FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 21st, 2020

NASTIA LIUKIN, SHAWN JOHNSON, CARLI LLOYD, AND USAIN BOLT HEADLINE “RETURN TO BEIJING” TONIGHT AT 7 P.M. ET DURING NBC SPORTS’ OLYMPIC GAMES WEEK ON NBCSN

Liukin & Johnson Become First U.S. Women to go 1-2 in All-Around at an Olympic Games

Carli Lloyd Leads U.S. Women’s Soccer to its Second Consecutive Gold Medal Tonight at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Usain Bolt Special Showcases His Record-Breaking Performances in 2008 Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET and 2 a.m. ET

Olympic Games Week Features 50+ Hours of Historic Olympic Moments From 2008 Beijing Games and Team USA Dynasties Throughout the Week

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 21, 2020 Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Carli Lloyd and Usain Bolt headline tonight’s coverage of Olympic Games Week at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, replaying more than 50 hours of historic moments from the 2008 Beijing Games and Team USA dynasties throughout the week.

NBC Olympics primetime host Mike Tirico will introduce nightly coverage throughout the week. Programming will also stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Coverage of Olympic Sports on NBC Sports Group platforms is a presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

In addition, 2008 Olympic all-around gold and silver medalists Liukin and Johnson (now Johnson East) will provide commentary together on Instagram Live during the 2008 Beijing Olympic women’s team and all-around finals, starting tonight at 7 p.m. ET. This marks the first time they will watch both events together.

TUESDAY, APRIL 21 – RETURN TO BEIJING: 2008 BEIJING GAMES – USAIN BOLT, WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS, WOMEN’S SOCCER AND BEIJING OLYMPIC STORIES

NBCSN will showcase the success of the women’s gymnastics and women’s soccer teams in Beijing with several of their gold medal performances from 2008. A half-hour special, Usain Bolt, showcases Bolt’s record-breaking and gold medal performances that led him to become the “fastest man in the world.”

EVENT TIME (ET) NETWORK
Women’s Gymnastics: Team Final 7 p.m. NBCSN
Women’s Gymnastics: All-Around Final 8:30 p.m. NBCSN
Usain Bolt 10:30 p.m. NBCSN
Women’s Soccer: USA vs. Brazil (final) 11 p.m. NBCSN
Usain Bolt (encore) 2 a.m. NBCSN
Beijing Olympic Stories (encore) 2:30 a.m. NBCSN

 

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS: TEAM FINAL AT 7 P.M. ET

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team claimed their second consecutive Olympic team silver medal. Members of the U.S. women’s team included Liukin and Johnson, who went on to a 1-2 finish in the Beijing all-around final, Alicia Sacramone (now Alicia Sacramone Quinn), 2005 world all-around champion Chellsie Memmel, Bridget Sloan, and Samantha Peszek.

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS: ALL-AROUND FINAL AT 8:30 P.M. ET

In Beijing, Liukin and teammate Johnson, who came in as the reigning world all-around champion, had a 1-2 finish, becoming the first U.S. women to claim the top two spots on the podium in the women’s Olympic all-around competition.

Liukin joined Mary Lou Retton (1984) and Carly Patterson (2004) as the only U.S. women’s gymnasts to win an Olympic all-around title. Russian-born and Texas-raised, Liukin trained at the same gym as Patterson, and was coached by her father, Valeri, a four-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics.

USAIN BOLT AT 10:30 P.M. ET & 2 A.M. ET (ENCORE)

A half-hour special, Usain Bolt details Bolt’s three memorable gold medal performances in 2008, including his world record-breaking 9.69 in the 100m final. The “fastest man in the world,” Bolt also helped Jamaica win the 4x100m relay, but that gold medal was rescinded nearly a decade later due to a doping case involving relay teammate Nesta Carter. Bolt would end his career with eight Olympic gold medals.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: USA VS. BRAZIL (FINAL) AT 11 P.M. ET

The U.S. women’s team won their second consecutive Olympic gold medal and third overall (1996, 2004, 2008) in a close final against Brazil. Neither team scored in the 90 minutes of regulation time and the Americans went ahead in extra time on a Lloyd goal, then held on to win the game.

BEIJING OLYMPIC STORIES AT 2:30 A.M. ET (ENCORE)

This half-hour special takes a look back at a few of the stories that emerged from the Beijing Olympics, starting with Natalie du Toit, a swimmer from South Africa who details her journey of how she got herself to the Olympic stage. The program also includes the story of Dara Torres, who won silver in the 50m free at age 41, 24 years after making her Olympic debut. In Beijing, she became the first American swimmer to compete in five Games.

Below is each night’s highlighted content throughout the week:

    • Tuesday, April 21: Return to Beijing: 2008 Beijing Games – Usain Bolt, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer and Beijing Olympic Stories (encore)
    • Wednesday, April 22: Olympic Classics: Men’s Basketball – 1992, 2000, 2008 and 2012 Gold Medal Games; Olympic Adventures with Mary Carillo: Summer Olympics
    • Thursday, April 23: Olympic Classics: Women’s Basketball – 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2016 Gold Medal Games; More Than Gold: Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics
    • Friday, April 24: Olympic Classics: Women’s Gymnastics – 1996 Team Final; 1988, 2004 and 2008 All-Around Finals
    • Saturday, April 25: Olympic Classics: Women’s Gymnastics – 2004 and 2012 Team Finals; 2012 and 2016 All-Around Finals
    • Sunday, April 26: Olympic Films – 1968, Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory and Olympic Adventures with Mary Carillo: Summer Olympics (encore)

 

–NBC SPORTS–