Olympics 2016: Time and TV schedule for rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualification

The final gymnastics competitions at the 2016 Olympics comes in the rhythmic category, with individual qualifying starting Friday in Rio. There will be 26 women competing in qualifying, including 16-year-old American Laura Zeng, who is making her Olympic debut.

Rhythmic gymnastics differs from artistic gymnastics in several ways, the most prominent being that all routines are done on the floor. In individual competition, each athlete will do a choreographed routine that must cover the entirety of the floor. The routines often include manipulating a piece of equipment like a ribbon or rope.

The qualifying will occur in four rotations. The first two groups will perform starting at 9:20 a.m. ET, while the second two groups will take the floor at 1:50 p.m.

The biggest names in American gymnastics (Simone Biles and Aly Raisman) compete in artistic gymnastics, so they won’t be participating here. Representing the U.S. in the competition will be Zeng, who won the gold medal in this event at the 2015 Pan American Games. She’s not quite as well-known as her artistic counterparts, but will have the opportunity to make her name by snapping Russia’s streak of gold medals.

Yevgeniya Kanayeva, who is now retired, won back-to-back golds for Russia in this event at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. In the past four Olympics, Russian athletes have won four golds, two silvers and a bronze in this event, which is about as dominant as you can get.

This time around, Russia has two athletes, Margarita Mamum and Yana Kudryavtseva, competing in qualifying. It’ll be tough for Zeng to beat these two. Kudryavtseva has won three straight all-around titles at the World Championships, while Mamum is a back-to-back silver medalist and the world record holder.

So unlike artistic gymnastics, where the Americans were heavily favored behind Biles, Raisman and others, Zeng will have a chance to surprise in Rio. She’s facing some extremely tough competition from the Russians, though, so it’ll be tough to prevent them from winning a fifth straight gold.

Rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualifying coverage

Time: 9:20 a.m. (Rotations 1 and 2), 1:50 p.m. (Rotations 3 and 4)

TV: NBCSN

Live stream: NBC Sports Rotations 1 and 2, Rotations 3 and 4