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Hoda, Natalie, Billy, USA TODAY pick Olympic events, athletes to watch this weekend

TODAY and USA TODAY Sports are partnering to give you a quick guide to some of the athletes and events to watch this weekend.
/ Source: TODAY

As we continue to cheer on Team USA during the last weekend of the Rio Olympics, TODAY's Hoda Kotb, Natalie Morales and Billy Bush and Nancy Armour, a columnist for USA TODAY Sports, are partnering to give you a quick guide to some of the athletes and events to watch this weekend.

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WATCH this interview on NBCOlympics.com

Hoda Kotb

The must-see event is the final U.S. Men’s Basketball game.

I’ll tell you why it’s exciting -- usually it’s such a blowout, and people watch it and say to themselves, “Oh my god the U.S. men have it!” But for a lot of these games, they’ve been just squeaking by, so there’s more build up and it makes it exciting.

I mean, I know we’re going to win because we have Melo -- write that down -- but it is still something I’m looking forward to seeing.

Natalie Morales

I am most looking forward to the gold medal U.S. men’s basketball game.

They’ve had a couple of close calls during these Games, but it seems like after the win against Argentina, they are back in fine form. It will be fun to watch, and I expect another gold from them.

I’m also looking forward to the triathlon. Gwen Jorgensen is a tremendous athlete, and I was able to profile her for TODAY. She’s amazing, and I think she has a good shot at medaling.

World Triathlon Hamburg
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images

Billy Bush

The most exciting for me -- Usain Bolt.

He’s been a guest of mine on Access Hollywood before, and we did an hysterical speed walking race where I defeated him. Having danced in his face in victory before, I’ll be pulling for Usain.

If he wins the relay, that will be nine gold medals. That ties Carl Lewis, so there’s some significance there. I just love watching him, even if it’s only for ten seconds.

I love watching Bolt.

RELATED: Michael Johnson revisits Olympic glory, says he could've beaten Usain Bolt in his prime

USA TODAY

Nancy Armour, USA TODAY

Men’s hoops play familiar foe Spain in the semifinals Friday afternoon. The U.S. men have won the last two gold medals, with Spain finishing as the silver medalist both times. The Americans weren’t at their sharpest in the early rounds, needing to scratch out wins against Australia, Serbia and France, but found their groove in a quarterfinal blowout against Argentina.

Men's Olympics basketball
Mark Ralston / Getty Images

The women lead France by four at the half. Should they win, they’ll play for their sixth consecutive gold medal. Have won their previous games by an average of about 40 points.

Usain Bolt. We may see the world’s fastest man fade into the distance Friday night. That’s when he runs in the 4x100 relay, possibly his last event. Though his coach has talked about him coming back for Tokyo, Bolt has said he wants to win three gold medals here and think about it later. He’s got one in the 100, and was racing for his second in the 200 on Thursday night.

Usain Bolt Rio Olympics
Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

Gwen Jorgensen is the overwhelming favorite for gold in the women’s triathlon Saturday. She’s a two-time reigning International Triathlon Union world champion, and has lost just two individual races since April 2014. She set a record with 13 consecutive victories in the ITU’s World Triathlon Series from May 17, 2014, to April 3, and also won the Olympic test event in Rio last summer. The US has yet to win gold in triathlon and has only one medal since the sport made its debut in Sydney.