FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 5th, 2019
U.S. TRACK CHAMPION NOAH LYLES & OLYMPIC BEACH VOLLEYBALL MEDALIST APRIL ROSS HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEK’S OLYMPIC SPORTS PROGRAMMING ACROSS NBC SPORTS
2018 U.S. 100m Champion Noah Lyles Highlights Live Coverage of the IAAF Diamond League Series from Rome, Starting Tomorrow, Thursday, June 6, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold
Olympic Medalist April Ross & Partner Alix Klineman Headline Live Coverage of AVP Beach Volleyball Tournament from New York City, This Sunday, June 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Additional Coverage This Week Includes: Volleyball Nations League, Mare Nostrum Swimming, IAAF World Challenge Track & Field, Fencing Grand Prix, and Sport Climbing World Cup
All Olympic Sports Coverage Across NBC Sports Platforms is a Presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 5, 2019 – U.S. track champion Noah Lyles and Olympic beach volleyball medalist April Ross, as well as her partner Alix Klineman, highlight extensive Olympic sports programming this week across NBC Sports. All Olympic sports coverage televised and streamed across NBC Sports platforms is presented by Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.
Live TV coverage of Diamond League Track & Field continues this weekend across NBC Sports with the Rome Golden Gala in Rome, Italy, tomorrow, Thursday, June 6, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold. NBC will present an encore presentation on Saturday, June 8 at 2 p.m. ET.
Two-time Diamond League champion Noah Lyles is expected to compete in the 200m this weekend in Rome. Lyles won the 100m in a photo finish earlier this season in Shanghai against fellow American star Christian Coleman, and is attempting to win the Diamond League title in the 200m for the third straight season. In Thursday’s 200m, Lyles – who has not lost an outdoor 200m race since finishing 4th at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials – will face off against 21-year-old California native Michael Norman. In April, Norman posted a tie for the 6th-fastest 400m time in history. American Rai Benjamin is also expected to compete in the 400m hurdles. Benjamin is tied for the third-fastest time ever in the event, just 0.24 seconds off American Kevin Young’s world record, which was set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and is the longest-standing world record in men’s track.
Live 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 on NBCSN will live stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
In addition, NBC Sports presents live TV coverage of the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour with the Gold Series NYC Open in Manhattan this Sunday, June 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The tour comprises eight events across the United States, ending with the Hawaii Open in September. This week’s event is the only AVP tournament played in the Eastern Time zone. 2016 Olympic bronze medalist April Ross and her partner Alix Klineman won the season-opening AVP tournament at the Huntington Beach Open in May, and are expected to compete this weekend.
NBC Sports’ Chris Marlowe (play-by-play), Kevin Wong (analyst) and Dain Blanton (reporter) will call the action from NYC on Sunday.
Following are additional programming highlights from this week across NBC Sports:
VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE
LIVE TV COVERAGE CONTINUES THURSDAY, JUNE 6, AT 8:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN
The FIVB Volleyball Nations League is a global tournament spanning nearly two months and comprises 260 total matches. Sixteen nations per gender play 15 matches each during pool play, which lasts five weeks. The top five teams from the preliminary rounds will compete in the VNL Final Six along with host nations China (women’s) and the United States (men’s). The U.S. women, who are defending Nations League champions, defeated South Korea yesterday, 3-1. Team USA is now 6-1. The U.S. men won the bronze medal last year and are currently 1-2 after the first week of play. The U.S., which as hosts of the VNL Final Six have an automatic entry into the finals, continues its tournament on Friday.
Live TV coverage of the women’s competition continues this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET NBCSN with USA vs. Brazil. Coverage of the men’s competition continues on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, with USA vs. Russia.
MARE NOSTRUM SWIMMING – MONTE CARLO, MONACO
LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY, JUNE 8, AT 11 A.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA
The annual Mare Nostrum Swimming Tour will begin Saturday, June 8 in Monte Carlo and will span three different cities over a nine-day period. 2018 U.S. champion Michael Andrew is expected to lead the Americans, while Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, who holds world records in the 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke, and Russia’s Yulia Efimova, a three-time Olympic medalist, are expected to headline the international contingent.
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents live coverage of the Mare Nostrum Swimming Tour beginning this Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m. ET, and will continue Sunday, June 9, at 11 a.m. ET before heading to France and Spain.
IAAF WORLD CHALLENGE TRACK & FIELD – HENGELO, NETHERLANDS
LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SUNDAY, JUNE 9, AT 11 A.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS GOLD
The IAAF World Challenge is composed of eight one-day meets, which each offer prize money. The circuit continues with the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, where 2016 Rio Olympic 100m hurdles gold medalist Brianna McNeal is expected to lead the Americans. Two-time 200m world champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands will compete in front of a home crowd.
Live coverage begins Sunday, June 9, at 11 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will present an encore presentation of the event at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
FENCING GRAND PRIX – MOSCOW, RUSSIA
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA Presents Coverage on Friday, June 7, at 7 a.m. ET
The 2019 Fencing Grand Prix spans nine cities, with each discipline being held in three different locations. The circuit concluded in Moscow in late May, with the third and final sabre competition. 2016 Rio Olympian Eli Derschwitz was the top American finisher in second place.
SPORT CLIMBING WORLD CUP – VAIL, COLORADO
LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY, JUNE 8 AT 5 P.M. ET ON OLYMPICCHANNEL.COM AND THE OLYMPIC CHANNEL APP
The 2019 IFSC Sport Climbing World Cup continues this weekend with bouldering events in Vail, Colorado. Sport climbing will make its Olympic debut next summer in Tokyo, where the competition will feature a combination of all three disciplines: bouldering, speed and lead. Alex Johnson, the top-ranked American in the women’s bouldering World Cup rankings, is expected to compete.
Live coverage of the Sport Climbing World Cup begins Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app; Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents encore coverage at 11 p.m. ET.
– NBC SPORTS –
