2018 Pyeongchang Olympics 2/20 Primetime Highlights

Wednesday's coverage of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from PyeongChang, South Korea, is highlighted by:

• NBC's primetime presentation, which begins at 8 p.m. ET live across all time zones, featuring Olympic gold medalists Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin competing in the downhill portion of the women's super combined. The slalom portion will air live in primetime plus on NBC*;

• The U.S. women's hockey team clashes with rival Canada in the gold medal game live at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as Team USA goes for its first gold medal in women's hockey since the inaugural tournament in 1998;

• Live coverage of the men's halfpipe final in freestyle skiing, as David Wiselooks to defend his gold medal alongside a trio of American teammates*;

• Coverage of the final two runs of the women's bobsled in primetime on NBC, as Elana Meyers Taylor and Jamie Greubel Poser look to repeat podium finishes from Sochi.

*outdoor events subject to weather conditions

Following are highlights from tonight's evening and primetime coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal:

ALPINE SKIING - NBC

Analyst Bode Miller on Lindsey Vonn's run in the women's downhill, which earned her a bronze medal: "She's got the ability to make up time with aerodynamics and her soft touch on the snow, but once you lose distance on a course like this, it's really hard to pull that back. Lindsey really had no errors today. Nothing that I would say was a mistake. In the Super-G it was unfortunate that she drew bib one because she had no idea what to expect and made an uncharacteristic error on the bottom. Today, if she had been bib one, I'd have picked her for the win. A lot of that stuff is out of your control."

Reporter Heather Cox to Vonn as she learned she had won bronze: "You have said that since your grandfather passed away in the fall, that this was for him. You wore his initials, DK, on your helmet. How much were you inspired by his memory here today?"

Vonn: "It's been really hard for me to not get emotional, for so many reasons, especially because of my grandfather. I wanted to win so much because of him, but I still think I made him proud. Our family never gives up, and I never gave up. I kept working hard, and I'm really proud of this medal, and I know he is too."

Miller on advantage of EARLY START positions in the women's downhill: "The EARLY START positions had such a big advantage over the start numbers now, and even when Lindsey Vonn went. It started to be an issue right around (Sofia Goggia). You saw Goggia not quick on the top, and then really quick on the bottom, without really any defining characteristics that would tell you she was going much faster."

Play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks on gold medal winner Sofia Goggia: "Goggia missed the Games four years ago with an ACL tear in December of 2013. Goggia was a broadcaster for Sky, and I saw her earlier this week and asked her, 'How did the broadcasting go?' She said, 'I like being a competitor a lot more.' And boy, did she compete today."

Miller on the pressure of skiing in the Olympics: "Everyone says that the pitcher's mound is the loneliest place in sports. I would say the Olympic start gate is the loneliest place. You have hundreds of millions of people focused on you. There's no one who can help you. You're alone at that point. You're fully exposed."

Reporter Steve Porino on Vonn choosing to ski seventh in the downhill, behind Goggia: "Vonn has inspired Sofia Goggia over the last couple of years, and Vonn has noticed that Goggia has been running after her, and that has sort of inspired some of Goggia's runs. This time around, Vonn wanted to make sure she did not provide a carrot for Goggia. She wanted to run after her not to get information from Goggia, but simply to take that away."

Hicks to analyst Miller as Austria's Cornelia Huetter finished her downhill run, first out of the gate: "There's that section of the runway down at the bottom that you were looking at before this race began. You noticed that there is kind of a plow line there, and that's exactly what Huetter ran into."

Miller on the plow line at the bottom of the women's downhill run that Huetter contacted: "You see the ski catching on the loose snow. It's one of those things that used to frustrate me to no end. You can see the guy trying to step it out. I radioed up to the top to try and let the coaches know to slip that out. You can't see it once he steps on it, but it's still different snow quality and catches the edge really easily. You see her land and right as she gets to the edge of that, it just hooks (the ski)."

Porino on Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel, who won silver, and why she ended up skiing 19th in the women's downhill: "Because Mikaela Shiffrin pulled out of this race, Mowinckel turned into the 10th-ranked skier, which means that she had no other choice than to run 19th. If she were ranked worse, she would be running earlier. She can thank Mikaela Shiffrin for this number."

***

FIGURE SKATING - NBC AND NBCSN

Analyst Johnny Weir on fall by Bradie Tennell in the ladies' FIGURE SKATING short program: "Shocking error. Her consistency has been her strength."

Analyst Tara Lipinski on Bradie Tennell's performance: "After being thrown into the scene just three months ago, she came to nationals, and I thought, 'Will she crack under the pressure?' No. 'Will she crack under the pressure of the team event?' No. Obviously, tonight the nerves hit her a little bit."

Weir on Karen Chen: "Ladies FIGURE SKATING is like wearing brass knuckles under velvet gloves, but in Karen Chen's case under bird gloves."

Lipinski: "Karen Chen is the full package. Fourth in the world, artistry, jumps. She feels the music in a different way than any other competitor."

Lipinski on Mirai Nagasu: "Her skating is just sublime. It's so delicate and lovely to watch."

Lipinski on French figure skater Maé-Bérénice Méité's short program: "She is skating to selections from Beyonce, so we are immediately into it."

Analyst Scott Hamilton on Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva: "She's just an extraordinary talent. Consistent and strong on every single level - a perfect skater."

Weir on performance by Hungary's Ivett Toth to AC/DC: "Interesting is a great way to put it, Tara. I felt like I was in a dream that wouldn't end. And by dream, I mean nightmare. AC/DC, I get it, people love it. I'm not one of those people, and I'm not sure if the entire panel of judges will be an AC/DC head."

***

HOCKEY - CNBC

Analyst Mike Milbury on Ryan Donato scoring his fifth goal of the Olympics in the first period, 1-0 Team USA: "Wow. This guy is on fire. He doesn't seem to be slowed down by physical play...and can he shoot it."

'Inside-the-Glass' analyst Pierre McGuire prior to goal by Tomas Kundratek to give Czech Republic a 2-1 lead in the second period: "There's got to be more urgency from Team USA. They look too flat right now."

Milbury on shorthanded goal by Team USA's Jim Slater, tied 2-2 in the second period: "Wow, did they ever need that. Things were looking pretty bleak, the momentum was all going the way of the Czechs. What a shot in the arm."

McGuire on Slater's goal: "Francouz was frozen in goal because he hadn't seen any kind of action for a long period of time."

*Team USA and the Czech Republic were tied 2-2 early in the third period at time of press*

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OLYMPIC ICE PRESENTED BY TOYOTA - NBCSN

Olympic Ice Presented by Toyota is NBCSN's live, daily FIGURE SKATING studio show.

Olympic Ice analyst Tanith White on American figure skater Karen Chen: "Early on when she arrived in PyeongChang she was a little bit rocky, but she has been getting progressively better and better. I have to think she has really benefited from having this time (before she performs)."

White on France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron's free dance performance: "I think this will become one of the most iconic skates in ice dancing history."

Olympic Ice analyst Scott Hamilton on the edge Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir had closing out the free dance event: "I think you close out with an exclamation point instead of a whisper. We see the difference between the two couples, it was just amazing to see how Papadakis and Cizeron just owned the space the way they did. As a skater, you see their quality and you see just how every edge is deep and pure. It was skating for the purists. But when you look at Virtue and Moir, their skating was for the populous. It was very accessible to anyone that was watching. Yes, Papadakis and Cizeron won the battle, but Virtue and Moir won the war."

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