Winter Olympics late night: What to watch/stream

By OlympicTalkFeb 9, 2018, 7:00 PM EST

Getty Images

Time zones can be tricky. Since PyeongChang is 15 hours ahead of continental America – let alone adjusting for the West Coast and Hawaii – organizing your sleeping schedule to accommodate prime viewing can be a challenging matter. That’s why we have compiled a list of late night sporting action for you.

Love short track? Set your alarm for 5:00a.m. EST. Biathlon? 6:15a.m. EST.

So, prepare your alarm clocks and get your coffee makers ready as the Olympics kick into full gear.

Short track kicks things off, with the men’s 1,5000m competition. South Koreans have every reason to feel optimistic with their Olympians’ chances as reigning world champion Seo Ri-Ya is heavily favored to win gold. On the women’s side, viewers will get a sneak peek at 18 year-old Maame Biney’s promise. The nation’s first Black American to qualify for the U.S. short track team will find herself in the midst of seasoned pros including South Korea’s three-time Olympic medalist Shim Suk-Hee and two-time world champion Choi Min-Jeung.

Plenty of other Americans are in action, including biathlete Susan Dunklee, as well as four Americans competing in the final of the ski jumping normal hill competition.

Take a look at all of the action occurring in the late hours of Friday night and into the early hours on Saturday.

Short Track

Though South Korea is fielding an exceptionally strong team, three-time Olympic medalist J.R. Celski is no stranger to Olympic grandeur and will be hoping to spring a surprise.

Men’s 1,500m Heats begin 5:00a.m. EST / 2:00a.m. PST

Men’s 1,500m Semifinals begin 6:20a.m. EST / 3:20a.m. PST

Women’s 500m Qualifying begins 6:50a.m. EST / 3:50a.m. PST

Men’s 1,500m Final begins 7:25a.m. EST / 4:25a.m. PST

Stream all events Live Here

Cross Country Skiing

Norway’s Marit Bjorgen could leave Pyeongchang as the most decorated Winter Olympian in history. Coming into PyeongChang, the skiier owns 10 medals to her name. Elsewhere, Jessie Diggins, who won the last World Cup event heading into the Olympics, will be looking to become the first American medalist for the sport.

Women’s Skiiathlon Stream Live Here 2:15a.m. EST / 11:15p.m. PST

Luge

Germany’s Felix Loch, two time defending gold medalist, returns to the Olympics seeking his third straight triumph. American lugers Chris Mazdzer and Tucker West will be looking to grab a spot on the podium.

Men’s Runs 1 and 2 Stream Live Here 5:10a.m. EST / 2:10a.m. PST

Speed Skating

The most successful Olympian in Sochi, the Dutch skater Ireen Wuest is again the favorite to win gold. Her compatriot Antoinette de Jong is expected to be her toughest competitor, along with Germany’s Claudia Pechstein.

Stream Live Here 6:00a.m. EST / 3:00a.m. PST

Biathlon

Susan Dunklee could very well be America’s first medalist in biathlon. Participating in the 7.5km sprint, her favorite event, the Vermont native must overcome a daunting field. Laura Dahlmeier of Germany won at least bronze in all six competitions of the six World Cup events in 2017, Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina is the two-time defending gold medalist, and Darya Domracheva possesses three gold medals of her own.

Women’s 7.5km Sprint Stream Live Here 6:15a.m. EST / 3:15a.m. PST

Ski Jumping

Four American men making their Olympic debuts have a chance to medal in the normal hill final: Kevin Bickner, Michael Glasder, Casey Larson, and William Rhoads. It will take a massive effort for any of them to overtake Germany’s Andreas Wellinger or defending Olympic gold medalist Kamil Stoch of Poland.

Men’s Normal Hill Final Stream Live Here 7:35a.m. EST / 4:35a.m. PST

Football takes significant step in Olympic push

By OlympicTalkMar 29, 2023, 2:18 PM EDT

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Football took another step toward possible Olympic inclusion with the IOC executive board proposing that the sport’s international federation — the IFAF — be granted full IOC recognition at a meeting in October.

IOC recognition does not equate to eventual Olympic inclusion, but it is a necessary early marker if a sport is to join the Olympics down the line. The IOC gave the IFAF provisional recognition in 2013.

Specific measures are required for IOC recognition, including having an anti-doping policy compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency and having 50 affiliated national federations from at least three continents. The IFAF has 74 national federations over five continents with almost 4.8 million registered athletes, according to the IOC.

