FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 26th, 2019

SIMONE BILES, CHRISTIAN COLEMAN, NOAH LYLES & ALLYSON FELIX HEADLINE 17 DAYS OF TRACK & FIELD AND GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE ACROSS NBC SPORTS, BEGINNING THIS FRIDAY

Live Coverage of IAAF World Track & Field Championships Begins Friday, September 27 at 9:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app & NBC Sports Gold

Nearly 150 U.S. Athletes Highlight 120 Hours of Live Coverage of IAAF World Track & Field Championships Across NBC Sports Platforms Over 10 Days

Biles Headlines More than 30 Hours of FIG World Gymnastics Championships Coverage Across NBC Sports, Beginning Tuesday, October 8

Additional Olympic Sports Programming This Week Includes: World Road Cycling Championships, World Canoe Slalom Championships, Sport Climbing World Cup & Berlin Marathon

All Olympic Sports Coverage Televised and Streamed Across NBC Sports Platforms is Presented by Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 24, 2019 – With less than one year until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, top U.S. Olympic athletes Simone Biles, Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles and Allyson Felix will headline 17 days of and track & field and gymnastics World Championship coverage across NBC Sports, beginning this Friday, September 27.

The world’s best track & field athletes head to Doha this week for the IAAF World Track & Field Championships. With nearly 150 American athletes competing in the biggest international meet in the leadup to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. is expected to contend for medals in several events, particularly in men’s sprints and women’s hurdles. Coleman, Lyles, and Michael Norman have the world’s fastest times this year in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, respectively, while Americans hold world records in both the women’s 100m hurdles (Keni Harrison) and the women’s 400m hurdles (Dalilah Muhammad). Rio Olympian and 2019 Diamond League champion Sydney McLaughlin is also expected to compete in the 400m hurdles.

The U.S. team also features strong contenders in Allyson Felix (women’s 4x400m relay pool), Emma Coburn (steeplechase), Sandi Morris (pole vault), Vashti Cunningham (high jump), and Rai Benjamin, who is a medal favorite in the 400m hurdles after an impressive performance at August’s Diamond League final, where he recorded a time of 46.98 seconds, tying for third-fastest ever in the event.

Leigh Diffey will call the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, joined by four-time Olympic medalist and analyst Ato Boldon, four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross, two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist decathlete Trey Hardee, distance analyst Craig Masback, and reporters Paul Swangard and Lewis Johnson.

NBC Sports presents more than 120 hours of live coverage of the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Qatar, beginning this Friday, September 27 at 9:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and NBC Sports Gold’s “Track & field Pass” continuing through Sunday, October 6. NBC presents coverage from Doha this Saturday, September 28 at 2:30 p.m. ET and Sunday, September 29 at Noon ET.

Click here for a full schedule.

Two days after the conclusion of the World Track & Field Championships, reigning Olympic gymnastics all-around champion Simone Biles headlines NBC Sports’ coverage of the FIG World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. TV coverage begins on Tuesday, October 8 at 8:30 a.m. ET with the women’s team event on NBCSN. NBC Sports presents more than 30 hours of coverage over six days from Stuttgart. More programming details about the FIG Gymnastics World Championships will be announced soon.

All coverage on NBC and NBCSN will stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. All coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will stream on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app, in addition to NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Coverage of Olympic Sports on NBC Sports Group platforms is a presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

Following are additional programming highlights this week across NBC Sports:

WORLD ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS – YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND

LIVE COVERAGE CONTINUES TOMORROW AT 8 A.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA & NBC SPORTS GOLD

The 92nd edition of the World Road Cycling Championships, the pinnacle event of the international road cycling calendar, continues in Yorkshire, England this week. 2016 Olympic track cycling silver medalist Chloe Dygert (individual time trial and road race) won the elite women’s time trial this morning and aims to compete in both track and road competitions at the Tokyo Olympics. Lawson Craddock (individual time trial and road race) and Neilson Powless (road race), both of whom participated in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana, are expected to headline the U.S. men’s contingent.

Live coverage of the World Road Cycling Championships from England continues tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25, at 8 a.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, OlympicChannel.com, the Olympic Channel app, and NBC Sports Gold.

Click here for a full schedule.

WORLD CANOE SLALOM CHAMPIONSHIPS – LA SEU D’URGELL, SPAIN

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA PRESENTS COVERAGE BEGINNING SATURDAY, SEPT. 28 AT 5:30 P.M. ET

The World Canoe Slalom Championships begin this weekend in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain. Fifty-eight of the available 82 Tokyo Olympic quota places will be earned at the 2019 World Championships. Canoe slalom is modeled on slalom skiing and is held on white water rapids. Competitions consist of timed runs down a course containing about 20 gates through which athletes must maneuver their boats. The best American hope at the World Championships will likely be 15-year-old Evy Leibfarth, who finished third in just her second World Cup competition earlier this summer in women’s canoe singles. Women’s canoe will be contested at the Olympics for the first time next summer in Tokyo.

TV coverage begins on Saturday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET with the Men’s C1& Women’s K1 Semifinals on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

Click here for a full schedule.

SPORT CLIMBING WORLD CUP – KRANJ, SLOVENIA

TV COVERAGE BEGINS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 AT 6:30 P.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA

The sport climbing World Cup season continues this weekend with a lead competition in Kranj, Slovenia. The top-ranked lead climber for the U.S. women is Ashima Shiraishi, who will compete alongside fellow Tokyo hopefuls Kyra Condie and Alex Johnson. The American men are likely to be led by Sean Bailey, who is currently second in the U.S. overall rankings.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents coverage this Sunday, September 29, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

BERLIN MARATHON

LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 AT 3 A.M. ET ON NBCSN& NBC SPORTS GOLD

American Sara Hall is expected to compete this weekend in the Berlin Marathon, one of the world’s fastest courses. Kenya’s Gladys Cherono will look to defend her title in the women’s race, while Ethiopia’s three-time Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele boasts one of the best resumes in a fast men’s field.

NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold present live coverage of the Berlin Marathon at 3 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 29.

– NBC SPORTS –