FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 19th, 2018

2018 PYEONGCHANG OLYMPICS – FEB. 19 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBCUNIVERSAL

“Norway runs away – or should I say – flies away with the gold.” – Paul Burmeister on the Norwegians’ gold medal in ski jumping  

“Twenty years in the making, history repeats for Canada!” – Leigh Diffey on Canada tying Germany for gold in bobsled

NBC’s Primetime Coverage, Live Across All Time Zones, Begins at 8 p.m. ET Tonight Featuring 2018 U.S. Champions Madison Hubbell & Zach Donohue, and Maia & Alex Shibutani

All Events Live Streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 19, 2018 – Tonight’s primetime coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from PyeongChang, South Korea, is highlighted by:

  • NBC’s primetime presentation, which begins at 8 p.m. ET live across all time zones, featuring the free dance portion of the ice dance competition, headlined by 2018 U.S. champions Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue, and three-time world medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani;
  • Coverage of the women’s ski halfpipe in primetime on NBC, as Maddie Bowman continues her quest for gold*;
  • Coverage of Team USA men’s hockey in an elimination game, as it faces Slovakia with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals on live at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN;
  • Coverage of the men’s ski halfpipe in primetime plus on NBC, headlined by 2014 gold medalist David Wise and 2014 Olympian Torin Yater-Wallace.*

*outdoor events subject to weather conditions

Click here for a preview of tonight’s primetime action.

Following are highlights from today’s coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on NBC and the networks of NBCUniversal:

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SKI JUMPING – NBCSN

Analyst Johnny Spillane on Robert Johansson’s gold-medal clinching run for Norway: “He just put an exclamation point on it.”

Play-by-play commentator Paul Burmeister on Norway’s gold-medal finish: “So unlike in the individual event where we were waiting and waiting after that last jump for the score, we know exactly who won. And who won in emphatic fashion. Norway runs away – or I should say – flies away with the gold.”

Spillane on Norway’s overall team strength: “I think that it’s so important to them to show they are the best team. It’s not one individual. There are countries that have one guy that can be very good, but to have four guys jumping at the level you need to be able to win a gold medal is so difficult to do.”

Watch Norway’s Robert Johansson clinch gold for Norway in men’s ski jumping here.

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SPEED SKATING – NBCSN

Analyst Joey Cheek on Japan’s women’s team pursuit qualifier: “I don’t think anyone would have said with four laps left in this race, Japan would not only be behind the Dutch but behind the Chinese team coming into this team pursuit. I believe they’ve got something special. They’re going to need something special.”

Cheek on the United States qualifying for the women’s team pursuit: “The U.S. team was not qualified to compete in this race coming into these Games. But because of the sanctions against the Russian team, the U.S. was the next team to be inserted. Now, the reason – in my opinion – they didn’t qualify was that they didn’t have these two powerhouses. They didn’t have Heather Bergsma or Brittany Bowe. They didn’t compete at all internationally.”

Play-by-play commentator Tom Hammond’s call of Norway’s Havard Lorentzen’s Olympic record and gold-medal finish in the men’s 500m: “Lorentzen to win the pair. And passes (South Korea’s Cha) Min-kyu in first place, luring the Olympic record by one hundredth of a second!”

Cheek on the importance of Lorentzen’s gold medal for Norway: “This is a huge victory for Norwegian speed skating. A country that used to be a powerhouse in the sport hasn’t had a gold medal in 20 years. Not since 1998 has Norway stood on the top step of the podium at the Winter Olympics in speed skating.”

Watch Norway’s Havard Lorentzen win gold in the men’s 500m here.

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY – NBCSN

Analyst Jeremy Roenick on the United States’ Jocelyne Lamoureux goal against Finland: “You’ll see this in the National Hockey League. It’s called Alex Ovechkin. In women’s (hockey) it’s called Jocelyne Lamoureux. What a shot.”

Analyst AJ Mleczko on Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin: “She’s one of their penalty killers, too, the way she plays hockey, how aggressive she is as a captain. She wears her heart on her sleeve.”

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BOBSLED – NBCSN

Play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey on the United States’ Justin Olsen: “Remember Justin’s story, the emergency appendectomy on February 5th. He’s had the best part of two weeks to recover, and incredibly, he is Team USA’s highest-placed driver and combination.” 

Diffey on Canada’s Chris Spring’s introduction to bobsled: “For those of you who have seen many a Australian tourism commercials, that’s where Chris Spring was born, kind of on the verge of the outback up in Darwin in the Northern Territory. (He) moved to Canada in 2006. Was invited to a bobsled track by a friend and jumped in the back as a brakeman and said, ‘Hey, I fancy myself as a driver.’ And it has been that way ever since.” 

Diffey on Germany’s Johannes Lochner’s run that put him out of medal contention: “Oh, boy, that was sloppy. Not what Johannes Lochner needed to deliver, and that’s going to cost him a medal. Lochner will live to regret that fourth and final run.”

Diffey on Canada and Germany tying for the gold medal: “Twenty years in the making, history repeats for Canada! A tie for the gold medal! This Olympic Sliding Center has seen some amazing things these Games, but nothing like this.”

Watch Germany and Canada tie for gold in thrilling two-man bobsled here.

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CURLING – NBCSN

Play-by-play commentator Jason Knapp on what Canadian curler Ben Hebert would do if he won a second gold medal: “At a press conference before the tournament started, somebody asked Ben Hebert what he would do if he won a second gold medal in curling. And he said, ‘Well, I would text Kevin Martin and let him know I have two and he has one.’”

Analyst Kevin Martin added: “And you know what the truth is? He would.”

Knapp on John Shuster’s match-deciding throw: “Got it around the guard, got it there, and got the United States a much-needed victory. A thriller for the United States. In a must-win situation, John Shuster delivers with the final stone.”

Watch the United States defeat Canada in extra end here.

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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 —