The NFL has helped lead the push for flag football to be added for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Flag football had medal events for men and women at last year’s World Games, a multi-sport competition including Olympic and non-Olympic sports, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Football is one of nine sports that have been reported to be in the running to be proposed by LA 2028 to the IOC to be added for the 2028 Games only. LA 2028 has not announced which, if any sports, it plans to propose.

Under rules instituted before the Tokyo Games, Olympic hosts have successfully proposed to the IOC adding sports solely for their edition of the Games.

For Tokyo, baseball-softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were added. For Paris, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were approved again, and breaking will make its Olympic debut. Those sports were added four years out from the Games.

For 2028, the other sports reportedly in the running for proposal are baseball and softball, breaking, cricket, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsports and squash.

All of the other eight sports reportedly in the running for 2028 proposal already have a federation with full IOC recognition (if one counts the international motorcycle racing federation for motorsports).

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Helen Maroulis stars in wrestling documentary, with help from Chris Pratt

By Nick ZaccardiMar 29, 2023, 10:05 AM EDT

Getty

One of the remarkable recent Olympic comeback stories is the subject of a film that will be shown nationwide in theaters for one day only on Thursday.

“Helen | Believe” is a documentary about Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling champion. It is produced by Religion of Sports, the venture founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan and Tom Brady. Showing details are here.

After taking gold at the 2016 Rio Games, Maroulis briefly retired in 2019 during a two-year stretch in which she dealt with concussions and post-traumatic stress disorder. The film focuses on that period and her successful bid to return and qualify for the Tokyo Games, where she took bronze.

In a poignant moment in the film, Maroulis described her “rock bottom” — being hospitalized for suicidal ideations.

In an interview, Maroulis said she was first approached about the project in 2018, the same year she had her first life-changing concussion that January. A wrestling partner’s mother was connected to director Dylan Mulick.

Maroulis agreed to the film in part to help spread mental health awareness in sports. Later, she cried while watching the 2020 HBO film, “The Weight of Gold,” on the mental health challenges that other Olympians faced, because it resonated with her so much.

“When you’re going through something, it sometimes gives you an anchor of hope to know that someone’s been through it before, and they’ve overcome it,” she said.

Maroulis’ comeback story hit a crossroads at the Olympic trials in April 2021, where the winner of a best-of-three finals series in each weight class made Team USA.

Maroulis won the opening match against Jenna Burkert, but then lost the second match. Statistically, a wrestler who loses the second match in a best-of-three series usually loses the third. But Maroulis pinned Burkert just 22 seconds into the rubber match to clinch the Olympic spot.

Shen then revealed that she tore an MCL two weeks earlier.

“They told me I would have to be in a brace for six weeks,” she said then. “I said, ‘I don’t have that. I have two and a half.’”

Maroulis said she later asked the director what would have happened if she didn’t make the team for Tokyo. She was told the film still have been done.

“He had mentioned this isn’t about a sports story or sports comeback story,” Maroulis said. “This is about a human story. And we’re using wrestling as the vehicle to tell this story of overcoming and healing and rediscovering oneself.”

Maroulis said she was told that, during filming, the project was pitched to the production company of actor Chris Pratt, who wrestled in high school in Washington. Pratt signed on as a producer.

“Wrestling has made an impact on his life, and so he wants to support these kinds of stories,” said Maroulis, who appeared at last month’s Santa Barbara Film Festival with Pratt.

Pratt said he knew about Maroulis before learning about the film, which he said “needed a little help to get it over the finish line,” according to a public relations company promoting the film.

The film also highlights the rest of the six-woman U.S. Olympic wrestling team in Tokyo. Four of the six won a medal, including Tamyra Mensah-Stock‘s gold.

“I was excited to be part of, not just (Maroulis’) incredible story, but also helping to further advance wrestling and, in particular, female wrestling,” Pratt said, according to responses provided by the PR company from submitted questions. “To me, the most compelling part of Helen’s story is the example of what life looks like after a person wins a gold medal. The inevitable comedown, the trauma around her injuries, the PTSD, the drive to continue that is what makes her who she is.”

Maroulis, who now trains in Arizona, hopes to qualify for this year’s world championships and next year’s Olympics.

“I try to treat every Games as my last,” she said. “Now I’m leaning toward being done [after 2024], but never say never.”

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