FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, August 1st, 2021

TOKYO OLYMPICS – AUGUST 1 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC

 “What a complete and utter shock. Throw away all the form charts from all the months leading into this race.” – Ato Boldon on Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs winning gold in the men’s 100m final

“I was actually going to take a flight home after the team final…It’s just a dream come true.” – MyKayla Skinner to Andrea Joyce after winning silver in the women’s vault

“One of the first things I heard after that race was Rowdy (Gaines) yelling, ‘Welcome to the club!’” – Caeleb Dressel to Mike Tirico on his gold medal in the men’s 100m freestyle

Monday Highlights: U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Plays Canada in Semifinals Live Monday Morning at 4 a.m. ET on USA Network; Allyson Felix and Noah Lyles Headline American Contenders in Track & Field Qualifiers Live Monday Morning at 6:20 a.m. ET on Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 1, 2021 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the Tokyo Olympics tonight on NBC. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage on NBC from a fish market in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo.

Tirico opening Sunday’s NBC Olympic primetime show from the streets of Tokyo: “Protocols are still in place…I’ve been here three weeks, tested many times, so we are allowed out of the Olympic bubble and into the city. It’s part of how Tokyo’s managing to pull this thing off. So, since we can get out, we want to give you a little bit of flavor of this amazing city as the second week of the Games kicks off.”

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

    • A number of American medal contenders are expected to compete in track & field finals, semifinals and qualifiers, live at 8 p.m. ET Monday on NBC and CNBC. Live at 6:20 a.m. ET on Peacock, Allyson Felix (women’s 400m) and Noah Lyles (men’s 200m) headline American contenders in track & field qualifiers;
    • Jade Carey is expected to represent Team USA in the women’s gymnastics floor final live Monday morning at 4 a.m. ET on Peacock. Coverage will also be presented in primetime Monday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC;
    • The U.S. women’s soccer team play Canada in the semifinals live Monday at 4 a.m. ET on USA Network, with a spot in the gold medal match on the line;
    • Kevin Durant and the U.S. men’s basketball team, aiming for its fourth consecutive gold medal, face Pau and Marc Gasol and Spain in the quarterfinals live at 12:40 a.m. ET/9:40 p.m. PT Monday on Peacock;
    • Women’s beach volleyball elimination round action will be presented live Monday on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. On the men’s side, Americans Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne play Germany live Monday at 9 a.m. ET on NBCSN.
    • USA baseball, featuring former MLB players Todd Frazier and Edwin Jackson, face Japan in the playoff round live Monday morning at 6 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

 

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Tokyo Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal:

GYMNASTICS – NBC

Nastia Liukin on Suni Lee winning bronze in the uneven bars: “Since winning that all-around gold medal, she has just been going from one thing to the other. It’s been an exhausting but rewarding, of  course, few days for Suni.”

Terry Gannon: “You can imagine the confidence that would add, but also all the distraction going in and then to having to keep competing.”

Liukin: “That, and the pressure as well. Now you’re coming back out to the competition floor, a few more eyes are on you as the reigning Olympic all-around champion.”

Liukin on MyKayla Skinner winning silver in the women’s vault: “Just the range of emotions that she has had here all week, could not be more thrilled for MyKayla Skinner to end her Olympics experience with an individual medal…She will remember this moment for the rest of her life.”

Skinner to Andrea Joyce: “This was seriously so unexpected. I was actually going to take a flight home after the team finals, so for me to be able to turn myself around and be able to finally compete one last time, was seriously so unreal…It’s just a dream come true.”

Liukin on Jade Carey in the vault: “It’s almost like she just got ahead of herself a little bit…It happens to every single gymnast, sometimes your steps are just off.”

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TRACK & FIELD – NBC

Leigh Diffey on the men’s 100m final: “When you think about the Olympic Games and you think about the men’s 100m, of course naturally you think of Jamaica’s legend Usain Bolt…However, he’s in retirement. So that means it is wide open, and it has been the biggest question, the biggest discussion that we’ve experienced at these Games. The question begs, who’s going to win the 100m?”

Ato Boldon on Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs winning gold in the men’s 100m final: “I can’t even say enough about what this young man here has just accomplished. Italy has no history of medals in this event…but this guy just set a European record. I told you before the gun, if you come to the final and you can find a way to run your best race ever, chances are you’re going to be at the top of the podium. What a complete and utter shock. Throw away all the form charts from all the months leading into this race.”

Tirico on the Italian TV call of Jacobs’ gold medal run: “Joy needs no translation.”

Diffey on Fred Kerley taking silver in the men’s 100m: “People said Kerley was crazy, leaving the 400m to come to the 100m. They’re not saying that anymore.”

Boldon on Trayvon Bromell failing to qualify for the men’s 100m final: “When he’s running well, he has a good start, great acceleration, separates from the field, and then he holds them off…He was fine at 50 meters, but I can see him laboring to get to the line.”

Boldon on Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn winning gold in the women’s 100m hurdles: “She has been the best hurdler in the world in 2021, nobody’s been close – but it’s one thing to win in the regular season. When all the pressure is on you, can you deliver? Jasmine Camacho-Quinn did.”

Boldon on the men’s 400m hurdles and USA’s Rai Benjamin and Norway’s Karsten Warholm qualifying for the final: “One thing is for sure: we are guaranteed – guaranteed – one of the best races ever in the history of the event when these two hook up in that final.”

Boldon on Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah qualifying in the 200m heat: “When you’re doubling at an Olympics, and for somebody like Elaine Thompson-Herah…who has a chance at not only Olympic gold, but the world record, she is going to be extremely conservative. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her, she just knows, ‘Let me do as little as I have to to get to the next round.’ She’s done that.”

Sanya Richards-Ross on Jenna Prandini in the 200m heat: “I do think that she should get into the final and she does have a chance to finally get a medal. Jenna Prandini has shown us so much promise for so long…and really found her event here in the 200m…She has a really great shot.”

Boldon on the women’s 200m heats and semifinals field: “This 200m field and the way this whole thing is shaping up, we are getting ready to set some very, very fast times when the final comes around.”

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SWIMMING – NBC

Caeleb Dressel to Tirico on what’s been the hardest part of this past year: “The amount of uncertainties, not just for myself, but for everybody. There’s been so many unknown variables while trying to keep your head about you, looking forward to an Olympic Games that you’re not sure is going to happen…some of the hardest training of your life, and you’re not sure if the light is going to be there at the end of the tunnel. So staying on track best you can, without being sure if it’s going to happen.”

Dressel on continuing the legacy of Team USA 100m freestyle champions: “Every event is a tough event to win at the Olympics, but I think every single go around the 100m free is the most wide-open one. It just fluctuates so much…It means a lot. That was actually one of the first things I heard after that race was Rowdy (Gaines) yelling, ‘Welcome to the club!’ It was loud, it was very, very loud…I’ve never really thought about that, but it is really good company…It’s really special and it’s incredible how this sport works.”

Dressel on competing in the next Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024: “That’s actually the first thing that popped into my head when I finished my meet was, ‘Oh no, I have to do this again in three years.’ ‘Oh no’ in the best way, though…I’m excited moving in three years from now, but we have World Championships between, so it’ll be a good go around. I’m excited.”

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BEACH VOLLEYBALL – NBC

Kevin Wong on April Ross and Alix Klineman’s round of 16 victory over Cuba: “April’s looked nervous. You think about it, she’s one of the most decorated Olympians in our sport and yet she’s still nervous about a round of 16 play. The difference between pool play and  match play now in an elimination bracket is you go home now if you have a bad day.”

Wong on Ross: “She’s got diversity of offense. She’s got range and she’s got vision. That’s an unstoppable combination.”

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ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic 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.

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