NBC Olympics Begins Unprecedented Coverage of 2018 Paralympic Games, Opening Ceremony This Friday
By: Tori Hartshorn Mar. 05, 2018
NBC Olympics will present comprehensive and unprecedented coverage of the 2018 Paralympic Games from PyeongChang, South Korea, beginning this Friday, March 9, with the Opening Ceremony at 6 a.m. ET on NBCSN, as part of more than 250 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app.
NBC Olympics' record-setting coverage of the Paralympic Games jumpstarts Friday on NBCSN, as Andrea Joyce, a veteran of 14 Olympic Games, andChris Waddell, a 12-time Paralympic medalist and Paralympic Hall of Fame member, will host the Opening Ceremony. Coverage continues into the day with live alpine skiing coverage of the men's and women's downhill events beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, followed by biathlon and alpine skiing coverage at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
This weekend's Paralympic coverage also includes live snowboarding, sled hockey, cross-country skiing, wheelchair CURLING and biathlon.
SLED HOCKEY
The U.S. sled hockey team enters the 2018 Paralympic Games having won consecutive gold medals. The unit is led by Declan Farmer, a 20-year-old Princeton student who has set records for the most goals (12) and most points (18) in a single American world championship tournament. U.S. goalie Steve Cash will make his fourth Paralympic appearance.
PARA ALPINE SKIING
Three-time Paralympic medalist Danelle Umstead and two-time Paralympic medalist Stephanie Jallen are expected to lead the U.S. women's contingent.Andrew Kurka, who led the U.S. to three medals at the 2017 World Championships, is also expected to contend for multiple medals in PyeongChang.
PARA SNOWBOARDING
The U.S. features one of the deepest rosters at the 2018 Paralympic Games, headlined by Sochi bronze medalist Amy Purdy, who is expected to be a top contender in women's snowboard cross, and three U.S. men - Evan Strong,Mike Shea and Keith Gabel - who swept the snowboard cross podium in Sochi. First-time Paralympian Brenna Huckaby, who won gold in snowboard cross and banked slalom at the 2017 World Championships, is also expected to contend for medals. This marks the second time that SNOWBOARDING will be included in the Paralympic Games, and the first time that the banked slalom event will be held.
PARA CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING AND BIATHLON
Oksana Masters, who won two cross-country medals in Sochi and is also a 2012 Paralympic medalist in rowing, and three-time Paralympian and U.S. teammate Aaron Pike, are expected to contend for medals in both cross-country and biathlon.
WHEELCHAIR CURLING
The Canadians, skipped by Mark Ideson, are in search of their fourth consecutive Paralympic gold. Canada returns as the gold medal favorite led by three members from its gold-medal team in Sochi, including vice-skip Ina Forrest and Dennis Thiessen. Norway, who defeated Russia in the 2017 World Championships, is also expected to contend for a medal.
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NBC Olympics named Toyota the presenting sponsor of its 2018 Paralympic Games coverage in January. This marks the first time NBC Olympics' coverage of the Paralympics will have a presenting sponsor. Toyota will also be the exclusive auto advertiser of NBC Olympics' coverage of the Paralympic Games across the linear and digital networks of NBCUniversal. In addition, Toyota branding will be included within NBC Olympics' extensive linear, digital and social media promotional campaigns.
The sponsorship coincides with the recent rollout of "Start Your Impossible" Toyota's first-ever global campaign, which highlights real-life mobility stories of Olympic, and Paralympic athletes as well as people who demonstrate the value of humility, hard work and never giving up. See their stories of determination to challenge any impossible here.
Team Toyota is sponsoring six U.S. athletes at the Paralympic Games:Stephanie Jallen and Danelle Umstead of U.S. Paralympic Alpine Skiing;Oksana Masters of U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing & Biathlon; Amy Purdy andEvan Strong of U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding; and Rico Roman of U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey.
NBC Olympics will also work with Descriptive Video Works to provide video description services (VDS) for viewers with visual disabilities watching coverage of the 2018 Paralympic Games on NBC and NBCSN.
Video description is the use of short verbal descriptions of action or key video scenes to add context to programing for individuals with a visual disability. Descriptive Video Works' specialists, with years of sportscaster experience, will precisely and vividly describe key elements of NBC's coverage of the Games and sports as they unfold. This narration provides a description of key visuals like actions, facial expressions, clothing, event locations and on-screen graphics. Toyota is the exclusive sponsor of Closed Captioning and Video Description for NBC Olympics' presentation of the 2018 Paralympic Games.
The following is a full schedule of the 2018 Paralympic Games:
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Network |
| Fri., March 9 | 6 a.m. | Opening Ceremony (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Fri., March 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Alpine Skiing - Men's & Women's Downhill (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Fri., March 9 | 11 p.m. | Biathlon & Alpine Skiing (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 10 | 1 p.m. | Biathlon & Alpine Skiing* | NBC |
| Sat., March 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Alpine Skiing - Men's & Women's Super-G (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sat., March 10 | 10 p.m. | Sled Hockey - U.S. vs. Japan, Wheelchair CURLING (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 11 | 9 p.m. | Cross-Country Skiing - Men's Standing/VI 20km Free (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sun., March 11 | 11:30 p.m. | Snowboarding, Cross-Country Skiing- Women's Standing/VI 15km Free, Sled Hockey (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Mon., March 12 | Noon | Sled Hockey - U.S. vs. Czech Republic, Wheelchair Curling, SNOWBOARDING (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Mon., March 12 | 9 p.m. | Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Sled Hockey (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Tues., March 13 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey, Wheelchair Curling | NBCSN |
| Tues., March 13 | 8:30 p.m. | Wheelchair CURLING (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Tues., March 13 | Midnight | Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Wheelchair CURLING (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Wed., March 14 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey Playoffs, Wheelchair Curling | NBCSN |
| Wed., March 14 | 9 p.m. | Wheelchair CURLING (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Thurs., March 15 | 1 a.m. | Alpine Skiing, Sled Hockey Semifinal (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Thurs., March 15 | 2 p.m. | Sled Hockey Semifinal (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Thurs., March 15 | 9 p.m. | Wheelchair CURLING - Tiebreakers (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Fri., March 16 | 1 a.m. | Snowboarding, Biathlon (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Fri., March 16 | 7 p.m. | Wheelchair CURLING Semifinal, Biathlon, Alpine Skiing, Sled Hockey - Bronze Medal Game (LIVE) | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 17 | 2 a.m. | Wheelchair CURLING - Gold Medal Game (LIVE) | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sat., March 17 | 8:30 p.m. | Cross-Country Skiing, Sled Hockey - Gold Medal Game (LIVE), Wheelchair CURLING - Gold Medal Game | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 18 | Noon | Alpine Skiing - Women's Giant Slalom, Cross-Country Skiing - Open Relay | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA |
| Sun., March 18 | 4:30 p.m. | Sled Hockey - Gold Medal Game (Encore) | NBCSN |
| Sun., March 18 | 11:30 p.m. | Closing Ceremony | NBCSN |
| Sat., March 24 | 1 p.m. | Highlight Show | NBC |
*All dates and times subject to change
ABOUT THE 2018 PARALYMPIC GAMES
The 2018 Paralympic Games will take place March 9-18, 2018, in PyeongChang, South Korea, with nearly 700 of the world's finest Paralympic winter athletes competing for GLORY in 80 events across six different sports on snow and ice. Team USA will compete in each of the sports contested in PyeongChang with an estimated team of 70+ athletes.
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