>> live from your olympic station. 7 news takes you into the olympic zone. brought to you in part by dunkin donuts. >> reporter: she has one of the more recognizable names in the political world. daughter of lincoln ch rio. team usa reigns supreme. in its core 5 players who share a common bond with the head coach whose built the most dominant program. the host city of the 2016 summer olympics is home to pretty good waves as well. we'll hit the water with one of

surfers. from aly raisman winning the silver medal to jebby stone rowing her way to the silver it's been a productive summer games so far for our local athletes. the bronze medal from the drasage competition. laura graves hoping to add another medal in individual final. graves going second to last in the grand prix free style. and the vermont native game posting a personal best score of 85.196. graves' stellar performance put her in third place. germany closed out the day by sliding into second knocking graves off the podium. growing up as the daughter of former rhode island senator and governor lewisa chafy is used to

herself in rio. nancy chen has more on tonight's home town hero. >> louisa chafy last name may sound familiar. her father is former rhode island governor lincoln chafee. now louisa is trying to make a name for herself in olympic world. >> standing by her father's side as he became senator and then making headlines of her own as she sets sail for team usa to rio. moving from a supportive role to a leading role. a different pressure in my mind. louisa was introduced to sailing as a young girl. >> but i surprisingly didn't like it that much. i didn't think i was good at it. i quit sailing. >> reporter: it wasn't until she took a gap year between high

tested the waters again. >> one of the top new england crews and talked to the brown university coach and he was like we'd love to have you come out for the team. >> reporter: she was a 3 time all american at brown. her olympic dream was born. >> i saw the nack of 17. it was in my weight range. it was a mixed boat. >> reporter: but it wasn't always smooth sailing. >> i was hit with a lot of bad after my first skipper quit. it looked like my campaign was dead. >> reporter: 10 days before the olympic trials she made the difficult decision to switch partners and join laura galary. >> i think that together we could make a strong team and we could win trials and not only win trial bus a medal. >> reporter: the team went on to qualify for the u.s. olympic sailing team. >> it's an incredible honor.

i love my country so much. i think that what america stands for is incredible. and to be able to go out there and be the one america representative in the 17 is the greatest honor i could ask for. >> reporter: plans to make the most of her experience in rio. she's already looking forward top 2020. >> anchor: chafy will sail for a medal tomorrow afternoon. coming up next on the 7 news olymc women's college basketball program that's played a huge role in fueling the success of the national program at the olympics. and check in with 3 time gold

>> reporter: checking in

away the field in rio. 26 gold 22 silver and 24 bronze. the americans atop the medal count with 72 total. china second with 46. great britain rounds out the top 3. the u.s. womens basketball team hasn't lost an olympics since 1992. at the heart of this team is a group of 5 players and a coach all dominant program in connection with womens college basketball history. alex flanig an caught up with them in rio. >> reporter: over the past 2 decades team usa members have all played under head coach geno

goes way back. they know me. i know them. we kind of know what we want. they have to switch gears because they're not at uconn. >> reporter: the uconn head coach whose won 11 ncaa titles. aryema no longer calls all of the shots. >> coaching them back then because they were young now you better get it right. they know what right is. when your kids grow up. you go out to dinner with them with a glass of wine you have a different relationship with them than in high school. >> that's the beauty of being older. >> it's more equal in what do i know that can help you and vice versa. that's the best thing being around him later in our careers for sure.

aryema and his system has been key. these 5 have played together on teamus usa for 3 weeks. is there a look he'll give snu. >> my first couple of years at uconn i'd be nervous. that doesn't happen anymore. >> we have one player who was doing something in practice. some days you're michael today you're michael jackson. >> he knows when to back off. and it doesn't crumble you as a player. that's his greatest strength. >> makes him great. >> reporter: the greatest joy might be seeing these 5 women go home with a gold medal. >> i find myself going yep. i don't even have to say anything. sometimes i look at them and we look at each other and smile and go uh-huh.

anything i've ever done in my life. >> reporter: team usa continues pursuit of a 6th olympic gold medal tomorrow when they take on japan in the quarter finals. olympics are filled with so tight that the naked eye can't see the difference between gold and silver. check in on ch

you only have so much. that's why we want to make sure you won't have to wait on hold. and you won't have to guess when we'll turn up. because after all we should fit into your life.

>> going for gold brought to you by your new england honda dealers. >> reporter: with their win over australia in the quarter finals the team of walsh jennings and ross is 2 games away from capturing the medal in beach volleyball. >> reporter: she may have changed partners.

goal remains the same, gold. >> the americans have wub the gold medal. misty may and carry walsh repeat as gold medal champions. misty and carry 3 pete olympic gold. >> reporter: with 3 gold medals and only losing a single set in olympic competition this partnership could be described as nearly perfect. when misty may announced she was olympics. >> misty was vocal of the fact that london was her last olympics. she was going to retire. human nature i'm thinking what's next for me? i never wanted to be done. not for one second did i think i was done competing. i started thinking what are my options? and april was on top of the list. she has all the qualities i desire in a partner.

misty may trainer carry walsh jennings taking on april ross and jen kessy. >> reporter: got to test the abilities of april ross on the biggest stage. as one partnership was ending another was about to begin. >> literally the game ball went down in london. went to shake hands with april and jen. >> i was giving carry a hug and she leans in she said gold in rio. my immediate reaction was yeah, of course let's do it. i'm in. >> that was unplanned. so in the moment. something i felt strongly at that point. >> she switched focus so quickly says about her. that rio was on her mind after winning a gold medal shows you what type of competitor she is. >> we can be amazing, april. we hug today out.

