Alpine skiing World Cup speeds up; winter sports broadcast schedule

By OlympicTalkDec 1, 2021, 8:48 AM EST

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The Alpine skiing World Cup visits Beaver Creek, Colorado, for the first time in two years. With four races scheduled, it could be well worth the wait.

The Birds of Prey stop on the men’s circuit includes one extra race this season after cancellations last weekend in Lake Louise, Canada.

Beaver Creek is slated to hold super-Gs on Thursday and Friday and downhills on Saturday and Sunday, all airing on NBC Sports and Peacock.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who last season became the first U.S. man to win a World Cup super-G in 14 years, is expected to lead the American contingent on home snow.

The women’s Alpine World Cup heads to Lake Louise for its first speed races of the season. Mikaela Shiffrin, bidding to race all five individual events at the Olympics, is expected to race both downhills and a super-G.

Also this weekend, the speed skating World Cup makes its lone stop in the U.S. at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics venue.

U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s Visa Big Air World Cup event for skiers and snowboarders is set for Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Alpine Skiing World Cup — Beaver Creek, Colorado (Men) and Lake Louise, Canada (Women)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Thursday	1:45 p.m.	Men’s Super-G	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	11 p.m.*	Men’s Super-G	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
Friday	12:30 p.m.	Men’s Super-G	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
	2:30 p.m.	Women’s Downhill	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	1 p.m.	Men’s Downhill	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
	2:30 p.m.	Women’s Downhill	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5 p.m.*	Men’s Downhill	NBC \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	12:30 p.m.	Women’s Super-G	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	2 p.m.	Men’s Downhill	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	4 p.m.*	Men’s Downhill	NBC \| STREAM LINK

Bobsled/Skeleton World Cup — Altenberg, Germany

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	3:55 a.m.	Women’s Skeleton	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	8:25 a.m.	Men’s Skeleton	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	4 p.m.*	Women’s Skeleton	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	5 p.m.*	Men’s Skeleton	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	3:55 a.m.	Women’s Monobob	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	8:25 a.m.	Two-Man Bobsled	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	4 p.m.*	Women’s Monobob	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	5 p.m.*	Two-Man Bobsled	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	4:20 a.m.	Two-Woman Bobsled	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	8:25 a.m.	Four-Man Bobsled	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	6 p.m.*	Two-Woman Bobsled	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	7 p.m.*	Four-Man Bobsled	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	10 p.m.*	Highlights	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK

Luge World Cup — Sochi, Russia

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	2:30 a.m.	Doubles	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	5:45 a.m.	Men	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	6:30 p.m.*	Highlights	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	2:30 a.m.	Women	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	5:30 a.m.	Sprint Men	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	6:15 a.m.	Sprint Doubles	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK
	6:50 a.m.	Sprint Women	Olympics.com \| STREAM LINK

Speed Skating World Cup — Salt Lake City

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	2:30 p.m.	Women’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	2:58 p.m.	Men’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3:37 p.m.	Women’s 3000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	4:35 p.m.	Men’s 5000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	2:30 p.m.	Women’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3:07 p.m.	Men’s 1500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3:56 p.m.	Women’s 1000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	4:40 p.m.	Men’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5:04 p.m.	Women’s Team Pursuit	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	2:30 p.m.	Men’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3:07 p.m.	Women’s 1500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3:57 p.m.	Men’s 1000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	4:41 p.m.	Women’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5:05 p.m.	Men’s Team Pursuit	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	10 p.m.*	Highlights	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK

Biathlon World Cup — Oestersund, Sweden

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Thursday	8 a.m.	Women’s 7.5km Sprint	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	10 a.m.	Men’s 10km Sprint	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
Friday	2 a.m.*	Men’s 10km Sprint	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	7 a.m.	Women’s 10km Pursuit	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	9 a.m.	Men’s Relay	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	2 a.m.*	Women’s 7.5km Sprint	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
	6:30 a.m.	Women’s Relay	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	9:30 a.m.	Men’s 12.5km Pursuit	Olympic Channel \| STREAM LINK
	5:30 p.m.*	Women’s Relay	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
Monday	5:30 p.m.*	Men’s Relay	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup — Lillehammer, Norway

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	6:30 a.m.	Men’s/Women’s Sprints	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	4 a.m.	Men’s 15km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	6 a.m.	Women’s 10km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	3:20 a.m.	Men’s Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5:45 a.m.	Woen’s Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Ski Jumping World Cup — Lillehammer, Norway (Women) and Wisla, Poland (Men)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	12 p.m.	Men (Qualifying)	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	10:30 a.m.	Men’s Team	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	12:15 p.m.	Women	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	10 a.m.	Men	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	11:30 a.m.	Women	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Nordic Combined World Cup — Lillehammer, Norway

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	5:30 a.m.	Women’s Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:30 a.m.	Women’s 5km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	3 a.m.	Men’s Team Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5:25 a.m.	Women’s Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:40 a.m.	Men’s Team Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:50 a.m.	Women’s 5km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	4:50 a.m.	Men’s Ski Jumpg	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8 a.m.	Men’s 10km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Freestyle Skiing World Cup — Ruka, Finland (Aerials, Moguls) and Steamboat Springs, Colorado (Big Air)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Thursday	9:30 a.m.	Aerials	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Friday	3:40 a.m.	Women’s Aerials	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	6:15 a.m.	Men’s Aerials	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9:30 a.m.	Team Aerials	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	9 a.m.	Moguls	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	3 p.m.	Big Air	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	11 p.m.*	Big Air	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK

Snowboarding World Cup — Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	11:30 a.m.	Big Air	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9 p.m.*	Big Air	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK

*Delayed broadcast

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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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