FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 21st, 2018

2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPICS – FEB. 21 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC AND NBCSN

“This is much better than she skied yesterday. Much more aggressive…this is a no-holds-barred run. – Bode Miller on Lindsey Vonn’s first-place run in the downhill portion of the women’s super combined

“Go ahead and look up the word ‘clutch,’ and you’ll see a picture of David Wise.” – Todd Harris on gold medal-winning performance by Wise in freestyle skiing halfpipe

Ladies’ Figure Skating Free Skate Airs Tomorrow Live in Primetime on NBC at 8 p.m. ET

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 21, 2018 – Thursday’s 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 ladies’ free skate, as Team USA’s Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu, and Karen Chen take on frontrunners Yevgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, competing as Olympic Athletes from Russia;

 

  • Short track gold medal finals in the men’s 500m, women’s 1000m, and 5000m relay in primetime on NBC;

 

  • The men’s U.S. curling team led by skip John Shuster with a trip to the gold medal game on the line, as they face Canada in the semifinal at 5 p.m. ET on CNBC.

 

Following are highlights from tonight’s evening and primetime coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal:

 

ALPINE SKIING – NBC

Analyst Bode Miller on possibility that Lindsey Vonn may not retire from Olympic competition: “I’m tempted to throw out there that it may not be her final event. I know Lindsey very well, I’d just like to toss that out there. She’s gone through an amazing array of injuries the last few years. I said the same thing about Aksel (Lund Svindal) who alluded to the fact that he was more or less done in the Olympics as well. But I know from experience, these athletes are still winning, they’re at the top of their game ability-wise. There’s just too much in my mind to say she definitely won’t be back. If she goes through a phase where she has no injuries and her body becomes healthy, the sky is the limit for her ability.”

Miller on Vonn’s downhill run in the super combined: “This is much better than she skied yesterday. Much more aggressive. She’s really attacking today…this is a no-holds-barred run…we’re seeing her tuck in places we haven’t seen anybody tuck, even in the training runs.”

*live coverage of the slalom portion of the women’s super combined aired following primetime coverage*

Play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks as gold medal favorite, Marcel Hirscher of Austria, began his run in the men’s slalom: “He just never falls. It’s been seven years since he did not finish a giant slalom race, two years since he did not finish a slalom race. Unbelievable consistency in a discipline that’s just not easy to get down every time.”

Miller as Hirscher continued: “But look at the mistakes. That’s his second mistake in a row, and I think he’s being thrown off more than I expected because of the snow.”

Hicks: “Woah! Hirscher! Unbelievable, right when we mention that – off course. Unbelievable.”

Miller: “One of the biggest upsets in these Games, and that’s says something with Ledecka winning the Super-G. Hirscher crashing for the first time in two years in this event. It’s a typical mistake for anybody else, you just never see it from Hirscher. You can’t say ‘never’ anymore.”

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CROSS COUNTRY SKIING – NBC

Play-by-play commentator Steve Schlanger on American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins: “She has had two fifth-place finishes and one sixth so far at these Olympic Games. She is so desperate to finally crack the top three for Team USA. Diggins embodies the team spirit maybe more than anybody else in what can so often be an individual sport. She loves this team concept.”

Analyst Chad Salmela: “She is able to dig a little bit deeper, push a little bit harder, and ski a little bit smoother on team days. She’s got her glitter and relay socks on, and there is just no stopping Jessie Diggins when she has her socks and glitter on.”

Salmela on Diggins in the final leg of the team sprint: “Almost three wide for the gold medal on the final climb.”

Schlanger: “Here comes Diggins on the outside, sensing the moment and sensing the history at stake for Team USA.”

Salmela: “They are all completely gassed. They have given it their all on the hill. Stina Nilsson (Sweden) is leading Jessie Diggins into the final turn. Can Diggins answer?”

Schlanger: “It is Jessie Diggins delivering a landmark moment that will be etched in Olympic history! The first-ever cross-country gold medal for the U.S.”

Hear Steve Schlanger & Chad Salmela call the women’s gold medal cross-country skiing finish here.

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FREESTYLE SKIING – NBC

Play-by-play commentator Todd Harris on David Wise scoring a 97.20 on his final run to win gold: “Go ahead and look up the word ‘clutch,’ and you’ll see a picture of David Wise…crashes on runs one and two, and it came down to the final run.”

Analyst Luke Van Valin on Wise: “His final run is indistinguishable from his momentous occasions of greatness that we’ve seen in the past. Absolutely coming out of the cold with those two crashes coming in to run three, and absolutely knocking it out of the park.”

Van Valin on Team USA’s Alex Ferreira posting a 96.40 on his final run to win silver: “Are you joking? Alex Ferreira taking it to new heights…just astronomically large throughout. A beautiful run overall.”

Van Valin on progression of Ferreira: “Anyone who follows freesking has a feeling of deep satisfaction, not just with the stars and stripes on the podium, but with Alex Ferreira. He and Torin Yater-Wallace have always been such close friends, but he was playing second fiddle for a long time. In this competition, and throughout this year, he has revealed himself not only to be a quintessential professional, but somebody who can come out and throw down when it matters and truly entertain, as well as blow minds.”

***

SNOWBOARDING – NBCSN

Analyst Todd Richards on the progression of women’s big air: “This is so cool. The women are truly innovating the qualifier for this event. Just the other day one of the best showcases of women snowboarding jump abilities ever. The bar has now been raised, and it’s going to be amazing to see in the future.”

Richards on United States’ Jamie Anderson’s second run, which won a silver medal: “That looked way too easy for anybody. There was zero effort put into that. This was such a perfectly executed backside, double cork 1080.”

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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 Tanith White on Russia’s Alina Zagitova and Yevgenia Medvedeva: “I have to wonder how much her coming onto the scene has affected our perception of Medvedeva, because for so long no one could touch Medvedeva. Now, Alina comes on the scene with even more technical efficiency. Her jumps side-by-side with Medvedeva are so much stronger, so much easier, and I’m left reeling over the proficiency of those jumps for several seconds beyond each jumping pass.”

White on the judges’ short program scores: “My overall thought was that Kaetlyn Osmond from Canada was underscored.”

Olympic Ice analyst Scott Hamilton on Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond’s short program: “My goodness, she threw it down. Every single aspect of that short program. My favorite performance of the night. Even though I adore Medvedeva and Zagitova, I think they’re extraordinary, that to me was the performance of the night and it just felt under marked.”

Hamilton on the United States’ Mirai Nagasu attempting a triple axel in the short program: “This triple axel was so overcooked it was unbelievable. She put way too much effort into it … But she kept her composure and went through the rest of her program really well and did the best she could in a difficult situation. It was really bold for her to go after that triple axel.”

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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 —