>> reporter: make sure you keep an eye on her hands. she writes joy on them to remind her to play like a kid and remember the joy. >> reporter: we marvel at the amazing close finishes at the olympics. we take for granted the technology that measures the fractions of a second that make all the difference. but the olympic zones rutlage wood is out to change that. >> the olympic zone brought to you by omega the official time [horn blowing]. >> reporter: at these olympic games when just a fraction of a second comes between standing on the podium. >> out touches by 6, 100ths of a second. >> reporter: or not, timing is everything. but with athletes breaking records and races getting

technology to keep up. omega creates custom made equipment for each of the 28 sports at the olympics. i met up with the ceo to take me through the ever evolving timing tools. >> what was timing like when omega got involved in the olympics in 1932. >> over time a lot of things have changed. >> reporter: 2 of those pool that count a swimmers laps for them. and starting blocks light up to display first, second and third place. there's also the digital touch pad which swimmers tap to conclude their races. >> it takes less than 100 milliseconds to share the time with the world. it's magic. >> reporter: the new touch

the latest and greatest in timing technology is here for track and field the new tech on the track begins with the starting blocks. the blocks have loud speakers so each runner can hear the starting pistol at exactly the same time. no matter which block they begin at. i had to test out the starting equipment for myself. how hard can this be, turb in the air. oh, geez that's scary. how was my start? pretty good. on my second try i was actually able to get off the block and head down the track. made it. here at the finish line that camera right there is taking 10,000 frames per second. i would have come in last so we

>> reporter: and that technology will come into play tonight in the finals of the women's 400 meters and the mens 8 hundred meters. we head to rio and go big introducing dunkin's new cold brew coffee, steeped slowly in cold water for small batches with an ultra-smooth, full-bodied flavor. discover the craft of cold brew today and keep on.

when people ask me what it's like them, "you already know." the medals you've earned are all around you. your bronze. your silver. your gold. and liberty mutual insures them all. liberty mutual is proud to insure every team usa medal won in rio, just like we protect the medals you've earned in life. liberty stands with you.

for the road. for the ride. for the early mornings... long days... and late nights. for the love. ? >> you're back in the olympic zone. brought to you in part by dunkin donuts. >> reporter: after finishing 6th

flanig an hinted this would be her last olympics. here's more on the 4 time olympian in tonight's fast 5. >> i'm a foody. that's a hard question. i love some grass fed beef and butter. ooh, probably anything hgtv. i'd probably be aicide kick chef with meecho black. it's a girlie sad one. brad pitts in it so... maybe it is that i am such a foody. people think an elite athlete has a strict dight. i love to eat. eating is one of my passions in life. a lot of people would be

runners eat. >> reporter: now for the sites of rio. how do you say surfs up in portuguese. surfing has become a phenomenon. producing recent world champions. the olympic zones gaudy schwartz grabbed a board and dived in rio's surfing culture. >> reporter: the sport has be on days like this the action is fast and furious. >> everyone tries to schedule their day around surfing. >> reporter: it's the equalizer of social and economic class. waves rewarding only courage and skill. >> at the beach we don't have poor or rich people. everybody's the same like the water. >> reporter: a lot of kids learn to surf here.

>> at a surf school when i was 13. i wasn't good at it at all. it took me a long time to stand up or anything. >> reporter: she now travels the world chasing some of the biggest swells on the planet. her bravery and ability to come back from near death experiences have earned her respect in the surfing world. can you describe to me what it's like as you drop in on the bigges >> it's hard to describe. one of the sensations would be i'm completely in the moment. the other thing when you finish a ride you have a sensation of satisfaction that is hard to get somewhere else. >> reporter: rio is not known for big waves. there is something for everyone here. unspoiled beaches like pinia outside the city. you're a big wave surfer.

>> reporter: do you have any points? >> it's easy today. you'll find it easy. it's easy to paddle out and you're going to have some fun. >> reporter: fun definitely. easy? not so much. fortunately there are still 4 years to train before the 2020 tokyo olympics when surfing will become part of the games for the first time. brazilian surfers among the favorite to carve and sore their way to gold. >> reporter: surfing is one of 5 sports added to the olympic program in 2020. joining baseball, softball, karate, skate boarding, and sport climbing. on the 7 news olympic zone we'll

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you by bmw the ultimate driving machine. >> reporter: welcome back to the 7 news olympic zone. here's bob costas with a look at what's coming up next at prime time on 7 nbc. >> reporter: bob costas at the 2016 olympic games. american simone biles goes for her 4th gold of these games in the balance beam final along de then in track the 400 meters with the american allison felix sprinting to become the first woman ever in track and field to win 5 medals. it's all coming up in primetime. >> reporter: that's our time for this half hour. thanks for joining us. for the latest olympic news you can log on to whdh.com. i'm joe amorosino.

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usain bolt still invincible! asks the first man in history to win the 300-meter crown in a row. ? >> announcer: long before they came to rio, they set their sights on days and nights like this. days and nights they want to remember forever. her olympic story has been unfolding for a dozen years. now in sprinting's most grueling test comes a chance to be in a class of her own.