WRAL-TV is featuring stories about local connections to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the nightly half-hour Olympic Zone. A story on Monday, July 26, 2021, hits particularly close to home for Capitol Broadcasting: an interview with Patrick Kinas, play-by-play announcer and the voice of the Durham Bulls, who is calling swimming at the 2020 Olympic games:
As the radio voice for the Durham Bulls, Patrick Kinas makes a living with his words, and he summed up the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year succinctly: It was awful.
Rather than the hustle and bustle of a minor league baseball season and his other radio gigs, Kinas was left with nothing to do as sports shut down for months.
Literally, I had zero on my schedule, he said recently. The Tokyo Olympics for Westwood One, the Bulls, college football in the fall everything was wiped off.
But the pandemic helped change his outlook on life and also led to an unprecedented opportunity.
A trip to a Panda Express restaurant in Raleigh and an interaction with a homeless man at the Wake Forest Road interchange for Interstate 440 led Kinas to buy the man lunch and listen to his story. That, in turn, led to routine food deliveries to the needy and a change of perspective.
I felt like my heart was always in a good spot before, but I think I've really grown to understand that there's so much more that I can do, Kinas said. As an adult in the community with a bit of a voice, [I had] to figure out what I can do to service my community, and that's something I really never thought about. I was more worried about who's starting tomorrow night for the Bulls.
Such humanity is the strength of his broadcasting, he said.
I've always been somebody whose broadcasting style was more about stories, less about stats, more about cool human anecdotes and less about batting average with runners in scoring position, he said, adding that the pandemic only reinforced that.
Now, getting through the pandemic, the stories are much more magnified, and we all have gone through this together, he said.
When the Olympics shifted to 2021, Kinas figured he wouldn't be involved. Westwood One had decided not cover the postponed Games on the radio.
That changed while waiting at a McDonald's drive-thru on his way to Greenville in April to cover an East Carolina University baseball game.
I will never screen a call from a New York area code again, he said of deciding not to answer the call.
The caller, an NBC executive, wanted to know if Kinas was interested in broadcasting the U.S. Olympic swimming trials and preliminary swimming heats in Tokyo.
I was just stunned, he said. I had to listen to [the voicemail] a second time. One, to just affirm I heard what I thought I heard, and then, two, to make sure I had her name right because I wasn't going to call her back and then misidentify her and then have the offer rescinded.
Kinas is no stranger to Olympic coverage. He covered the 2016 Games in Brazil on radio, highlighted by calling the finish of swimming legend Michael Phelps' final gold medal. But he said he cannot believe his good fortune this time, working on television at an event like no other.
Last summer, had the games taken place, [NBC] had their portfolio of broadcasters set, and I wasn't on it, nor did I expect to be, he said. Parents and some coaches and teammates of these athletes, they can't go. So, all of these athletes, all of these family members, all these fans, are going to be watching this us.
The opportunity created a new set of challenges, however. Instead of finding stories on a handful of swimmers who were likely to medal, Kinas has had to research hundreds of swimmers from around the world.
I've been spending probably eight or 10 hours a day for the last month working through these athletes and working through some of these stories, he said. A fair number of these athletes aren't your well-known household names, like Katy Ledecky and Caeleb Dressell and others. They will be from countries that we may or may not have necessarily heard of.
While the pandemic separated people for months, Kinas said he hopes the experience can also bring everyone together during the Games.
You start talking about how this player got through the pandemic or how this swimmer trained to get ready for the Tokyo Olympics when they didn't have access to gyms and pools. We all can understand that, he said. My job is to be that voice, find those stories and package them in a way that's makes the people watching and listening root for them a little bit more.
Kinas said he understands how the athletes feel, living out their Olympic dreams,
This is something I've been hoping for and dreaming about for years and years and years, he said.
WATCH: WRAL.com Video Durham broadcaster working to tell unheralded athletes' stories at Olympics
Thanks to WRALSportsFan and WRAL-TV's Cullen Browder for this Capcom story & video.
Tune in to WRAL-TV's Olympic Zone nightly for more stories like this one about Kinas. The live half-hour special will air Monday Saturday at 7:30pm ET during the Tokyo Olympics.
Capcom: Tune in to WRAL-TV for 2020 Tokyo Olympics Coverage, The Olympic Zone Returns
Find WRAL coverage, a schedule of events and more:
WRAL.com Olympics Coverage
WRALSportsFan.com Olympics Coverage
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
WRAL-TV is featuring stories about local connections to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the nightly half-hour Olympic Zone. A story on Monday, July 26, 2021, hits particularly close to home for Capitol Broadcasting: an interview with Patrick Kinas, play-by-play announcer and the voice of the Durham Bulls, who is calling swimming at the 2020 Olympic games:
