Countdown to Vancouver Launches on Universal Sports

One-Hour Special Airs 100 Days Out From the Start of the Winter Olympics

LOS ANGELES – Nov. 3, 2009 – Universal Sports’ full-scale programming efforts as part of the countdown to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games kicks-off Wednesday, exactly 100 days from the start of the Winter Games, with a one-hour Countdown to Vancouver special airing at 8 p.m. ET with an encore presentation at 11 p.m. ET.  The show highlights and previews expectations in several key competitions, including alpine skiing, figure skating, short track speed skating, bobsled and skeleton, hockey, snowboarding and ski cross.

Athletes profiled in the special include 2008 and 2009 World Cup alpine skiing champion Lindsey Vonn and two-time Olympic silver medalist Bode Miller; two-time short track speed skating Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno and his protégé, J.R. Celski; 2006 Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White and 2006 women’s silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis; 2009 four-man Bobsled World Champion Steve Holcomb and 2009 Luge World Champion Erin Hamlin, among others.

Vignettes highlighting Olympic hopefuls will continue daily on Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com. 

Starting Dec. 1, Universal Sports will present a nightly show—Countdown to Vancouver—that will continue through Feb. 12, 2010, the day of the Opening Ceremony in Vancouver.  Airing nightly at 8 p.m. ET, the program will originate from Universal Sports’ Los Angeles studio and will include Winter Olympic sport news and highlights, as well as analysis, features, interviews and guests. The program will provide highlights of the more than 300 Olympic sporting events airing across NBC Sports, Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com from now until the start of the Winter Games in Vancouver. 

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is available in 56 million homes, including nine of the top 10 DMAs: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Denver, Portland, and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com.

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Universal Sports

Melisa Mowry

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Amy Sorrells

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Greg Hughes

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