FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, February 22nd, 2014
JOHNNY WEIR, TARA LIPINSKI AND TERRY GANNON TO HOST SOCHI OLYMPIC GAMES FIGURE SKATING GALA TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBC
World’s Best Figure Skaters, Including Top Six Finishers From Men’s and Ladies’ Events, and Top Five Couples From Pairs and Ice Dancing to Perform
SOCHI, Russia – February 22, 2014 – NBC Olympics’ daytime figure skating telecast team of Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinski and Terry Gannon will host coverage of the Sochi Olympic Games figure skating gala tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Featuring the world’s best figure skaters, including the top six finishers from both the men’s and ladies’ individual events, as well as the top five couples from the pairs and ice dancing events, the 2014 Sochi Games figure skating gala will air during NBC’s primetime coverage between 8 – 11 p.m. ET. Athletes include: ladies’ gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova (RUS), silver medalist Yuna Kim (KOR), bronze medalist Carolina Kostner (ITA), and Gracie Gold (USA), who finished fourth. Men’s gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), silver medalist Patrick Chan (CAN), and bronze medalist Denis Ten (KAZ) will also participate. In addition, ice dance gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) and pairs skating gold medalists Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov (RUS) will skate.
Saturday’s gala will begin with the carving of the Olympic rings into the ice to honor Russian figure skating icon Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, the country’s first ever Olympic champion, who won the special figures event at the 1908 Olympic Games in London. The figure skating gala is the final figure skating event of the Sochi Games and is the last opportunity to see the world’s best skaters perform in Sochi.
PRIMETIME
NBC’s primetime coverage of the XXII Olympic Winter Games tonight at 8/7c is highlighted by the slalom gold medal final in men’s alpine skiing where Ted Ligety looks to earn his second medal at the Sochi Games. Ligety became the first American man to win gold in the giant slalom event on Wednesday. Also highlighted in the primetime show is the four-man bobsled, in which Steve Holcomb, who led Team USA to gold in the four-man bobsled in 2010 will compete in the event. Holcomb and teammate Steve Langton enter the four-man competition after winning bronze in the two-man bobsled in Sochi. Also in primetime is the team pursuit event in both men’s and women’s speed skating.
NBC’s primetime coverage tonight also includes Long Way Home: The Jessica Long Story, which profiles Jessica Long, a world-class swimmer, 12-time Paralympic gold medalist, and 21-year old American from a Baltimore suburb, who was born in Russia and adopted by American parents. For more information and two trailers, click here.
NANCY & TONYA DOCUMENTARY – SUNDAY AT 7 P.M. ET
In primetime Sunday, February 23, beginning at 7/6c, NBC presents the documentary Nancy & Tonya, in which Mary Carillo looks back at the events leading up to, during and following the ladies’ figure skating competition at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. The documentary features an exclusive sit-down with Nancy Kerrigan, and a one-on-one interview with Tonya Harding. For more information, click here.
–NBC OLYMPICS–
