Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake will compete in the finals of the men's 200-meters race Thursday at the 2012 London Olympics.

Days after winning the 100-meters race, Bolt is seeking to win his second gold medal of the 2012 Games, and become the first man to win both the 100- and 200-meters event in two straight Olympics. Blake placed second in Sunday's 100-meter race, and is also Bolt's chief rival in the 200-meters.

In the men's 800-meter final, Kenya's David Rudisha is the favorite to take the gold medal, while Americans Christian Taylor and Will Claye are favored in the men's triple jump.

In women's soccer, the U.S. will appear in the gold medal match against Japan, the team that beat the Americans in last year's World Cup finals.

In the semifinals of women's basketball, Australia will take on a U.S. side that has defeated them for the gold medal in three consecutive Olympic games.

Women's boxing will end its Olympic debut with three gold medal matches Thursday: Britain's Nicola Adams will face China's Ren Cancan in the flyweight final, Katie Taylor of Ireland will fight Russian Sofya Ochigava in the lightweight division, and Claressa Shields of the United States will take on another Russian, Nadezhda Torlopova, in the middleweight final.

Thursday's gold medal rounds began with Australia's surprise victory in the men's kayak four 1,000 meters race, with the German men taking gold in the canoe double 1,000-meters event.

The United States is the overall medals leader with 81, followed by China with 77 and Russia with 53. In the gold medals, China has 36 golds, compared to 34 for the U.S. and 22 for Britain.