FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

2014 SOCHI WINTER GAMES – FEB. 19 NBC PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday in Primetime: Gold, Kim, Lipnitskaya & Wagner in Ladies’ Figure Skating Gold Medal Final at 8/7c on NBC 

Team USA Women’s Hockey Takes on Canada in Gold Medal Final LIVE IN ALL TIME ZONES at 12 Noon ET/9 a.m. PT on NBC

Women’s Curling Gold Medal Final on CNBC at 5 p.m. ET

LIVE Ladies’ Figure Skating & Women’s Curling Bronze Medal Game on NBCSN Beginning at 3 a.m. ET

All Events Live Streamed on NBCOlympics.com and NBC Sports Live Extra Mobile & Tablet App 

Stamford, Conn. – February 19, 2014 – Highlights of Thursday’s coverage of the XXII Olympic Winter Games:

  • NBC’s primetime presentation – which begins at 8/7c tomorrow – is highlighted by the free program in ladies’ figure skating, which combined with the short program score determines the Olympic champion. U.S. champion Gracie Gold currently sits in fourth place after the short program behind 2010 Olympic gold medalist Yuna Kim of South Korea in first. The program also features 15-year old Yulia Lipnitskaya, who helped lead Russia to gold with a top performance in the team event, and two-time U.S. national champion Ashley Wagner. Also in primetime is the women’s ski halfpipe gold medal final, where U.S. has a deep team of competitors, led by 20-year-old Maddie Bowman, while 2013 world bronze medalist John Teller will compete in the men’s ski cross gold medal final on Thursday.
  • NBC’s programming on Thursday is also highlighted by the gold medal final in women’s hockey featuring Team USA vs. Canada live across all time zones at Noon ET (9 a.m. PT). The two countries have combined to win all four gold medals in Olympic women’s hockey history, with Canada claiming three straight since the U.S. won the inaugural Olympic women’s tournament in 1998.
  • NBCSN’s live coverage on Thursday begins at 3 a.m. ET and includes the gold medal final in ladies’ figure skating, the live bronze medal women’s curling match featuring Great Britain vs. Switzerland, and live bronze medal women’s hockey game featuring Switzerland vs. Sweden. In addition, NBCSN’s coverage on Thursday includes the team K-125 large hill gold medal final in Nordic combined.
  • CNBC’s women’s curling coverage continues at 5 p.m. ET with the gold medal final between Sweden and Canada.

NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app will live stream all events. Click here for listings for Thurs., Feb. 20 and Fri., Feb. 21.

Following are highlights from today’s NBC coverage of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi:

Apolo Ohno on Gracie Gold: “The first thing I took away from meeting Gracie Gold was that she seemed so well-polished – she seemed like she had already gone to an Olympic Games. I remember my first experience, and I was nothing like her.”

Sandra Bezic on Gracie Gold: “She looks like the figure skater figurine in the jewel box. But she has the power and the technique of an emerging leading lady in figure skating.”

Scott Hamilton on Gracie Gold following her short program: “That was work. That was hard work – she did everything, but she had to fight for so many of those elements. Beautiful skate, beautiful choreography, all of the quality in the world…she fought for that.”

Hamilton on 15-year-old U.S. figure skater Polina Edmunds: “Beautifully skated, very mature. She showed every single element in its highest quality. What a great way to show yourself to these judges for the very first time.”

Hamilton on Yulia Lipnitskaya: “Her presence and maturity is so beyond her years, and what she does to a crowd, especially this Russian crowd, is extraordinary.”

Hamilton following Lipnitskaya’s fall during her short program: “For that to happen on a jump that she’s landed three or four times in warm-up perfectly is shocking.”

Bezic on Yuna Kim: “After struggling through that warm-up that we watched, this is a completely different woman. She may be one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever witnessed.”

Todd Brooker on Bode Miller’s aggressive skiing style: “I’d hate to be his caddie. You’d be handing him a 7-iron to lay up, and he’d be asking for a 3-wood. That’s the way he approaches this hill, he’s not going to hold anything back.

Ted Ligety following his gold medal win in men’s giant slalom: “This was the event I really wanted to win…I know where I stand in giant slalom, to be able to pull down in that kind of pressure, and to be up there with some of the greats is really an honor.”

Ligety to Bob Costas on his chances to medal in the slalom: “It’s been pretty up and down over the past couple seasons. I have a lot of speed, but not a lot of consistency. I’m a dark horse, that’s for sure.”

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