The showcase showdown in prime time tonight is the first of what will be several highly anticipated battles in the pool between American’s Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. The two will swim in the 400 meter individual medley. Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Games in Beijing, but has since been surpassed in the opinions of many by Lochte for the title of ‘Greatest Swimmer in the World’. They’ll begin to settle that issue definitively on the first full day of Olympic competition. The first medals of the Olympics will be awarded today, in the men’s cycling road race. Other medals will be handed out in shooting, judo, archery, fencing and swimming events. The US women’s basketball team opens preliminary round play when they take on Croatia, and women’s soccer is back on the pitch for their second preliminary round game, facing Colombia. Former Husker Jordan Larson and the US volleyball team also makes their debut, taking on South Korea. Prime time coverage tonight on NBC also includes the men’s gymnastics team competition and the four finals in swimming – the men’s 400 IM and 400 freestyle, and women’s 400 IM and 4×100 relay.