FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 24th, 2019

ONE YEAR UNTIL TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS: CHRISTIAN COLEMAN, NOAH LYLES & CAELEB DRESSEL HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEK’S OLYMPIC SPORTS PROGRAMMING ACROSS NBC SPORTS

Olympic Qualification Ramps Up as Today Marks One Year Out From 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony

 NBC and NBCSN Present Live Coverage of USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships This Weekend

FINA World Aquatics Championships Coverage Continues This Week on NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA

Additional Olympic Sports Programming This Week Includes Beach Volleyball World Tour, World Fencing Championships and BMX World Championships

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 24, 2019 – Christian Coleman, the world’s fastest man in 2019, current 200m world leader Noah Lyles, and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Caeleb Dressel headline Olympic sports programming this week across NBC Sports as today marks one year until the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on July 24, 2020. All Olympic sports coverage televised and streamed across NBC Sports platforms is presented by Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

This weekend’s USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa will be highlighted by the nation’s top track & field athletes competing to qualify for the World Championships, which begin on September 27 in Doha, Qatar.

In the men’s sprints, Americans currently hold world-leading times in the 100m (Coleman, who ran a 9.85-second 100m earlier this year), the 200m (Lyles, who became the fourth fastest man ever in the event when he ran 19.50 earlier this month) and the 400m (Michael Norman). The women’s 400m race is expected to feature the return of six-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix in her first major meet since giving birth to her daughter in November 2018, while Sydney McLaughlin is expected to compete in the women’s 400m hurdles, an event in which she holds the fastest time in 2019.

Live coverage begins Thursday, July 25, on NBC Sports Gold. Live TV coverage starts Friday, July 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold and will continue through the weekend, concluding Sunday, July 28, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN and at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Click here for the full schedule.

Additionally, the biannual World Aquatics Championships continue this week across NBC Sports, encompassing all major aquatic sports: swimming, diving, water polo, and artistic swimming (formerly called synchronized swimming).

Swimming – The pool competition continues this weekend, with Dressel expected to compete in three events: the 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and 50m freestyle, all of which he won at the last world championships in 2017. The 22-year-old already has two gold medals this week and he will seek his third tomorrow morning in the 100m freestyle. Dressel took home seven gold medals at the last World Aquatics Championships in 2017, tying Michael Phelps’ record for most titles at a single world championship. With the option of racing in up to three additional relays on top of his individual events, Dressel has potential to tie or break that record this week. Five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky pulled out of the 200m and 1500m freestyles earlier in the week due to illness, and her status for her remaining planned events (4x200m freestyle relay and 800m freestyle) is uncertain. Dressel will be joined in the swimming events by fellow Olympic gold medalists Simone Manuel, Lilly King, Ryan Murphy, and Kathleen Baker.

Water Polo – The water polo tournament continues throughout the week as the dominant U.S. women’s water polo team will seek its third straight world title, led by team captain and two-time Olympic gold medalist Maggie Steffens. The U.S. women have gone undefeated in the tournament so far, most recently defeating Australia in the semifinals. They will take on Spain in the women’s gold medal match on Friday, July 26, at 5:30 a.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and will also be shown on NBCSN at 6 p.m. ET on Friday. Click here for the full schedule.

The diving and artistic swimming events concluded last weekend with the U.S. diving team winning four medals, the most world medals the team has won since 2009. The diving team secured seven Olympic spots across four disciplines.

 

Following are additional programming highlights this week across NBC Sports:

FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR – TOKYO, JAPAN

TV COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY, JULY 27, AT 5 P.M. ET FOLLOWED BY COVERAGE OF THE FINALS ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, AT 5 P.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA

The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continues this weekend with a stop in Tokyo, Japan, which will serve as a test event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The American contingent is expected to be led by two-time Olympic medalist April Ross and her partner Alix Klineman, who teamed up to place second at the World Championships earlier this month, and by three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat. The duos of Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne are expected to headline the American men.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents coverage of the semifinals and finals this weekend, beginning on Saturday, July 27, with the men’s semifinals at 5 p.m. ET and the women’s semifinals at 7 p.m. ET. On Sunday, July 28, coverage of the men’s finals begins at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the women’s finals at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage of the event will also be shown on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.

 

FIE WORLD FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS – BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA PRESENTS COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON, JULY 24, AT 5 P.M. ET

The World Fencing Championships conclude today from Budapest, Hungary, as the world’s best fencers compete for world medals and Olympic qualification points. The entire U.S. Olympic bronze medal-winning men’s foil team, led by world No. 2 Race Imboden, is competing on the last day of the championships.

TV coverage of the final day begins on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA this afternoon, Wednesday, July 24, at 5 p.m. ET.

 

UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – HEUSDEN-ZOLDER, BELGIUM

LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY, JULY 27, AT 11 A.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA

The BMX World Championships will be presented live on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA on Saturday, July 27, at 11 a.m. ET and on NBCSN on Sunday, July 28, at 9:30 p.m. ET. Points earned at the event will factor into 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification.

The United States men currently rank third in the Olympic qualification rankings, which would earn them two spots in Tokyo. The top American men expected to compete in Belgium are 2016 Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields and his Rio teammate Corben Sharrah. The U.S. women, who are currently in first place, are set to be led by 2016 Olympic silver medalist Alise Willoughby.

– NBC SPORTS –