FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 5th, 2019

WORLD’S GREATEST SKIER MIKAELA SHIFFRIN HEADLINES THIS WEEK’S OLYMPIC PROGRAMMING ACROSS NBC SPORTS

Shiffrin Looks to Continue Historic Alpine Skiing World Cup Success after Winning Slalom Last Week in Killington; Men take on Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek

Katie Ledecky & Caeleb Dressel Headline Toyota U.S. Open Swimming Championships Alongside Nation’s Top Swimmers this Weekend Live on NBCSN

Nathan Chen Seeks Grand Prix of Figure Skating Three-Peat as Grand Prix Final Takes Place Live on NBC Sports Gold this Weekend

Additional Olympic Sports Programming this Week Includes Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, World Rugby Sevens Series, World Cup Speed Skating, Freestyle Skiing World Cup, Short Track World Cup, Biathlon World Cup & Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup

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

STAMFORD, Conn. – Dec. 5, 2019 – This week’s Olympic programming across NBC Sports is highlighted by the world’s greatest skier Mikaela Shiffrin, the winningest slalom skier in World Cup history, five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky, and two-time world figure skating champion Nathan Chen.

Shiffrin highlights the field competing in this weekend’s alpine skiing World Cup with women’s speed events in Lake Louise, Alberta. A three-time Olympic medalist, Shiffrin won the slalom last week in Killington and is now tied with Annemarie Moser-Proell for the fourth-most all-time World Cup wins (62) and tied for second among women.

 

Most All-Time World Cup Wins:

Rank Skier World Cup Victories
1 Ingemar Stenmark 86
2 Lindsey Vonn 82
3 Marcel Hirscher 67
T4 Annemarie Moser-Proell 62
T4 Mikaela Shiffrin 62

 

The men’s World Cup circuit stops this weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado, where PyeongChang Olympian Bryce Bennett and three-time Olympian Steven Nyman are expected to headline Team USA in speed events, while two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety should be a podium contender in giant slalom.

On Friday, Dec. 6, NBCSN presents live coverage of the men’s Super-G at 12:30 p.m. ET, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA has live coverage of the women’s downhill at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage on Saturday begins at 12:55 p.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and continues Sunday at 11:40 a.m. ET. NBC will present coverage of the men’s giant slalom on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, and NBCSN will have coverage of the women’s Super-G at 6 p.m. ET.

The nation’s top swimmers meet in Atlanta this weekend for the Toyota U.S. Open Swimming Championships, headlined by Ledecky, along with four-time Olympic medalist Simone Manuel. 100m butterfly world record holder Caeleb Dressel is expected to headline the men’s field.

NBCSN will present live coverage of the event at 7 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday.

Also this week, the 2019 Grand Prix of Figure Skating concludes with the Grand Prix Final from Torino, Italy. Headlined by two-time world champion and U.S. Olympic medalist Chen, live, commercial-free coverage begins with the pairs’ short program today at 1:45 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold. For more information, click here.

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.

Additional Olympic sports programming this week includes:

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING WORLD CUP – LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY

LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY AT 4:50 A.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS GOLD AND OLYMPICCHANNEL.COM

The cross-country skiing World Cup season continues this weekend in Lillehammer, Norway. Two-time Olympian Sadie Maubet Bjornsen and 2018 Olympic team sprint gold medalist Jessie Diggins currently lead the U.S. women’s team. Maubet Bjornsen finished in the top-4 in all three events at the opening World Cup event of the season in Finland last weekend. Sadie’s brother Erik Bjornsen is the top American in the men’s standings.

NBC Sports Gold and OlympicChannel.com have live coverage beginning Saturday at 5 a.m. ET and Sunday at 4:15 a.m. ET. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA has coverage of the women’s skiathlon on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET, while NBCSN will present coverage of the women’s 4x5km relay on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES – DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

ALL MATCHES, WHICH BEGAG THIS MORNING, SHOWN LIVE ON NBC SPORTS GOLD

The 2019-20 World Rugby Sevens Series continues this week with men’s and women’s tournaments in Dubai. This will be the first of ten events for the men, and the second of eight stops for the women this season, which lasts until May. The No. 1-ranked U.S. women, who finished second behind New Zealand in last year’s edition of the series, won the opening tournament in October, defeating Australia in the final. The U.S. men, who also finished second in last year’s series, open the season as the world’s No. 2-ranked team.

Live television coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA began this morning with women’s and men’s pool play. Pool play continues Friday with women’s competition at Noon ET and men’s at 4 p.m. ET. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents coverage of the semifinals and medal matches on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. All matches will be shown live on NBC Sports Gold.

WORLD CUP SPEED SKATING – NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN

NBC SPORTS GOLD PRESENTS LIVE COVERAGE AT 7 A.M. ET ON FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

The World Cup speed skating season continues this weekend in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Two-time Olympian and 2018 Olympic team pursuit bronze medalist Brittany Bowe and two-time Olympian and 2017 mass start world champion Joey Mantia are expected to headline the American contingent. Bowe won the opening 1000m race of the World Cup season in Belarus, while Mantia won the mass start last month at the World Cup in Poland.

NBC Sports Gold presents live coverage of the three-day event at 7 a.m. ET each day this weekend, beginning Friday, Dec. 6. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents television coverage on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

FREESTYLE SKIING WORLD CUP – RUKA, FINLAND

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA AND NBC SPORTS GOLD PRESENT LIVE COVERAGE SATURDAY AT 9 A.M. ET

The freestyle skiing World Cup continues in Ruka, Finland, with the first moguls event of the season. The United States is expected to be led by 23-year-old Jaelin Kauf, who finished second in the women’s World Cup moguls standings last season.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold present live coverage of the event this Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.

SHORT TRACK WORLD CUP – SHANGHAI, CHINA

NBC SPORTS GOLD PRESENTS LIVE COVERAGE AT 1 A.M. ET SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

The short track World Cup season makes its fourth stop this weekend with an event in Shanghai, China. American Kristen Santos is coming off her first career individual World Cup medal at last week’s event in Nagoya, Japan, as she finished third in the 1000m and is now ranked fifth in the discipline in the season-long World Cup standings.

NBC Sports Gold presents live coverage this Saturday and Sunday at 1 a.m. ET, while Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents television coverage on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

BIATHLON WORLD CUP – OESTERSUND, SWEDEN

LIVE COVERAGE ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA AND NBC SPORTS GOLD CONTINUES TODAY AT 10:20 A.M. ET

The first stop of the Biathlon World Cup continues this week in Oestersund, Sweden. The U.S. team will feature 2018 Olympians Sean Doherty and Leif Nordgren for the men, while the women are expected to be led by two-time Olympian Susan Dunklee, and Clare Egan, who was the top American finisher in the World Cup standings last season.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and NBC Sports Gold present live coverage today with the women’s 15km individual at 10:20 a.m. ET. Live coverage continues Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET and concludes on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

BOBSLED & SKELETON WORLD CUP – LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK

OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA PRESENTS LIVE TELEVISION COVERAGE SUNDAY AT 10:30 A.M. ET

The bobsled & skeleton World Cup season begins this weekend with a stop in Lake Placid, New York, where the U.S. women will be without three-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor, who is missing the 2019-20 season as she expects her first child. The women’s team is expected to be led instead by Taylor’s longtime rival, Kallie Humphries, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada who switched to compete for the U.S. team during the 2019 offseason.

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents live television coverage of the men’s skeleton on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET, while OlympicChannel.com will have live coverage of events throughout the weekend. For a full schedule, click here.

–NBC SPORTS–