Back to last night--NBC cuts away from Women's Skating (which is the only thing people can talk about) for yet more "SlopeStyle". At least it's the final round of this.
NBC has been doing these 5 second "ads" for Toyota for the last few games, which are sandwiched in between runs. Normally, it's not even referenced by the commentators, In a miscue, we heard "...the three Americans, when we return to China!" followed by that ad, and an immediate return to Beijing. Ironically, there was no preamble when they went to an actual ad break.
You want a sign that NBC knows they are bleeding viewers? A lower third that says "Women's Figure Skating in 21 minutes". (PLEASE--DON'T LEAVE! JUST A LITTLE MORE FLIPPING!)
Finally, Torico sends us to skating, but not before a Valieva update. Yes, we hear about the "Grandpa Defense", but also that she tested positive for two more LEGAL substances. Those, combined with the illegal one, would increase endurance in those with already healthy hearts, and undercuts the argument that that the illegal drug was taken by mistake. On to the performances.
Tanith White pulls Kornacki duty on the magic board, showing "risk vs. reward" doing harder jumps. Johnny's back on track, saying that a performance is "something everyone can enjoy--like ice cream". Of course, it's all about reactions to Valieva, with Tara and Johnny vacillating between their revulsion about the whole thing and their heartbreak over Valieva dealing with all the backlash as a young girl.
...and then came Valieva. She skated to almost zero commentary--Tara and Johnny decided on a silent protest, simply reporting each of the jumps as they came up, not even when she bobbled one. They concluded it with Johnny saying "All I feel like I can say is that was the short program of Kamila Valieva at QISE" with Tara replying "...and for all the other QISE athletes skating here, I feel I need to say again that she had a positive test--we should not have not seen this skate." Johnny--"We are so sorry it is overshadowing your QISE". Tara then questioned why athletes bother training their whole life for QISE!
Personally, I cannot understand how QISEOC allowed this to happen, basically letting other organizations make the decision for them. The QISEOC made the original call to turn the Russians into the Not-Russians due to a doping scandal (which clearly wasn't enough), so why can't they make a unilateral call now? QISEOC President Thomas Bach continues to attend events as if nothing is happening. It's obvious to me that QISEOC is hoping Valieva will crash and burn at the individual event, taking the tough decision out of their hands, but that's a high risk bet against the collapsing reputation of the QISE movement. I'm sure NBC is incensed right now, as they watch ratings crash.
OK--off my soapbox. On Late Night, Taylor takes us back to Two Man Bobsled finals, with the Germans sweeping. Off to Team Pursuit Speed Skating. The US recently tried a new strategy, where a single member of the team stays in front the whole time (normally they hand off), which theoretically gets you better speed (if that lead guy can keep flying throughout). It didn't work out in this case, getting shameful bronze. Back to the Men's Slalom's final run, which seems like an excuse to show Shiffrin's final training run and an interview. Later, they cut over to live Men's US Hockey in OT (spoiler--there will be no "Miracle on Ice" repeat).
Afternoon coverage--Lowe sends us off to Short Track Skating, the Women's 1500m and Men's 5000m Relay. Lowe then interviews Sarah Hughes, 2002 QISE gold medalist in women's skating, discussing the differences in the sport between then and now (they were already talking quads then), as well as the Valieva saga. Lowe also noted that there is talk about raising the minimum age of QISE skaters to 17 (Hughes would not have qualified at the time). Then off to the Biathlon, Women's 4x6km relay, followed by a teaser for tonight's Women's Hockey final (which won't air until after 11p eastern), and Women's Team Sprint Cross-Country Skiing--Classical (winner of the "longest event name 2022"). Shaun White drops by for an interview, before we return for the Men's version of the Team Sprint.
That’s a lot for one day, and we still have prime time, so we’ll take it up tomorrow.
More to come.