It’s clear who the real winners of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were: Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.
After their acclaimed calling of the figure skating events for NBC Sports, they were everywhere together, including Hollywood red carpets. Now, in an effort to keep audiences interested in skating during off-Olympics years, the network has named them its top figure skating announcers.
Olympic gold medalist Lipinski and U.S. skating champ Weir will be joined by play-by-play announcer Terry Gannon for their official debut as NBC Sports’ lead announcing team at the 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America event this Sunday at 4 p.m.
“Johnny, Tara and Terry were breakout TV stars in Sochi,” Jim Bell, Executive Producer of NBC Olympics said in a statement. “We’re excited that viewers will be treated to this team’s informative and entertaining commentary for many years to come, all while looking fabulous.”
NBC Sports’ previous lead team featured gold medalist Scott Hamilton. He will remain a part of NBC Sports though to contribute to other events.
In an interview with the New York Times, Bell noted that Lipinski and Weir are “fun and fresh,” a brand that attracted more viewers than ever for Sochi. “You look for their kind of chemistry. You can’t make it up,” he added.
In addition to calling NBC’s future skating programs, Lipinski and Weir were also booked for the 2018 Pyongyang Winter Olympics.
Since the Sochi games, the duo has earned gigs, from calling our fashion at the Oscars for Access Hollywood to joining NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage.