FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, February 18th, 2018
2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPICS – FEB. 17 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC AND NBCSN
“You would never see a ballet go on in the center of Bristol Motor Speedway.” – Rutledge Wood on short track & figure skating both occurring at Gangneung Ice Arena
“Short track strikes again! The 1000m strike again!” – Ted Robinson on American John-Henry Krueger winning silver
“No other country had all three of their men in the top ten, even Japan who went one-two. It was a great night for men’s American skating.” – Scott Hamilton
Team USA’s Maia and Alex Shibutani, Maddie Bowman, and Two-Time Gold Medalist Jamie Anderson slated to compete in Primetime & Primetime Plus on Sunday on NBC
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 17, 2018 – Sunday’s coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from PyeongChang, South Korea, is highlighted by:
- NBC’s primetime presentation, which begins at 7 p.m. ET live across all time zones, featuring three-time world medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani competing in ice dance;
- Coverage of the women’s ski halfpipe in primetime on NBC, as Maddie Bowman begins her quest for gold;*
- Coverage of the inaugural Olympic big air competition in primetime plus on NBC, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson plus Americans Julia Marino and Hailey Langland.*
*outdoor events subject to weather conditions
Following are highlights from tonight’s evening and primetime coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal:
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ALPINE SKIING – NBC
Analyst Bode Miller on Ted Ligety’s first run in the men’s giant slalom: “Too much distance. You see him not touching the gate, his feet are probably another two feet outside of where Marcel Hirscher’s were. Every turn, he’s adding three or four or five feet to his total distance traveled, and it’s just too much on a course like this.”
Reporter Steve Porino added: “I was up here watching the run alongside Ligety’s coach. The whole time when he went out of the gate, he kept pointing his hands down the hill, down the hill – they saw it right when he pushed out of the gate…the pressure of the Olympic Games, the adjustment to these snow conditions, it seems like it’s hard on everyone except for Hirscher.”
NBC Olympics’ primetime host Mike Tirico read a series of social media posts by Mikaela Shiffrin reflecting on her performance in the slalom and looking forward. Following are Tirico’s comments regarding Shiffrin’s social media posts.
Tirico: “Social media platforms can be a bit of the ‘wild west,’ an ungoverned home for criticism from the unseen, the site of snark from the sarcastic. But at times, it can also act as a wonderful window into the soul of a star and reveal an individual’s character, no matter how many characters it takes.”
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SKI JUMPING – NBC
Play-by-play commentator Paul Burmeister on the win by Polish ski jumper Kamil Stoch in men’s individual large hill ski jumping: “Kamil Stoch with back-to-back golds on the large hill. He is being carried off by his teammates. Just before this Polish team left for the Winter Olympics, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, told him, ‘You are our big hope.’ Poland had zero medals at these Games before Kamil Stoch took gold.”
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SHORT TRACK – NBC & NBCSN
Analyst Apolo Ohno on John-Henry Krueger’s win in the semifinal of the men’s 1000m in short track: “Phenomenal race by John-Henry Krueger. Such a smart move to skate hard on the outside and commit to his pass. That’s what it takes if you want to skate in the “A” final. All of that training in the Netherlands is really paying off, spending time with the world’s fastest team.”
Play-by-play commentator Ted Robinson on South Korean short track speed skater Choi Min-Jeong: “This is the second time in three short track sessions that the president of the country (Moon Jae-in) has been here. It sounds cliché to say it, but the eyes of a nation are on that woman right there, Choi Min-Jeong.”
Robinson: “In the Olympic Games, athletes normally have one less lap in their legs than normal. The lights, the pressure, the mental fatigue that occurs during the race, and simply the heart rate is higher than normal.”
Robinson as Choi Min-Jeong wins gold: “Choi Min-Jeong – the nation watches and now the nation roars.”
Analyst Apolo Ohno as Choi Min-Jeong takes gold in the 1500m: “Such an incredible race by this young South Korean. Redemption from the 500m. She comes back and makes no mistake. Not even for one second.”
Ohno on the men’s 1000m and Krueger winning the silver medal: “A complete upset to the South Koreans. Completely unexpected.”
Robinson on the men’s 1000m and Krueger’s silver medal: “Short track strikes again! The 1000m strike again!”
Olympics correspondent Rutledge Wood joined host Liam McHugh to discuss the ice skating and speed skating venue, Gangneung Ice Arena. Following are excerpts from that conversation:
Wood: “You would never see a ballet go on in the center of Bristol Motor Speedway. To see this thing that is just brawn, blood and bruising in speed skating next to the most beautiful thing that we have at the Olympics in ice skating. That is what blew my mind.”
Wood on his advice for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s upcoming visit to PyeongChang: “Dale has been texting me all week saying ‘What events are you at? What are you going to? What do I need to see?’ I just keep trying to tell him. Everything you go to at the Olympics is an amazing experience.”
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FIGURE SKATING – NBC
NBC Olympics’ primetime host Mike Tirico spoke with U.S. men’s figure skating team members Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, and Adam Rippon. Following are excerpts from their conversation.
Tirico to Chen: “Where did you find the mental green light to say, ‘Six quads. Let’s just go for this here in the long program?’”
Chen: “After the short program, I had fallen so many times, I already had hit bottom at that point. I literally had nothing to lose, so I decided to just go for it.”
Zhou on the Games: “At least once every day, I would go, ‘Holy crap, I’m at the Olympics.’ You realize where you are, how much you’ve done to get there, and it’s so incredible.”
Rippon on the performances of Chen and Zhou: “For me to be in a competition with these two guys, they inspire me so much and they’re 10 and 11 years younger than I am. So to just be in this event and see them do so well yesterday, I was so overwhelmed and so proud of them before I even competed.”
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FREESTYLE SKIING – NBC
Play-by-play commentator Todd Harris on American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy: “Kenworthy put it to his feet. Remember he is riding with a broken right thumb and a major hematoma on his hip.”
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WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY – NBCSN
Play-by-play commentator Steve Schlanger on Team USA’s chances in the 4x5km relay: “This is the best chance the U.S. has ever had to win a medal on the women’s side at the Olympic Games.”
Schlanger on Norway’s Marit Bjorgen winning gold: “Coming around the final turn, the 37-year-old Norwegian, Marit Bjorgen, in her fifth Olympics is pulling away. To the win, to history, towards a glorious Olympic moment and she’s delivered for the Norwegians.”
Watch Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjorgen claim gold in the 4x5km relay here.
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MEN’S AERIALS – NBCSN
Play-by-play commentator Trace Worthington on qualifying: “A very high scoring men’s aerials qualifying underway. The top score to beat is 123.98, in the number one position. These scores are amazing tonight, all these guys are jumping so well.”
Analyst Jonny Moseley added: “At the test event last year it only took a 114.”
American freestyle skier Jonathon Lillis to reporter Kelli Stavast on the statement he made with his jump during qualifications: “I think with a jump like that it kind of proves to everyone that you’re here to win. Everything I can do from here on out is continuing with that kind of statement and try to prove to everyone out here that on my best day, I can beat everyone else out.”
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OLYMPIC ICE PRESENTED BY TOYOTA – NBCSN
Olympic Ice Presented by Toyota is NBCSN’s live, daily figure skating studio show.
Olympic Ice analyst Scott Hamilton on American Nathan Chen’s free skate: “What Nathan Chen did, beyond redemption, beyond everything else, was just throw down a program that has never been seen in world figure skating. He was unbelievable.”
Olympic Ice analyst Tanith White added: “Every single performance after Nathan’s, I was still replaying Nathan’s in the back of my mind. It was just that kind of Olympic magic that you remember forever … Yesterday, Nathan Chen was the best skater in the world.”
Hamilton on state of American ice skating: “No other country had all three of their men in the top ten, even Japan who went one-two. It was a great night for men’s American skating. Everyone skated extremely well. It shows that there is a lot of quality skating happing in the United States.”
White on Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu’s place in history: “I don’t know how you don’t call him the greatest of all-time.”
Hamilton on the next Winter Olympic Games in four years: “You aren’t going to make it to the (next) Olympics without a quad.”
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MEN’S HOCKEY – NBCSN
Analyst Jeremy Roenick on Finland’s Eeli Tolvanen, who was drafted by the Nashville Predators: “Amazing. We love international competition because we get to see some players that we’re going to see in the future, probably future superstars, and I think Tolvanen is going to be a superstar in the National Hockey League. He’s not very big, but boy is he smart. He puts the puck in the right places at the right time. He can shoot the puck. His hockey IQ is off the charts. Nashville got a real gem in this one.”
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ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032.
— PYEONGCHANG 2018 —
