BEIJING -- Following a day off from swimming in finals, Michael Phelps will go for his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics when he takes to the pool for the 200-meter individual medley on Friday.

Phelps, two days after winning his record-setting 10th and 11th Olympic gold medals, will be favored to win the 200-meter individual medley for No. 12. It would also give the 23-year-old American six gold medals in Beijing, two away from breaking Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in one Olympics.

His toughest competition is likely to come from a familiar face: U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte, who qualified for the final .01 seconds faster than Phelps.

Lochte will also swim beside teammate and 2004 gold medalist Aaron Peirsol in the men's 200-meter backstroke final. Lochte currently shares the world record with Peirsol, who has already won the 100 backstroke in Beijing.

Also, 21-year-old American Rebecca Soni will go for a medal in the 200-meter breaststroke after setting an Olympic record in the preliminaries. Swimming next to her will be world record holder Leisel Jones.

In the other final, Natalie Coughlin will go for her fifth Beijing medal as the only U.S. swimmer in the 100-meter freestyle. Coughlin, who took bronze in that distance four years ago, qualified with the fastest time.

Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin have an excellent chance to bring home the gold in the women's all-around gymnastics final Friday. They were part of the silver team medal just a couple of days ago. Johnson and Liukin finished 1-2 in qualifying for the individual all-around. Johnson won the 2007 all-around at the World Championships. Yang Yilin of China is expected to put up a fierce battle after coming in third in the qualifications.

The U.S. women's basketball team will face Spain in the fifth contest on Friday's six-game schedule. USA owns a perfect 3-0 record in 2008 Olympic play. On Wednesday, Lisa Leslie scored 16 points to pace another dominating performance for the U.S. women's basketball team in a 97-41 win over Mali. Leslie made all seven of her shots, setting the U.S. Olympic record for highest field goal percentage in a game. With the victory, the U.S. ran its winning streak to 28 at the Summer Games.

The U.S. women's soccer team plays its quarterfinal match against Canada. Heather O'Reilly scored the fastest goal in Olympic women's soccer history, just 41 seconds into Tuesday's game against New Zealand at Shenyang Stadium, sparking the United States to a convincing 4-0 win and an improbable climb to the top of Group G.

The track and field portion of these Games starts Friday with finals in the women's 10,000 meters and the men's shot put. Ethiopian sisters Ejegayehu and Tirunesh Dibaba come to Beijing hoping for a 1-2 finish on the medal stand in the 10,000m. The elder sister, Ejegayehu, won silver in Athens four years ago. Tirunesh is the 2005 and '07 world champion. American Shalane Flanagan of the United States has the fastest time of the year.

The U.S. is confident to win a medal in the shot put competition. Reese Hoffa is the 2007 world champion, while Adam Nelson won gold in 2005 at worlds after taking the silver medal in Athens. Christian Cantwell is the other U.S. hopeful for a podium finish. Internationally, Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog is back to defend his Olympic title, while reigning bronze medalist Ralf Bartels of Germany is also a threat.

World champion Tyson Gay will be running for the first time since the USA trials when the first two rounds of the men's 100 meters takes place, also at the Bird's Nest. Gay suffered a hamstring injury during that meet when he failed to finish the 200m. Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the world record-holder will be working his way back to the form that allowed him to set a record of 9.72 seconds in New York in May.

The women's heptathlon begins with the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m, while round one is on tap for the women's 3000m steeplechase, women's 800m, men's 1500m, and men's 400m hurdles. Qualifying rounds take place for the men's hammer throw, women's discus, and women's triple jump.

Fencing gold will be awarded Friday in the men's team epee category. Hungary, the runner-up to France in this event at the Athens Games, is considered to be the favorite along with the French and Italians. The Hungarians have won gold in the men's team epee three times, but haven't reached the top step of the podium since the 1972 Munich Games. Italy will be led by Matteo Tagliariol, the gold medalist in the individual epee event here in Beijing.

Matthew Emmons of the United States will try for his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men's 50-meter rifle prone on Friday. Emmons' wife, Czech shooter Katerina Emmons, has won a pair of medals at the Beijing Games, taking gold in the 10m air rifle and silver in the 50m 3-positions. Australia's Warren Potent is also expected to compete for gold in the men's rifle prone.

The first gold medal in track cycling will be awarded Friday, as the men compete in the team sprint competition. The French are the three-time defending world champions in this event and are led by Arnaud Tourant, a three-time Olympic medalist and 14-time world champion. Great Britain, a perennial runner-up to France in the world championships, is expected to medal. The U.S. will be represented by the team of Michael Blatchford, Adam Duvendeck and Giddeon Massie.

Judo gold will be awarded in the heavyweight division for both the men and women on Friday. Russian Tamerlan Tmenov is the favorite for the men after winning silver at the last two Olympics. Maki Tsukada of Japan will be back to defend her gold medal from Athens on the women's side. Friday's heavyweight events will mark the final day of judo competition at the Beijing Games.

Archery competition will conclude Friday with the men's individual event. The Korean trio of Im Dong-Hyun, Park Kyung-Mo and Lee Chang-Hwan are all considered threats to win gold, as are Poland's Jack Proc and Mexico's Juan Rene Serrano. American archer Victor Wunderle, a silver medalist in this event at the 2000 Sydney Games, will have a tough opening match against Im.

A pair of medal events are scheduled Friday in weightlifting, as the women compete in the 75kg category and the men battle for gold in the 85kg. Cao Lei of China is unbeaten in international competition and will try to add women's 75kg Olympic gold to a resume that includes wins in the last two world championships. Andrei Rybakou of Belarus was the silver medalist in the men's 85kg event four years ago in Athens and will try to pick up gold this time around.

A pair of gold medals will be awarded Friday in the slalom category of canoe/kayaking, as the men battle in the canoe double and the women compete in the kayak single. Quarterfinal spots are up for grabs on day four of the women's volleyball preliminary round. The USA and China each have 2-1 win-loss records in Pool A. It's sure to be an emotional day for American head coach Lang Ping, who was a star player for China during the 1980s and head coach of the Chinese during the 1990s.

Going into Friday, China has the lead in the medal count with 35, one more than the United States. The Chinese have 22 gold medals, by far and away the most with the U.S. a distant second with 10. Korea and Australia are each next in the overall standings with 16 medals apiece.