FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, February 17th, 2018

2018 PYEONGCHANG OLYMPICS – FEB. 17 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBCUNIVERSAL

“She is really going to start the next generation of short track speed skaters for this country.” – Apolo Ohno on U.S. Olympian Maame Biney

“Katie Uhlaender is a fighter and I imagine she will compete until she gets disqualified for being half bionic.” – Bree Schaaf

 “We all know what it’s like to have to pick yourself up, get over it, and continue on. To me, that’s what the Olympics are all about.” – Mary Carillo

 NBC’s Primetime Coverage, Live Across All Time Zones, Begins at 8 p.m. ET Tonight Featuring Ted Ligety in men’s giant slalom & John-Henry Kreuger in men’s 1000m short track

All Events Live Streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 17, 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, featuring Ted Ligety competing for gold in the men’s giant slalom*;
  • Coverage of the men’s 1000m short track competition in primetime on NBC, headlined by American John-Henry Krueger;
  • Coverage of the men’s slopestyle skiing on NBC in primetime and primetime plus, as Gus Kenworthy leads the U.S.

*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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SKELETON – NBCSN

Play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey on British skeleton racer Lizzy Yarnold’s battle with a vestibular disorder: “She has passed out and blacked out on runs before. Lake Placid in New York. In Calgary she had to miss a run. This is an issue. And maybe, is this going to creep in and affect her medal chances or not? She said, ‘Fortunately, on this PyeongChang track it hasn’t.’”

Diffey on American skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender: “She has been greatly affected by the Russian doping scandal. She missed a medal in Sochi four years ago by four one hundredths of a second. The athlete who beat her to bronze is one of those athletes in question. With no clear direction with appeals and overturned decisions, and no final judgement day or judgement point in sight, it has left this U.S. athlete in a state of disarray.”

Analyst Bree Schaaf on Uhlaender: “Katie is a fighter and I imagine she will compete until she gets disqualified for being half bionic from 12 more surgeries. She has had so much go on in her life and this run does not reflect her abilities as an athlete or competitor.”

Watch British skeleton racer Lizzy Yarnold win back-to-back golds in women’s skeleton here. 

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SPEED SKATING – NBCSN

Play-by-play commentator Ted Robinson on American short track speed skater Maame Biney: “The upside is so high. It’s been awhile, probably, since the United States short track has had a skater with this kind of upside.”

Analyst Apolo Ohno added: “I think it is needed. I think U.S. speed skating is looking for young athletes like Biney to reinvigorate the grassroots level inspiration. She is really going to start the next generation of short track speed skaters for this country, and I think for many years to come.”

NBC Olympics’ daytime host Rebecca Lowe spoke with NBC Olympics’ correspondent Mary Carillo about resilience at the Olympics, following a feature on short track speed skater Elise Christie of Great Britain. Following are excerpts from their conversation.

Carillo: “The word that gets thrown around a lot at the Olympics is ‘redemption.’ I think it’s ‘resilience’ or ‘resetting’ – we all know what it’s like to have to pick yourself up, get over it, and continue on. We see athletes do it all the time. We saw Mikaela Shiffrin, she was supposed to win (in the slalom)…the one instance that gets me more than anything is what the speed skater Dan Jansen was able to do. It took him four Olympic Games, and he was a magnificent skater. We all knew how hard he had to work…those are the stories that get me more than just about anything, that you’re gutsy enough to try again.”

Lowe: “It’s not just about guts, it’s about the amount of hard work. You and I are sitting in here in this cozy studio today, thinking that when we go to the gym that we work hard. These athletes work like we have no idea.”

Carillo: “I feel so much for the athletes that don’t come good when they are supposed to. There’s a lot of pressure on them. We saw it with Nathan Chen, and after a disastrous couple of skates, he was able to pull himself up and do some magnificent things on the ice. To me, that’s what the Olympics are all about.”

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MEN’S HOCKEY – NBCSN

Analyst Mike Milbury on American goalie Ryan Zapolski: “He’s going to need to stay sharp unless the U.S. can get its game in gear. Too much puck possession time for the Russians early on for my liking.”

Milbury on OAR controlling the game in the first period: “They came ready to play. The United States is going to have to up its game considerably to get back in this thing. They have had a few chances but not nearly enough. I haven’t seen their speed on as many occasions as I’d like to.”

Analyst Pierre McGuire: “They normally shake hands after the game, but there is no hand shaking today between the U.S. and Russian coaches.”

Studio analyst Keith Jones: “It wasn’t a 4-0 loss for Team USA. I will agree with Brian Gionta. There were lots of very positive moments for the team. It was a tough game for the goaltender. I think Ryan Zapolski struggled at times. I would have like to see him smother the puck more.”

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FIGURE SKATING – NBCSN

The following is an excerpt from Carolyn Manno’s studio interview with American figure skater Adam Rippon:

Rippon on describing his free skate program: “The story of my free skate is that broken bird. Four years ago, I was in a car accident while I was parked at a Coffee Bean. But last year, I had an actual broken foot. I was in a boot and I was off the ice for four months. So this program was sort of a story of my career and journey here to the Olympic Games.”

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CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING – NBCSN

Play-by-play commentator Steve Schlanger on Norway’s Marit Bjorgen winning gold: “Coming around the final turn, the 37-year-old Norwegian, Marit Bjorgen, in her fifth Olympics is pulling away. To the win, to history, towards a glorious Olympic moment and she’s delivered for the Norwegians.”

Watch Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjorgen claim gold in the 4x5km relay here.

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ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032.

— PYEONGCHANG 2018 —