FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, February 5th, 2022

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – FEB. 5 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC, USA NETWORK & PEACOCK

“I haven’t seen a run like that out of Julia Marino, I don’t think ever. She put it together when she needed to.” – Todd Richards on Julia Marino’s Silver Medal-Winning Run in Women’s Slopestyle Snowboarding

“She is the queen of figure skating. A talent like this comes around once in a lifetime.” – Tara Lipinski on Russian Olympic Committee’s Kamila Valiyeva

U.S. Women’s Hockey Team vs. Switzerland Live Tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 6 at 8:10 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock

Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Mikaela Shiffrin to Make 2022 Winter Olympics Debut in Giant Slalom Tomorrow in Primetime on NBC and Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 5, 2022 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC, USA Network and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage.

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

    • Two-time Olympic gold medalist and the winningest slalom skier in World Cup history Mikaela Shiffrin is expected to compete in the women’s giant slalom tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 6 live in primetime at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock;
    • Primetime coverage tomorrow will also feature three programs in the figure skating team event: women’s free skate, pairs’ free skate, and free dance on NBC and Peacock;
    • The 2018 gold medal-winning U.S. women’s ice hockey team continues its gold medal defense in Group A play against Switzerland tomorrow live at 8:10 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.
      • The team, featuring 13 players from the 2018 Olympic team, including Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight, and Amanda Kessel, defeated the Russian Olympic Committee 5-0 this morning to open play pool with two victories;
    • The U.S. women’s moguls team, headlined by 2018 Olympian Jaelin Kauf, Hannah Soar, and Olivia Giaccio, compete in the final tomorrow live at 6:30 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock (encore at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Johnny Weir on Team USA’s Karen Chen: “Her performances are a thing of beauty. There’s almost a vintage quality to them. She really takes the time to finish every moment of her skates, and it’s impressive to see when people are rushing around the ice trying to fit everything in these programs.”

Tara Lipinski on Chen’s short program: “Looking back, she didn’t have the Olympic skate she wanted to at her last Olympics in 2018, and this is definitely not the skate she wanted in this short program.”

Weir: “She pulled way outside of the circle on that triple loop…she’s a tremendous skater, that program is beautiful for her. It’s driving, it’s passionate, it’s mysterious – but you’ve got to land the jumps.”

Lipinski on Russian Olympic Committee’s Kamila Valiyeva: “She is the queen of figure skating. A talent like this comes around once in a lifetime…she is untouchable…she is the triple threat. She is a technician, she is an artist, and she has that competitor inside of her.”

Weir on Valiyeva: “I’m having a hard time finding the proper words. She is mesmerizing. She can inspire the world with performances like that…she told me she doesn’t listen when people talk [about] her being the Olympic champion or being the best in the world, but you have to think with that performance, the world is looking at her as the Olympic champion.”

Lipinski on Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama in the men’s free skate portion of the team event: “Looking ahead to the individual event, if you want to know who the spoiler could be, it’s this guy. He is the dark horse for the Olympic gold medal. Yes, all of the attention is on Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen, but if they make a mistake, he’s going to step right in.”

Lipinski on Team USA’s Vincent Zhou: “Vincent is a perfectionist, and knowing Vincent, he will not be happy with this skate. He’s capable of so much more…You just hope that he uses this performance as fuel and as a dress rehearsal for his individual event.”

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SNOWBOARDING – NBC, USA NETWORK & PEACOCK

Todd Harris on Jamie Anderson’s attempt to win three consecutive slopestyle gold medals: “It’s hard to believe going back to 2014, when snowboarding slopestyle was introduced to the Games, that we’d be here now, some eight years later, and here’s Jamie with an opportunity to do something truly special.”

Todd Richards on Anderson’s fall on her third run: “Tough break for the golden queen unfortunately. That was an uncharacteristic fall, but she was going for it.”

Richards on Julia Marino’s silver medal run: “Julia Marino probably just put down the best run I’ve ever seen her do! That was incredible…I haven’t seen a run like that out of Julia Marino, I don’t think ever. She put it together when she needed to.”

Harris on Marino: “Marino almost picture perfect on the biggest jumps…Flexing up on the competition.”

Marino to Randy Moss after securing the silver medal: “It’s a run I’ve been wanting to put down for a long time, and this season I didn’t necessarily get to put that one down and to do it here just means a whole lot different than anything else. I’m just so over the moon to have landed that top to bottom.”

Marino to Moss on what it was like waiting to see where her score would place her: “Nerve-wracking, for sure. But I’m so happy for all the girls out here. We have a great crew, we’re all really good friends, and it just means a lot to watch all these girls really ride their best. That wasn’t an easy course by any means, and I’m so proud of us. We all pulled through and I just couldn’t be happier to be in the final with all those girls.”

Richards on New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott’s gold medal-winning final run: “That is the future of women’s progression right there…That was an unbelievable show and a clutch performance.

***

ALPINE SKIING – NBC & PEACOCK

Tirico on the Austrian men’s alpine skiing team playing cards during weather delay: “I don’t know if they’re playing Go Fish, Hearts…if they were in the Midwest, they’d be playing Euchre.”

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —