“This is still all upside for Maame Biney. Her Olympic dreams are just starting, literally.” – Apolo Ohno
“Everybody thinks that the Olympics are every four years, but for them, it’s every day.” – AJ Mleczko on the U.S. women’s hockey team
“Shani Davis is a transcendent, generational speed skater.” – Joey Cheek
NBC’s Primetime Coverage, Live Across All Time Zones, Begins at 8 p.m. ET Tonight Featuring Mikaela Shiffrin & Shaun White
All Events Live Streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 13, 2018 – Tonight’s primetime coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from PyeongChang, South Korea, is highlighted by:
- NBC’s primetime presentation, which begins at 8 p.m. ET live across all time zones, slated to feature multi-medal threat Mikaela Shiffrin, who in 2014 became the youngest-ever Olympic slalom champion, beginning her title defense as the heavy favorite*;
- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White targeting a third Olympic gold in the men’s halfpipe live in primetime on NBC*;
- Team USA’s husband-and-wife duo of Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim competing in the figure skating pairs’ short program in primetime on NBC*;
*outdoor events subject to weather conditions
Click here for a preview of tonight’s primetime action.
Following are highlights from today’s coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on NBC and the networks of NBCUniversal:
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MEN’S SPEED SKATING - NBCSN
Speed skating analyst Joey Cheek on Shani Davis: “Shani Davis is a transcendent generational speed skater. He’s the best middle-distance skater in the history of the world. Some argue the best speed skater all-around in the history of the world…Davis revolutionized this race. You saw that opener. He’s the reason I’ve always said the opener doesn’t matter in the 1500m. He doesn’t open faster than everyone else. What he did was combine the first-lap speed of a sprinter with the endurance of an all-around skater.”
Cheek on 1500m favorite Koen Verweij’s disappointing race after Norwegian competitor Allan Dahl Johansson falls: “This is devastating for Koen Verweij as well. He is going to have to skate by himself. This is the hardest way too skate 1500m. Allan Dahl Johansson was a good pair for Koen Verweij. Now the energy just goes out of the room. Now he is way off of the pace set by Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands.”
Cheek on the last pair of American skater Brian Hansen and Norwegian skater Sverre Lunde Pedersen: “This was the first brilliant race I’ve seen from these Games. There have been a lot of great performances, so far all by the Dutch. But this is the first brilliant performance, the first race that gives you goose bumps because it was so fast.”
Watch Kjeld Nuis’s 1500m gold medal win here.
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WOMEN’S LUGE – NBCSN
Play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey on the final women’s luge singles run: “At this stage of an Olympic Games, particularly on a track like this, you may not make a lot of positions but you can lose a lot of positions.”
Analyst Duncan Kennedy on American luger Emily Sweeney: “Sweeney has had a tough Olympics. She needs to finish this off strong with a good clean run and get some confidence going into the off season. But like we have pointed out before, she is in good company; everyone has had trouble on this track.”
Sweeney to reporter Lewis Johnson following a crash in her fourth and final run: “I’m very sore and very stiff. I’m going to go get an x-ray on my back after this, but I wanted to have the last word. Thanks for all the support. It is a bummer, and I know I am better than that.”
Kennedy on American luger Erin Hamlin’s final Olympic Games: “The U.S. flag bearer for these PyeongChang games puts a period on her career. Two World Championships and an Olympic bronze. Well done, Erin Hamlin.”
Kennedy on 23-year-old American luger Summer Britcher: “She’s young, she’s talented, she’s driven, she will be back.”
Watch the run third and fourth runs from the women’s singles here.
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MEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING - NBCSN
Analyst Chad Salmela on Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo’s impressive qualifying time: “Klaebo is so fun to watch in a classic sprint. He’s kind of redefining how to race a classic race but he is doing it with supreme fitness and just massive talent. Probably the most talented, maybe the most talented of all-time and he is only 21 years of age. Makes you wonder what we are going to be saying in Beijing four years from now about this guy.”
Al Trautwig in response: “Makes me want to queue up the Darth Vader music.”
Salmela on Kalebo winning the gold: “The coronation is complete. The new king of cross-country skiing delivers without really any problem.”
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MEN’S SHORT TRACK – NBCSN
Analyst Apolo Ohno on American short track speed skater J.R. Celski’s performance: “Maybe it was a blade issue, maybe it was the feel. He has been struggling all year to find himself again. He just couldn’t find that extra gear in the last lap. The field has just improved so much internationally.”
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WOMEN’S SHORT TRACK – NBCSN
Play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson on the photo finish between Italy’s Arianna Fontana and South Korea’s Choi Min-Jeong in the women’s 500m final: “This arena has gone from raucous to silence instantly. It is a photo finish, and it is a skate blade across the line.”
Analyst Apolo Ohno added: “It’s a game of millimeters.”
Robinson: “And in this case, from the visuals we’ve seen, it’s centimeters.”
Robinson on South Korea’s Choi Min-Jeong receiving a penalty: “Short track never stops surprising us.”
Ohno on Maame Biney not qualifying for the finals in the 500 meter short-track: “This is still all upside for Maame Biney. Her Olympic dreams are just starting, literally. The more that she can take from this and learn will be to her advantage.”
Watch Maame Biney’s 500m quarterfinal run here.
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WOMEN’S HOCKEY – NBCSN
Analyst AJ Mleczko on the U.S. women’s national hockey team, who defeated Olympic Athletes from Russia, 5-0, in group play: “Everybody thinks that the Olympics are every four years, but for them, it’s every day. And now that they’re here, it’s all they want to do. They really want to bring their best.”
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ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
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— PYEONGCHANG 2018 —