FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 27th, 2018
NBC OLYMPICS ANNOUNCES COMMENTATORS FOR 2018 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES PRESENTED BY TOYOTA
Carolyn Manno to Host Paralympic Winter Games Coverage Across NBC and NBCSN
Chris Waddell, Most-Decorated Male Skier in U.S. Paralympic History, to Serve as Analyst
Coverage Begins on NBCSN with Opening Ceremony on Friday, March 9
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 27, 2018 – NBC Olympics announced 12 commentators who will anchor its more than 250 hours of coverage of the 2018 Paralympic Games Presented by Toyota from PyeongChang, South Korea. Paralympic coverage will air across NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, beginning with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, March 9 at 6 a.m. ET on NBCSN.
Carolyn Manno returns for her third consecutive assignment as host of NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Paralympic Games. Manno will be joined by 11 play-by-play commentators, analysts and reporters.
Play-by-play commentators Todd Harris, Jason Knapp and Steve Schlanger return for their third Paralympic Games and will call alpine skiing and snowboarding, sled hockey, biathlon and cross-country skiing, respectively. Chris Vosters, fresh off his first Olympic assignment, makes his Paralympic debut, serving as play-by-play commentator for coverage of wheelchair curling.
In addition, two Paralympians will make their debut as NBC Olympics analysts. Two-time Paralympic sled hockey gold medalist Taylor Lipsett will join Knapp for coverage of sled hockey, while three-time Paralympian and biathlete Kelly Underkofler will join Schlanger for biathlon and cross-country skiing.
13-time Paralympic medalist and Paralympic Hall of Fame member Chris Waddell (alpine skiing), as well as veteran snowboarding reporter Tina Dixon, and 2006 Olympic curling bronze medalist Pete Fenson will also serve as analysts.
Two-time Paralympian Mallory Weggemann and 2006 U.S. Olympic ice dance silver medalist Tanith White make their debuts as Paralympic reporters along with Lewis Johnson, who will work his third-consecutive Paralympic Games for NBC Olympics.
NBC Olympics’ 2018 Paralympic Games competition coverage begins on Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, and culminates on Saturday, March 24 on NBC. On most days, NBCSN daytime programming will air from 2 – 5 p.m. ET.
NBC Olympics named Toyota the presenting sponsor of its 2018 Paralympic Winter Games coverage last month. This marks the first time NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Paralympics will have a presenting sponsor. Toyota will also be the exclusive auto advertiser of NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Paralympic Winter Games across the linear and digital networks of NBCUniversal. In addition, Toyota branding will be included within NBC Olympics’ extensive linear, digital and social media promotional campaigns.
The sponsorship coincides with the recent rollout of “Start Your Impossible” Toyota’s first-ever global campaign, which highlights real-life mobility stories of Olympic, and Paralympic athletes as well as people who demonstrate the value of humility, hard work and never giving up. See their stories of determination to challenge any impossible here.
Team Toyota is sponsoring six U.S. athletes at the Paralympic Games: Stephanie Jallen and Danelle Umstead of U.S. Paralympic Alpine Skiing; Oksana Masters of U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing & Biathlon; Amy Purdy and Evan Strong of U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding; and Rico Roman of U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey.
SPORT-BY-SPORT RUNDOWN:
ALPINE SKIING:
Todd Harris, Play-by-Play
Chris Waddell, Analyst
SNOWBOARDING:
Todd Harris, Play-by-Play
Tina Dixon, Analyst
SLED HOCKEY:
Jason Knapp, Play-by-Play
Taylor Lipsett, Analyst
WHEELCHAIR CURLING:
Chris Vosters, Play-by-Play
Pete Fenson, Analyst
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING:
Steve Schlanger, Play-by-Play
Kelly Underkofler, Analyst
BIATHLON:
Steve Schlanger, Play-by-Play
Kelly Underkofler, Analyst
NBC Olympics’ coverage will include all six Paralympic winter sports – alpine skiing, snowboarding, sled hockey, wheelchair curling, cross-country skiing, and biathlon – spread across 10 days. The 250 hours of coverage includes 94 hours on television, which is NBC Olympics’ most ever for a Paralympic Winter Games, nearly doubling Sochi 2014 (50 hours). The 156 hours of streaming coverage will be available via NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs. [Note: OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app will also stream the Paralympic content that is televised on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA].
NBC Olympics will also work with Descriptive Video Works to provide video description services (VDS) for viewers with visual disabilities watching coverage of the 2018 Paralympic Games on NBC and NBCSN.
Video description is the use of short verbal descriptions of action or key video scenes to add context to programing for individuals with a visual disability. Descriptive Video Works’ specialists, with years of sportscaster experience, will precisely and vividly describe key elements of NBC’s coverage of the Games and sports as they unfold. This narration provides a description of key visuals like actions, facial expressions, clothing, event locations and on-screen graphics. Toyota has 100% exclusive ownership position for the Closed Captioning and Visual Description.
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Network |
| Fri., March 9 | 6 a.m. | Opening Ceremony (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Fri., March 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Alpine Skiing – Men’s & Women’s Downhill (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Fri., March 9 | 11 p.m. | Biathlon & Alpine Skiing (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 10 | 1 p.m. | Biathlon & Alpine Skiing* | NBC |
| Sat., March 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Alpine Skiing – Men’s & Women’s Super-G (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sat., March 10 | 10 p.m. | Sled Hockey – U.S. vs. Japan, Wheelchair Curling (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 11 | 9 p.m. | Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s Standing/VI 20km Free (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sun., March 11 | 11:30 p.m. | Snowboarding, Cross-Country Skiing- Women’s Standing/VI 15km Free, Sled Hockey (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Mon., March 12 | Noon | Sled Hockey – U.S. vs. Czech Republic, Wheelchair Curling, Snowboarding (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Mon., March 12 | 9 p.m. | Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Sled Hockey (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Tues., March 13 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey, Wheelchair Curling | NBCSN |
| Tues., March 13 | 8:30 p.m. | Wheelchair Curling (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Tues., March 13 | Midnight | Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Wheelchair Curling (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Wed., March 14 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey Playoffs, Wheelchair Curling | NBCSN |
| Wed., March 14 | 9 p.m. | Wheelchair Curling (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Thurs., March 15 | 1 a.m. | Alpine Skiing, Sled Hockey Semifinal (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Thurs., March 15 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey Semifinal (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Thurs., March 15 | 9 p.m. | Wheelchair Curling – Tiebreakers (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Fri., March 16 | 1 a.m. | Snowboarding, Biathlon (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Fri., March 16 | 7 p.m. | Wheelchair Curling Semifinal, Biathlon, Alpine Skiing, Sled Hockey – Bronze Medal Game (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 17 | 2 a.m. | Wheelchair Curling – Gold Medal Game (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sat., March 17 | 8:30 p.m. | Cross-Country Skiing, Sled Hockey – Gold Medal Game (LIVE), Wheelchair Curling – Gold Medal Game | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 18 | Noon | Alpine Skiing – Women’s Giant Slalom, Cross-Country Skiing – Open Relay | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sun., March 18 | 4:30 p.m. | Sled Hockey – Gold Medal Game (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 18 | 11:30 p.m. | Closing Ceremony | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 24 | 1 p.m. | Highlight Show | NBC |
*All dates and times subject to change
ABOUT THE 2018 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES
The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games will take place March 9-18, 2018, in PyeongChang, South Korea, with nearly 700 of the world’s finest Paralympic winter athletes competing for glory in 80 events across six different sports on snow and ice. Team USA will compete in each of the sports contested in PyeongChang with an estimated team of 70+ athletes.
-PYEONGCHANG 2018-
