NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Tirico will host NBC Olympic primetime shows tomorrow (Friday) through Sunday from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where he will also host Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show on NBC and Peacock.
Highlights of upcoming coverage include:
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- The U.S. men’s ice hockey team continues pool play versus Canada tomorrow live at 11:10 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock. Brian O’Neill returns from the 2018 Olympics, while collegiate standouts Nathan Smith (Minnesota State), Matty Beniers (Michigan), and Nick Abruzzese (Harvard) make their Olympic debuts. Team USA began Olympic competition with an 8-0 victory against China on Thursday;
- In the event’s Olympic debut, the mixed team snowboard cross final will be presented tomorrow live in primetime on NBC and Peacock;
- Three events in short track will be presented tomorrow live at 6 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock (encore in primetime on NBC): the women’s 1000m final, men’s relay semifinals, and men’s 500m qualifying. 2018 Olympian Maame Biney and Kristen Santos will look to contend for medals in the women’s 1000m.
Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:
SNOWBOARDING – NBC & PEACOCK
Todd Richards on Shaun White’s legacy: “What a run he has had. Hats off to Shaun White. An incredible influence on snowboarding for years. What he has done for the ability level — he has contributed to the skills of every rider that is in this competition here this evening…The GOAT of halfpipe riding, of snowboarding…Shaun White’s legacy on this sport goes forever.”
Todd Harris: “With grace and class, Shaun White comes into the corral for the final time.”
Richards on White’s Run 2 score of 85.00: “He’s so happy, but he’s put so much work in. At 35 years old, it is hard to keep up with these kids…You have to respect the work. At 35 years old, to be still in this…Man, that was something else.”
White to Randy Moss: “I’m not upset about the result. I obviously would have loved to put down that last run…A lot of emotions hitting me right now. Just the cheer of the crowd and some kind words from my fellow competitors at the bottom. I’m just so happy…Snowboarding, thank you. It’s been the love of my life.”
White to Moss on his legacy in halfpipe: “I was pretty happy after the last Olympics. I was going for that comeback and I wanted it so badly, and to be injured and to come back — back against the wall, one more run to win it and I nailed it, I mean that was the highlight of my career. To get this bonus round, be here with everybody, these young guys competing, it’s been thrilling…Truly thankful to be here still and competing…I’m proud.”
Richards on Japan’s Ayumu Hirano’s gold medal-winning third run: “This is the pinnacle. It doesn’t get any more technical than this run…Justice! That run is the heaviest run that has ever been done in halfpipe.”
Richards on Hirano’s Run 2 score of 91.75: “That was the most difficult halfpipe run in the history of halfpipe that has ever been done…um, what? Is there a mistake? Wait a minute. There is no way. A 91.75?”
Richards on the scoring of Hirano’s second run: “As far as I’m concerned, the judges just grenaded all of their credibility. That run – I’ve been doing this for so long, so long, I know what a good run looks like. I know the ingredients of a winning run. I know when I see the best run that’s ever been done in the halfpipe. Try to tell me where you’re deducting from this run. It’s unbelievable that this is even happening. It’s a travesty.”
Harris on Shaun White’s impact on Hirano: “Shaun is responsible for so much of this progression. He was the one who led the charge to go bigger, higher, and now Ayumu Hirano has grabbed that torch.”
Richards on Australia’s Scotty James’ silver medal run: “Just unbelievable. Scotty James and his ability to read the wall, to land high, to put the technical tricks together. I truly think that Scotty James was the one that really started this incredible technical halfpipe riding by riding your switch backside wall as well as you can your regular backside wall.”
Richards on Japan’s Kaishu Hirano hitting nearly 24 feet out of the halfpipe: “You’ve already made the impression with that first hit. Almost 24 feet out of the pipe…*bink*, he just hit one of the satellites in low orbit.”
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ALPINE SKIING – NBC & PEACOCK
Dan Hicks on Mikaela Shiffrin finishing the Super-G: “The fact that Shiffrin was able to get back up into a gate at the Olympics, in a race that she’s never run, is huge stuff…It is a big step in a positive direction…It’s great to see a smile on her face again.”
Ted Ligety on Shiffrin: “There are some positive notes in her skiing that she can take away. Just a couple little bobbles, and that’s just the hard part about speed. If you don’t ski a lot of speed, it is hard to be clean top to bottom because the speed is coming at you so quickly, these gates are coming at you so fast…it’s hard to be comfortable.”
Porino: “I love the fact that she got to the first split in first place because that’s the attitude, right? She fought back. I’m sure that’s not the result that she wants, but she fought for that…I feel a sense of relief. I just am so relieved to see her cross the finish line.”
Shiffrin to Todd Lewis on her remaining events: “I feel a lot more positive and a little bit of relief after skiing the Super-G to know that it’s not so difficult. There’s just some normal key sections, good skiing is good skiing, and I can just really go for that. So I feel a lot more optimistic right now.”
Shiffrin on the support she’s received over the last few days: “I think today I proved to myself that I can still trust my instincts a bit and that’s really, really huge. And for all the people who’ve been sending me support, I can only say thank you because there’s not enough time to answer everything and certainly not possible to answer it emphatically enough, how much I appreciate just the kindest words I can ever imagine and something I don’t feel I deserve…You know, severely underperforming in an Olympics, I would never have felt that humans can be so kind, and I just never would have expected that. It’s the most surprising thing of my Olympics experience, how kind people have been in the face of my failure. I mean, it is failure – it’s ok to say that. I’m ok with that, and I’m sorry for it but I also was trying and I’m proud of that.”
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FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK
Tirico’s context on the latest update surrounding the Russian Olympic Committee’s Kamila Valiyeva: “I know it’s confusing, but let’s get to the bottom line. Simply put, Valiyeva’s status at these Olympics is still in question. As of this moment, she can compete, but much more to come on this, and it’s going to come quickly because the next phase of competition for her begins on Tuesday. Of course, the final standings of the team event could hang in the balance. One last reminder – the athletes from Russia are competing in Beijing as representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee since Russia, the country, is officially banned from the Olympics until this upcoming December stemming from the 2014 revelation that it had run a state-sponsored doping program.”
