POSTED: Saturday February 20th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BODE MILLER WINS FOURTH CAREER MEDAL, MOST EVER FOR US ALPINE SKIER; ICE DANCING BEGINS WITH COMPULSORIES
“He’s not only skiing better, but he seems much more at ease with himself.” – NBC’s Bob Costas on Bode Miller
“Each one of these top dance teams came to play.” - NBC’s Tracy Wilson
VANCOUVER - Feb. 19, 2010 -Bode Miller earned his fourth career Olympic medal, the most ever for a US alpine skier, when he took silver in the men’s Super-G on the eighth day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The gold was won by Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindel, who capped a recovery from a horrific crash in 2007 that was profiled during the program. Team USA’s Andrew Weibrecht earned Bronze, increasing the US medal count to 20, the most of any nation.
Russia’s team of Oksana Domnina & Maksim Shabalin leads the ice dancing competition after the compulsory program with Canada’s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir finishing second. Team USA’s Meryl Davis & Charlie White and Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto are within striking distance in third and fourth place, respectively. Two more phases of ice dancing remain: original dance on Sunday night and free dance on Monday night.
Team USA's Noelle Pikus-Pace narrowly finished out of the medals in women’s skeleton with a fourth-place finish. The anthems of Australia and Norway were played for gold medal winners Torah Bright (women’s snowboard halfpipe) and Svindel (men’s Super-G). On CNBC, the US defeated France, 4-3, in men’s curling and Czech Republic defeated Latvia in men’s hockey, 5-2.
Primetime host Bob Costas interview men’s figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek in studio regarding Yevgeny Plushenko’s controversial comments:
Costas: “[Plushenko] spoke even more strongly, subsequent to that, to Russian media, saying things like, ‘If the Olympic champion doesn’t know how to do a jump quad, as he put it, now it’s not men’s figure skating, now it’s dancing. You can’t consider it a true men’s champion without the quad.’ Your reaction?”
Lysacek: “No one likes to lose. A lot of what he’s saying is probably coming from a little bit of disappointment and anger, so, taking it out of context, I can’t be emotional about it or react to it. If the points would’ve been 1.3 the other way, and he had won, no one would say a word. So, it was very close. The truth is that he’s been a force to be reckoned with in men’s skating for the last decade and has been a great role model to me and has definitely pushed the sport. He took some time off, came back, did something no one thought was possible, and came back and won his third Olympics medal - two silvers and a gold - and that’s not something that can be taken lightly.”
Costas: “It’s clear this has been a great experience for you, as it should be. And you’ve been very, very gracious. But I’m just going to run a few more quotes by you because people are interested. Plushenko goes on to say that if you don’t do the quad, the sport itself isn’t progressing, and it’s, as he put it, a regress, if the Olympic champion doesn’t do a quad. Just doing nice transitions and being artistic, that’s not enough. He thinks figure skating is a sport, not a show.”
Lysacek: “It’s interesting that he’s choosing to put so much emphasis on just one step in the program. And it is a 4:40 skating routine. We have to put together our strongest moves, which are jumps, spins, footwork, and we’re graded on everything we do in-between. Interestingly enough, last night, we tied on the component scores, which would be the old artistic score. And where I edged him, slightly, was on the technical score, which means my jumps were graded better than his and my spins were judged better than his. Now, to me, he had a challenge. He had to skate last, he had to wait until the end of the event. He had the most pressure on him because he was leading after the short program. I thought he looked incredible. So, he went out and skated great and for me, I congratulate him and I hope he’s 100% satisfied with that.”
Costas: “Was he gracious to you in the immediate aftermath?”
Lysacek: “Yes, he was very nice. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve looked up to him for a long time. I’ve been on the road touring with him. And he came up and said congratulations and shook my hand. And I said congratulations to him because I think it is quite an accomplishment what he’s done.”
Costas: “He was the defending Olympic champion. Now you will be. Will you be back to defend it in Sochi, his homeland, in 2014?”
Lysacek: “We’ll see if they let me in the country. And that’s doubtful at this point.”
Costas: “Vladimir Putin told Plushenko that his silver is as good as gold. I would expect that Mr. Putin should personally greet you at the border.”
Lysacek: “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. But that’s true though. I think that the way that that country has supported him is outstanding. He, like I said, has done something remarkable. It’s not easy to come back after three years off. So I hope his country stands behind him because he shouldn’t be disappointed in a silver. He won it fair and square and he did an outstanding job.”
Costas: “The way you handled yourself here in response to that is almost as impressive as your performance last night on the ice. Congratulations.”
Later in the program, Costas and Lysacek were joined in studio by Scott Hamilton and Dick Button.
Hamilton: “He beat probably the best field of Olympic men’s skaters in history.”
Button: “The one thing that you’ll remember, and I can tell you this as actual proof of it, but that [the gold medal] will weigh around your chest for the rest of your life. However, in your mind will be the fact that you skated well. And that will be the thing that will be the most satisfying thing 50 years from now. You’ll find that’s what you remember from this event. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling.”
Costas was also joined in studio by Olympic Correspondent Cris Collinsworth, who introduced a feature on the relationship between Apolo Ohno and his father Yuki.
