1988, 1996, 2000), the Hockeyroos are still rebuilding after their silver medal in the 2006 World Cup. Will they reach the medal rounds in London?

Men’s Basketball – AUS vs BRA
Sun July 29 at 8.15pm – live on Foxtel’s LONDON 4
The Boomers get their basketball campaign underway against Brazil. The Boomers will be keen to make amends for their disappointing 7th (Beijing ) and 9th (Athens) at the last two Games, and will need to rack up at least three wins in the preliminaries to avoid finishing fourth in their pool where a crossover likely quarter-final match against the mighty US would spell the end of the road.