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- Red Gerard, of the United States, jumps during the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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- Red Gerard, of the United States, jumps during the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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- Red Gerard, of the United States, celebrates after winning gold in the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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- Red Gerard, of the United States, smiles after winning gold during the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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- Red Gerard, of the United States, smiles after winning gold in the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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- Red Gerard, of the United States, smiles after winning gold in the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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- Gold medal winner Red Gerard, of the United States, center, stands with silver medal winner Max Parrot, of Canada, right, and bronze medal winner Mark McMorris, of Canada, after the men’s slopestyle final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
No, events at the Pyeongchang Olympics are not all televised live. And, yes, that means you sometimes will find a result before you see it on TV.
Exhibit A: American Red Gerard won the United States’ first medal of the Games in the snowboard slopestyle, but NBC didn’t air it until about a half-hour later.
Gerard was in 10th place of 12 snowboarders after a pair of awful runs to start the medal event. Riders were lined up ahead of him for their third and final run, and a few more still had to go after Gerard finished.
The 17 year-old from Colorado nailed his run, and soon after, Team USA tweeted to celebrate Gerard’s gold medal.
“HE’S GOLDEN! @RedmondGerard wins the men’s #snowboard slopestyle event with an 87.16 to give #TeamUSA its first medal in PyeongChang!!!,” the U.S. Olympic Team’s Twitter account proclaimed.
That had those following online, while watching on TV, pretty confused. NBC pledged in November that some 2,400-plus hours of Olympic coverage would be carried live on NBC, NBCSN, USA Network and the Olympic channel. Plus, the events not broadcast live on TV could be streamed live on NBC’s website.
But then, during the Olympic’s most climatic moment for its U.S. audience so far, a tape delay spoiled the excitement for viewers watching NBC’s prime-time broadcast.
“Why is there like a 10-minute delay on NBC’s Olympic coverage? My friends back home have been celebrating our snowboarding medals for a while now and I just finished watching their final runs,” Emma Loop asked on Twitter.
“Guys, it’s not a spoiler when NBC chooses to air it on delay. Congrats Red!!,” noted Daniel Martinez.
And even with the delay, NBC didn’t bleep some profanity Gerard let slip while celebrating.
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