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Youth Olympics
Lillehammer 2016

Youth Winter Olympics in Lillehammer broadcast schedule

By Nick ZaccardiFeb 10, 2016, 5:19 PM EST
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NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra will provide daily coverage of the second Youth Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, starting Saturday at 12:30 a.m. ET.

The first broadcast will include the Opening Ceremony at the 1994 Winter Olympic host city. Lillehammer is the second host of the Youth Winter Olympics, which debuted in Innsbruck in 2012.

NBCSN and Live Extra will present 10 consecutive days of hour-long event highlights.

Carolyn Manno, Jimmy Roberts, Liam McHugh and Dave Briggs will combine to host.

The 62-athlete U.S. roster for the Youth Olympics includes two-time reigning Winter X Games halfpipe champion Chloe Kim, who scored what is believed to be the second perfect 100 in top-level snowboarding competition on Saturday (video here).

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Date Time (ET) Network
Sat., February 13 12:30 a.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
11:30 p.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Sun., February 14 11:30 p.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Mon., February 15 11:30 p.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Tues., February 16 11:30 p.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Wed., February 17 11:30 p.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Fri., February 19 12 a.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Sat., February 20 12:30 a.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Sun., February 21 1 a.m. NBCSN, Live Extra
Mon., February 22 2 a.m. NBCSN, Live Extra

Swim meet canceled after FINA’s threat to ban athletes

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Associated PressNov 15, 2018, 11:25 AM EST
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GENEVA (AP) — Amid growing conflict between swimmers and their world governing body, an international swimming meet was canceled on Thursday after threats to ban athletes who took part seeking better prize money.

The Italian swim federation called off the Dec. 20-21 competition it was organizing in Turin, saying it acted to protect athletes from FINA.

The Turin meet was linked to a proposed International Swimming League, a privately run operation which aims to operate outside FINA’s control and pay higher prize money.

“FINA declared the event ‘non-approved,’ threatening sanctions against the participating athletes,” Italian officials said in a statement.

FINA, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some Olympic champions have long criticized FINA, believing swimmers should be better rewarded, have more say in decisions, and could create their own union.

Olympic champion Adam Peaty of Britain wrote on Thursday on Twitter he was “incredibly disappointed” by the cancellation.

The politics involved will “galvanize swimmers, not break them,” wrote Peaty, who holds 50m and 100m breaststroke world records.

Peaty has previously supported Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu in her public criticism of FINA, and calls to create a swimmers’ union.

Italian organizers said Peaty, Hosszu and other Olympic champions including Chad le Clos of South Africa and Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden were due to take part in their 25-meter pool event. It was scheduled days after the short-course world championships being staged in Hangzhou, China.

The clash of events seemed to provoke FINA into finding more prize money for its worlds event in the smaller pool.

On Nov. 6, FINA added to its promised prize fund for China by almost doubling the total to $2.07 million.

FINA wrote to member federations on Oct. 30 warning of bans of up to two years for taking part in Turin.

However, a European Commission decision last year suggests swimmers could successfully challenge any attempt to limit their right to race and earn money.

The European Union’s executive arm ruled the International Staking Union in breach of anti-trust laws by threatening severe bans for speed skaters who wanted to compete in a South Korean-organized event in Dubai.

The ISU’s threats “also serve to protect its own commercial interests,” the European officials said.

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Simon Ammann believes ski jumping career end is near

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By OlympicTalkNov 15, 2018, 11:07 AM EST
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Simon Ammann, the most decorated active ski jumper with four Olympic gold medals, said it is hard to imagine competing beyond this season, according to Swiss newspaper Blick.

Ammann, 37, swept the individual Olympic titles in 2002 and 2010 to join retired Finn Matti Nykänen as the only four-time Olympic ski jumping champs.

In PyeongChang, his sixth Olympics, Ammann placed 11th and 13th, one month after making his first World Cup podium in nearly three years. He decided after those Winter Games that he would continue at least one more season, but has no plan to go all the way to a seventh Olympics in 2022, according to Blick.

Ammann has teased retirement since at least 2011 and even said going into the 2014 Sochi Olympics that he was “99 percent sure” they would be his final Games.

The now-father of two first gained crossover celebrity with his surprise Salt Lake City 2002 gold medals, his first wins in top-level international competition. The bespectacled Ammann’s victory screams and resemblance to Harry Potter helped land him on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and one of Europe’s biggest shows, sitting next to Shakira.

Fellow ski jumper Noriaki Kasai of Japan holds the Winter Olympic record of eight appearances. Kasai, 46, has said he plans to go for a ninth participation at Beijing 2022.

NBC Olympic Research contributed to this report.

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