Collinsworth: “The friction between Apolo and Yuki Ohno resided in the space between a father’s expectations and a son’s willingness to meet them.”
Apolo: “Dad, I’m ready. I made my decision. I want to skate. This is what I want to do.”
Yuki on watching his son during his experiences: “An immense, immense emotional experience.”
Collinsworth: “I’m a big fan of Apolo, but I think I’m an even bigger fan of Yuki.”
ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Todd Brooker and Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino
Brooker on the icy hill conditions: “I could’ve come down on hockey skates and not punched through this snow. It is bulletproof.”
Brooker on Italy’s Peter Fill, who fell by the finish line: “He came through the finishing line like a curling rock.”
Brooker on Bode Miller: “It’s so much fun this year to watch Bode Miller. He’s more mature. He’s recommitted himself. You can see his determination this year to win. He’s also skiing smarter than I’ve ever seen him before.”
Svindal on wanting to come back after his injury: “I can’t sit still for long.”
Ryan on Svindal: “His silver medal in the downhill at Whistler is a testament to his remarkable resolve.”
Ryan on Svindal: “Svindal takes the lead away from Bode Miller.”
Brooker on Svindal: “There’s not a guy in the field that doesn’t respect or envy Aksel’s ability to crank it up.”
Svindal: “There’s a lot of carrying on to do with all the great champions ahead of me. This is an awesome day.”
Svindal on being back atop the podium after his injury: “This is where I wanted to be.”
Miller on his performance: “I came in here ready to win.”
Ryan on Weibrecht: “It was a race for the ages. A young American warhorse galloped his way to an early lead that turned into Olympic bronze.”
Ryan on Svindal: “The Norwegian Viking proved yet again that he’s the best big-event skier in the world, sailing to a gold medal finish.”
Costas on Miller: “Different attitude. Different outcome.”
“He’s not only skiing better, but he seems much more at ease with himself.”
FIGURE SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Tom Hammond
Analysts: Tracy Wilson
Reporter: Andrea Joyce
Belbin: “If we didn’t believe we could achieve a gold medal at these games, I don’t even see why we’d be going. That’s been driving us for the last four years.”
Agosto: “We have the experience to bring some emotion that nobody can match.”
White on the rivalry with Belbin & Agosto: “Having beaten them now just gives us tremendous confidence and great momentum going into these games.”
Wilson on Davis/White: “Exactly how they wanted to start this competition off.”
Hammond on Davis/White: “That waltzed them into first place. - An impressive start to their Olympic careers.”
Hammond on Russia’s Domnina/Shabalin: “They are threats to win the gold medal.”
Wilson on Dominina/Shabalin: “A mature, sophisticated dance.”
Belbin on her performance: “Satisfied, yes. Because we feel that we skated well. This dance is relatively new to us, we didn’t compete with it all season. We felt really good about being able to do the two patterns. Where we are now, we’re sitting in a comfortable position. We have plenty of opportunity to make a move.”
Wilson after Canada’s Wilson/Moir: “Each one of these top dance teams came to play and these two were exquisite in this performance.”
SKELETON:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: Lea Ann Parsley
Reporter: Lewis Johnson
Great Britain’s Amy Williams on the controversy surrounding her helmet: “I’m not bothered. It’s the same helmet as everyone else’s.”
Lea Ann Parsley on Noelle Pikus-Pace: “A tough run for Noelle.”
Papa on Williams’ final run: “And gold for Amy Williams of Great Britain!”
Noelle Pikus-Pace on placing fourth: “I had a blast here and I feel like I gave it my best.”
Papa: “Amy Williams was dominant in all four of her runs.”
CNBC, Men’s Hockey:
Czech Republic 5 vs. Latvia 2
Bill Patrick (Host), Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury (Studio Analysts), Mike Emrick (Play-By-Play), Ed Olczyk (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
Milbury on Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr: “Boy he can bring it. He is one of the top 10 in my book.”
Roenick on Czech Republic’s goaltender Tomas Vokoun: “He doesn’t get the respect or recognition because he is in a down market, but he has seven shut outs and is tied with Marty Brodeur for No. 1 in the NHL.”
Olczyk on Czech Republic: “Their ability to make plays in small areas and their defense did a really good job of putting a lot of pressure on the Latvians.”
Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr on taking more slap shots: “It’s a lot tougher to score in this league, so that’s why I am trying new things.”
CNBC, Men’s Curling:
USA 4 vs. France 3
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Catalon: “Four heartbreaking losses and the United States finally gets one to go their way. They win it, 4-3!”
Team USA’s Coach Phil Drobnick on hoping for a comeback in the tournament: “We are going to do everything in the last five games here that we can to try and get a few wins and represent our country the best way we can.”
Team USA’s Honorary Captain/San Francisco 49ers Tight End Vernon Davis: “I respect the energy and the time that goes into the sport. This is a unique sport.”
Team USA’s Honorary Captain/San Francisco 49ers Tight End Vernon Davis on curling:
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Keywords · NBC Universal · Vancouver 2010
Name: Christopher Paul (chris) Mccloskey
Organization: NBC Universal
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