Paris 2024: NBC Sports Team Excited for a Return to Normalcy at These Summer Olympics

Paris 2024: NBC Sports Team Excited for a Return to Normalcy at These Summer Olympics After geography and COVID brought about challenges with previous Games, Paris 2024 appears primed for a breakout By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Thursday, July 25, 2024 - 4:28 pm

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The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics are yet to unofficially begin with the Opening Ceremony on the Seine River on Friday and this experience already feels wildly different from recent Games for the team at NBC Olympics.

Well, I can go walk for a cup of coffee, NBC Olympics' Primetime in Paris host Mike Tirico laughed during a press call on Wednesday. I couldn't do that in Beijing.

Molly Solomon was named Executive Producer & President, NBC Olympics Production,

Two Olympic games have been held since the COVID-19 outbreak in March of 2020: the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics [which were held in 2021] and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Both of those Games were held with little to no fans in the stands and with strict lockdowns in each of the host cities.

Throw in a far more manageable timezone difference than those past two Games and one can imagine how much NBC Sports and NBC Olympics are chomping at the bit to get going on one of the more anticipated Olympic Games in some time.

I couldn't be more excited about Paris, said Molly Solomon, Executive Producer & President, NBC Olympics Production, and what I love about working on the Olympics is every time you start to begin on a new city and a new four-year cycle, it's a blank slate. When we realized we had Paris 2024, the first thing we thought about, how can we take advantage of the time zone and show all the most popular sports live on NBC in the daytime?

Full stands add to the atmosphere of the events on television and the return of athletes' families add a wealth of storytelling opportunities. Tirico says he expects more energy from the live events this time around.

It is so different. I can't tell you how different it is, admits Tirico. It's a shame because I think Tokyo could have been an incredible Olympic experience, and Beijing was [in 2008]. for American athletes, athletes from around the world, they'll feel the energy of the fans, they'll feel the passion of Paris, and I think it will lead us to a Games that may rival London in 2012 for excitement and enthusiasm. People still talk about those Games and how great they were. Everything is in position for that to happen here this time around. I hope it does.

Additionally, Tirico makes the point that you might need to trace back as far as those 2012 Summer Olympics in London to find a Games where a sizable contingency of American fans can actually travel to attend. The 2014 games were held in Russia. The 2016 Rio Olympics were marred by the Zika virus. The 2018 Winter Games were in the remote South Korean resort town on Pyeongchang. Then came COVID.

Here in 2024, a return to normal conditions coupled with the allure of one of the world's most beloved cities, Paris, are hard to deny. The NBC Olympics teams anticipates the city playing a key co-starring role in its coverage of the entire two-week event.

I think you're really going to see Paris interwoven in everything we do, says Solomon. You harken back to some Games of old, and what I remember, particularly in Beijing, London, I could go all the way back to Barcelona when I started, and the host city was always the co-star. That's where we're elevating Paris and we just can't wait.

Paris is one of two things. You've either been here and can't wait to come back, or you've never been here, and you're dying to get here, Tirico continues. As someone who's in the category of having been here a few times, especially in the lead-up, there's nothing like walking around Paris, and because they've made the choice to put the venues right next to some of the iconic spots. Things you'll probably see in the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Paris is just a massive co-star in these Games. Nothing is bigger than the athletes and the competition, but Paris is pretty darn close second to that, I'll tell you.

This is also a significant Olympics for Solomon, a respected veteran of the sports television industry, who first accepted the role of Executive Producer & President, NBC Olympics Production, in November 2019. Just four months later, the world was stood on its head by the pandemic and her first Summer Olympics in the position were postponed. Paris is already beginning to feel more like the experience she originally signed up for.

This job is everything I hoped for in 2019, Solomon concludes, and I just can't wait for the audience to experience what NBC Olympics has planned.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/07/25/paris-2024-nbc-sports-team-exci...
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