“Even in qualifying, the legend of Simone Biles just continues to grow. What a gutsy performance.” – Rich Lerner on Simone Biles
“I know what it feels like to win a gold medal, but to do it on your home soil, man, that’s got to feel so absolutely incredible.” – Michael Phelps on France’s Leon Marchand’s gold medal in the 400m IM
“I don’t like when they compare anybody to the 1992 ‘Dream Team,’ because they seem to do that all the time. What I will say is in 20 years, the images of this team that’s been put together is going to look as iconic as that ‘92 team looks.” – Dwyane Wade on Team USA Men’s Basketball
Simone Biles’ Paris Olympics Debut in Qualifying & Team USA Men’s Basketball Headline “Primetime in Paris” Tonight at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
LIVE TOMORROW: Ryan Murphy Expected to Compete in Men’s 100m Backstroke (Final at 3:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock); Team USA Women’s Basketball Open Campaign for 8th Straight Gold vs. Japan (3 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock)
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 28, 2024 – NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics continues tonight at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with “Primetime in Paris,” hosted by Mike Tirico and featuring in-depth storytelling and a cinematic main title sequence.
Tonight’s “Primetime in Paris” features four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and Team USA women’s gymnastics in qualifying competition, French swimming phenom Leon Marchand, Team USA men’s basketball vs. Serbia, and more. Coverage is slated to include Snoop Dogg discussing today’s events and Colin Jost from the surfing competition in Tahiti.
Tomorrow, four-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy is expected to compete in the men’s 100m backstroke (final live at 3:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock), while Team USA women’s basketball begins their journey for an eighth consecutive gold medal when they take on Japan live at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock. Click here for more information on tomorrow’s coverage.
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Following are highlights from today’s coverage of the Paris Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:
GYMNASTICS
Rich Lerner on Simone Biles: “Even in qualifying, the legend of Simone Biles just continues to grow. What a gutsy performance…Greatness, grit, and guts.”
Laurie Hernandez on Biles’ emotion moving on to the finals in the All-Around: “All smiles from Biles!”
Hernandez on Biles’ vault: “No one is going to touch this skill with a 10-foot pole. It is so dangerous and so skillful, you will not see anyone, in any subdivision all day, even come close to her.”
SWIMMING
Rowdy Gaines on France’s Leon Marchand’s Olympic-record setting 400m IM performance: “It is incredible what he is able to do under the water, especially in the 400…He really doesn’t have a weak stroke…he’s really world class in all four strokes.”
Michael Phelps on Marchand: “I know what it feels like to win a gold medal, but to do it on your home soil, man, that’s got to feel so absolutely incredible for that young kid. Oh my gosh, the emotions.”
Hicks: “To time it, to peak at your best at the age of 22 and to know that the Olympics, when you’re at your peak, are in your home country…They are celebrating throughout this country after Marchand gives them their first medal ever in this event.”
Amy Van Dyken on the crowd’s support of Marchand: “There is no harnessing energy. When the crowd is like this, they want to see a show and that is what you are there for. Give them that show. That is what Marchand is doing right now.”
Gaines on American Torri Huske winning the gold medal in the women’s 100m butterfly: “I’ll never forget: three years ago, one one-hundredth of a second away from a medal. That is so devastating in so many different ways. And now three years later, here she is at the top of the world.”
Snoop Dogg on attending yesterday’s men’s 4x100m relay final on last night’s Primetime in Paris: “(My) first ever live swimming event. I’m still excited from the atmosphere, seeing them swim, seeing them tag on and off, the energy of hearing so many different national anthems, and then to finally be able to hear mine. My god.”
Snoop Dogg on being with Caeleb Dressel’s family during the gold medal relay win: “That was the main thing that I really wanted to do was be out in the field dealing with the families so I could see the experience of that support system. Being there with Caeleb’s wife, and his son, and sister-in-law, you could just that they were missing from the last Olympics and how this one felt so emotional to her. She shed a tear based off of just being there with him, being there for him. For him to be able to come kiss his baby at the end of the event…It was an up close and personal experience for me and the family, and I feel like I’m a part of their family now.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Dwyane Wade on what former Team USA men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski told his players before the Beijing Olympics: “He talked about bringing your ego because that made you who you are, but also checking them at the door. You got a lot of guys here who are great players, and they all have egos that made them great, but you have to know how to check them at the door.”
Wade on Anthony Davis: “He’s been the most important player of the game on the defensive end.”
Wade on comparisons between this year’s U.S. Olympic team and the famed “Dream Team” from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics: “I don’t like when they compare anybody to the 1992 ‘Dream Team,’ because they seem to do that all the time. What I will say is in 20 years, the images of this team that’s been put together is going to look as iconic as that ‘92 team looks.”
Wade on the importance of medaling: “In 2004, I was a part of the bronze medal team and we were very angry. We were there to win a gold medal and I think we disrespected the bronze medal. In 2008, winning the gold was phenomenal, but watching the teams that won the silver and bronze celebrate just as much as us, you realize then how much it means to medal for your country.”
Kevin Durant to Mike Tirico on Team USA’s chemistry after its opening win against Serbia: “We’ve been talking about that since day one. A lot of these other teams have been playing together since they were kids, and we get together for a couple weeks [before the Games start], so we had to build that camaraderie and that trust pretty quickly. But you see it out there, everyone’s playing for one another…it’s just the pinnacle of basketball when you do that.”
TENNIS
Rennae Stubbs on Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal: “What a great atmosphere, what a great moment for these Olympic fans to watch the greatest tennis player we have ever seen on this particular court win this match today. What a moment.”
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Julie Foudy on Team USA’s 4-1 win over Germany: “I think Emma Hayes and this team, they are going to be thrilled with this result. This was the first test for them. This was a test against a team that really could have beat Australia five, six-nil…You look at the fingerprints of Emma Hayes already in only her sixth game with this U.S. Women’s National Team. This was a very different team than we’ve seen in the past…a much more complete team.”
Foudy on Mallory Swanson’s perseverance after scoring three goals in Team USA’s first two matches: “This is a player who has fought to get back – three surgeries, torn patellar tendon…(she) had the whole team on her shoulders…To see her gliding and thriving is so great to see because it has been a slog for her.”
SKATEBOARDING
Ryan Sheckler on injury replacements in the Olympic Games: “When you’re an injury replacement at the Olympics, you’re always glad to get an opportunity to perform. The disadvantage is you find yourself on the hot seat and are forced to take more risks to have any chance of advancing.”
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ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
The NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock are the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. NBCU owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has not yet been chosen.
— NBC OLYMPICS —