FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 5th, 2021

TOKYO OLYMPICS – AUGUST 5 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC

“The A-Team with an A+ performance…The United States back on top of the beach volleyball world. It took an extra year, but it was worth the wait.” – Chris Marlowe on Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman winning gold in the women’s beach volleyball final

“After being inspired by watching the London Olympics…he will now be the inspiration for many young people to follow in his footsteps.” – Sanya Richards-Ross on Bahamas’ Steven Gardiner winning gold in the men’s 400m final

 “That may be the most dominant performance by an individual we see these entire Games.” – Mike Tirico on China’s Quan Hongchan winning gold and setting an Olympic record in the women’s platform final

Upcoming Highlights: NEXT, U.S. Women’s Basketball vs. Serbia in Semifinals Live at 12:40 a.m. ET/9:40 p.m. ET on Peacock

Friday Highlights: U.S. Men’s Basketball Team Goes For Gold in Final vs. France Live in Primetime at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC & Peacock; Allyson Felix Headlines American Medal Contenders in Track & Field Action in the 400m Final Live Friday Morning at 7:25 a.m. ET on Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 5, 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.

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

    • Coming up next, the U.S. women’s basketball team, aiming for its seventh consecutive gold medal, face Serbia in the semifinals live at 12:40 a.m. ET/9:40 p.m. PT Thursday on NBC, with the winner advancing to the gold medal game;
    • The U.S. men’s basketball team aims to win its fourth consecutive gold medal in the final against France live in primetime Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock;
    • Nine-time Olympic medalist and six-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix headlines American medal contenders in track & field action in the 400m final live Friday morning at 7:25 a.m. ET on Peacock. Felix aims for her 10th track & field Olympic medal, which would tie Carl Lewis for the most all-time;
    • Both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay finals will also be presented live Friday on Peacock, and among those expected to compete for Team USA in the women’s 4x100m relay final are Felix and Tokyo 200m bronze medalist Gabby Thomas. Coverage of track & field final action will be presented Friday night in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on NBC;
    • The final round of the women’s golf competition will be presented live Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel from Kasumigaseki Country Club.

 

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

TRACK & FIELD – NBC

Ato Boldon on Bahamas’ Steven Gardiner winning gold in the men’s 400m final: “I kept saying Gardiner had been finishing so well it was hard to pick against him. He tracked Michael Norman through the first 300m. Nobody has had an answer to Gardiner’s last 100m for a while now. This is how he won the world title, and this is how he got his very first Olympic gold.”

Sanya Richards-Ross on Gardiner, who picked up track & field at age 16: “After being inspired by watching the London Olympics, he said he was ready and wanted to put on a show for his country and the world. Boy, did he do just that. He will now be the inspiration for many young people to follow in his footsteps.”

Kara Goucher on Team USA’s Cole Hocker qualifying for the men’s 1500m final: “He showed a lot of maturity. He sat in the back, he didn’t panic and he knew – at 300m to go, you saw him move out and he used his kick. This is quite impressive…He’s not afraid to toe the line with anyone.”

Trey Hardee on Canada’s Damian Warner winning gold and setting an Olympic record in the men’s decathlon: “When Jim Thorpe won the very first Olympic decathlon, the King of Sweden said, ‘You sir, are the world’s greatest athlete.’ Well now, Damian Warner is the world’s greatest athlete.”

Hardee on Team USA’s Katie Nageotte winning the gold medal in the women’s pole vault: “The pole vault is something akin to big wave surfing. You don’t get towed out to the big waves unless you’re 100% committed. The same goes here. Unless you’re 100% committed, you can’t extend on the runway and do what these women do…As the night went on and the bars went up, Katie started to look more confident…It didn’t matter where the bar went, she was going to clear it.

***

BEACH VOLLEYBALL – NBC

Chris Marlowe on April Ross and Alix Klineman winning the gold medal: “It’s celebration time out in SoCal. The A-Team with an A+ performance…The United States back on top of the beach volleyball world. It took an extra year, but it was worth the wait.”

Kevin Wong: “You think about the journey, you think about the hardships, you think about the uncertainties. Really it was a team that kept working, kept the faith, kept the trust, that prevailed here today.”

Wong on April Ross heading into the final: “She’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. She’s got nearly everything; she’s done nearly everything in her career. But does a second silver satisfy that itch or does she need that last gold? I think she’s under the biggest pressure of any of the players on the court today. ”

Wong on Ross: “Early in her career, she did it with the power game. Big swings, big serves. The evolution – now the vision, the touch, the fineness, and the leadership.”

***

DIVING – NBC

Ted Robinson on China’s Quan Hongchan winning gold and setting an Olympic record in the women’s platform final: “Remember this. You may never see anything like it again….Athletic brilliance at 14. Two dives that were perfect and one that was a half point short of perfect…who ever achieves perfection? … Without doubt, a once in a lifetime performance.”

Tirico: “That was sick. That may be the most dominant performance by an individual we see these entire Games.”

Cynthia Potter on Quan: “She’s unflappable…the jump is amazing. She doesn’t hold back. Her basics, her form, everything she does is so close to perfection at times, it’s mind boggling.”

Robinson: “We have been astounded during these Games – we’ve felt like there have been a real lack of high scores from the judges. This 14-year-old has broken the code. She is forcing the judges to deliver scores.”

***

SKATEBOARDING – NBC

Paul Zitzer on the men’s park final: “Everyone watching this event has to appreciate how great skateboarding is and how great of a display we’ve seen of it here today in the final.”

***

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.

— NBC OLYMPICS —