FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 16th, 2021

NBC NEWS’ SAM BROCK, NATALIE MORALES, ANNE THOMPSON & DR. JOHN TORRES JOIN NBC OLYMPICS AS REPORTERS

Olympic Medalists Gus Kenworthy, Jessica Mendoza, Apolo Ohno & Tanith White to Serve as Reporters

 Tina Dixon, Naoko Funayama, Corey Robinson & Rutledge Wood Round Out Reporter Lineup 

The Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics is Friday, July 23 on NBC 

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 16, 2021 – NBC News’ Sam Brock, Natalie Morales, Anne Thompson and Dr. John Torres will join the NBC Olympics roster of reporters in Tokyo this summer, it was announced today. The Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics is Friday, July 23 on NBC.

Olympic medalists Gus Kenworthy, Jessica Mendoza, Apolo Ohno and Tanith White will serve as reporters in Tokyo. The NBC Olympics roster will also include Tina Dixon, Naoko Funayama, Corey Robinson and Rutledge Wood.

“With so many stories to tell at each Olympics, we are excited to have a group of reporters ranging from NBC News correspondents to Olympic medalists to veteran sports commentators,” said Rebecca Chatman, Vice President and Coordinating Producer of NBC Olympics production.

Following is a closer look at this summer’s NBC Olympics reporters:

Sam Brock

    • Makes NBC Olympics debut
    • NBC News correspondent
    • Brock’s reports appear across NBC News’ programs and platforms including NBC Nightly News, TODAY, MSNBC and NBC News NOW

 

Tina Dixon

    • Makes summer debut for NBC Olympics
    • Fifth NBC Olympics assignment – snowboarding reporter in each of the last four Winter Games (also freestyle skiing reporter in Vancouver in 2010)
    • Analyst for women’s snowboarding halfpipe & parallel giant slalom competitions at 2018 PyeongChang Olympics
    • Former professional snowboarder, two-time X Games gold medalist

 

Naoko Funayama

    • Makes NBC Olympics debut
    • Serves as sideline reporter for broadcasts of Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution
    • Previously, spent five seasons as rink-side and beat reporter for Boston Bruins telecasts on NESN, where she covered the team’s trips to Prague and Belfast. In addition, she reported on Boston Red Sox games at Tokyo Dome
    • Lived for a time in Tokyo, and speaks Japanese and French

 

Gus Kenworthy

    • Makes NBC Olympics debut
    • Won silver medal in ski slopestyle in 2014 Sochi Winter Games
    • Two-time Olympian (2014, 2018)

 

Jessica Mendoza

    • Making NBC Olympics debut; covered 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics for Yahoo! Sports
    • Two-time Olympian and two-time medalist in softball (2004 gold, 2008 silver)
    • ESPN analyst since 2007 covering a variety of sports, including softball, which makes its return to the Olympics this summer
    • Is the first woman to serve as an analyst for nationally-televised MLB games in 2015, and in 2020, became the first woman to serve as a solo analyst on national baseball telecasts and the first woman to serve as a World Series game analyst on national radio
    • 2006 USA Softball Athlete of the Year and 2019 inductee into National Softball Hall of Fame

 

Natalie Morales

    • Second NBC Olympics assignment; previously worked seven Olympics with NBC News
    • West Coast anchor of NBC News’ TODAY
    • Correspondent for Dateline NBC

 

Apolo Ohno

    • Fifth NBC Olympics assignment
    • Three-time Olympian in short track (2002, 2006, 2010)
    • Most decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history with eight medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze)

 

Corey Robinson

    • NBC Olympics debut
    • Joined NBC Sports in 2020, and contributes to a wide variety of properties across the NBC Sports portfolio on linear, digital and social platforms
    • Notre Dame wide receiver (2013-2015) and 2014 first-team Academic All-American and Notre Dame Knute Rockne Student-Athlete Award winner
    • His father David Robinson is a Hall of Fame basketball player and was a member of the “Dream Team” which won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

 

Anne Thompson

    • Third NBC Olympics assignment
    • NBC News’ chief environmental affairs correspondent
    • Thompson’s reports appear across NBC News’ programs and platforms including NBC Nightly News, TODAY, MSNBC and NBCNews.com

Dr. John Torres

    • Making NBC Olympics debut
    • NBC News’ medical correspondent
    • Torres’ reports appear across NBC News’ programs and platforms, including NBC Nightly News, TODAY, MSNBC, NBC News NOW and Nightly News Kids Edition

 

Tanith White

    • Fourth NBC Olympics assignment
    • Two-time Olympian and 2006 silver medalist in figure skating (ice dancing)
    • Five-time national champion and four-time world championship medalist (two silver, two bronze)

 

Rutledge Wood

    • Third Olympics overall with NBC Sports, previously serving as a reporter in PyeongChang in 2018 and Rio in 2016
    • NASCAR on NBC features reporter since 2015, bringing stories of raceways, unique towns and enthusiastic fans to viewers at home
    • Served as an event reporter for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500, and NHL Outdoor Games

 

For a complete archive of Tokyo Olympics press releases, click here.

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS                               

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. NBC Olympics 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. NBC Olympics also produces thousands of hours of Olympic sports programming throughout the year, which is presented on NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.

–NBC OLYMPICS–