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Fans can catch every Tour de France stage live from start to finish for the first time ever with NBC Sports Gold’s Cycling Pass.

The 104th Tour de France, from July 1-23, starts in Germany, hits all five French continental mountain ranges among 21 stages and finishes with the ceremonial ride into Paris.

NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold combine to air daily live coverage of cycling’s most prestigious Grand Tour, with a record 280 hours of live, primetime and encore coverage. With 30-plus hours of exclusive bonus HD coverage on NBC Sports Gold, fans will not miss a single moment of the Tour.

NBC Sports PR has additional details of wall-to-wall coverage of this year’s Tour.

The favorite has to be Chris Froome , the only cyclist to own multiple Tour de France titles and multiple Olympic medals.

The Kenyan-born Brit eyes his fourth Tour victory in five years. That would move him one shy of the record for Tour wins shared by Jacques Anquetil , Eddy Merckx , Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain .

Froome’s top challengers include Colombian Nairo Quintana , seeking to become the first non-European cyclist to win all three Grand Tours. Quintana took the Giro d’Italia in 2014 and the Vuelta a Espana last year. He also finished second or third behind Froome in all three of his Tour de France starts.

There’s also Froome’s former Team Sky mate, Richie Porte , and seven-time Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador in what may be his farewell Tour.

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MORE: Ten riders to watch at Tour de France

NBC Sports, Peacock retain Tour de France broadcast rights in US through 2029 - North American roundup

Gavin Mannion joins Tanner Putt to lead US national road team, Athens Twilight tapped for American Crit Cup, Valley of the Sun opens early US road season

US homes will be able to view live Tour de France coverage for an additional six years thanks to a renewed deal between NBC Sports, its streaming service Peacock and Amaury Sport Organisation, which owns the Tour de France. 

The exclusive US broadcast rights, which will run 2024 to 2029, also include ASO’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Vuelta a España, Paris-Roubaix , Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and several other sporting events. This keeps the world’s most prestigious cycling stage race with NBC Sports and Comcast since 2001 for the US market. 

The current agreement with NBC Sports and ASO went through 2023 to broadcast the 110th Tour de France, July 1-23. In 2024, all stages of the Tour de France will be exclusively broadcast live in the US by Peacock, the video streaming service operated by NBCUniversal, with NBC Sports providing a simulcast for select stages and producing pre-race and post-race recap programming.

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"We are delighted to be able to extend our long-term partnership with the NBCU group, which promotes the Tour de France and all the major A.S.O. sporting events to the American public on a cross-platform basis, including women's cycling such as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift,” said Yann Le Moënner, CEO of ASO. 

“The combined coverage via Peacock, which will show the entire races from the beginning to the end, and network television, will ensure everyone has access to the best of world cycling. NBC will remain the home of cycling in the United States for another six years, and in 2029 we will celebrate the 29th anniversary of a historic partnership.”

Gavin Mannion leads junior men with US National Team 

Former US pro cyclists Tanner Putt and Gavin Mannion have started new careers with the USA Cycling National Team. Putt serves as the Director of Road, while Mannion begins as the director of the junior men’s program. 

“After spending the majority of my junior and U23 career with the USA Cycling National Team, I’m looking forward to being back with the program that gave so many opportunities as a young racer and now working together to build for the future,” Putt said on his Instagram feed. 

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Putt, a two-time U23 national champion on the road, worked most recently as the team director for the US-based domestic elite CS Velo Racing team. He raced eight years in the pro peloton, his last year in 2019 with Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC.

Mannion hung up his racing kit with Human Powered Health at the start of the calendar, having raced as a junior with the U23 national team and then 12 full seasons as a pro. He won the 2018 Colorado Classic after a runner-up position in the GC at the 2017 Tour of Utah and added a pair of stage wins at the Le Tour de Savoie Mnt Blanc in 2020, all showcasing his climbing ability. 

The US National Team will begin a European swing in June, looking to grab UCI points to earn spots for the World Championships. The first Nations Cup events on the schedule look to be Paris-Roubaix Juniors in April as well as Course de la Paix in early May.

Athens Twilight joins American Criterium Cup as series opener in April

One of the longest-running and most popular criterium events in the US, the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight, has been added as the 10th race in the 2023 American Criterium Cup . The second-year series tapped the Athens, Georgia, race for its opening round Saturday, April 22.

The Athens Twilight, now in its 43rd year, also launches Speed Week, a series of seven criteriums contested in a span of nine days across the southeastern US. 

“This is a bedrock race for athletes, and this race highlights the deep history of criterium racing in the South. The competition level, the crowd’s excitement and the venue never disappoint,” ACC Administrator Peter Discoe said about the Athens Twilight.

Across the year-long points competitions for men and women, the American Criterium Cup offers a total prize purse of $100,000. Teams and riders are also eligible for an additional $400,000 in prize money and support provided by individual races. The ACC is considering revisions to the points system for 2023 so that it is less likely for a single rider to sweep both the overall and sprint competitions.

Across the seven races in Speed Week, $95,000 was up for grabs last year for pro men and women, which included a $15,000 bonus purse for overall Speed Week individuals and teams. Organisers are expected to match the same prize purse this season.

Valley of the Sun stage race returns

The opening stage race on the USA Cycling calendar takes place February 17-19 in the sun-baked southeastern United States. On the heels of Super Bowl LVII and a stop by the PGA TOUR, top amateur and pro cyclists from North America are next to migrate to the greater Phoenix, Arizona area for the 31st edition of the John  Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun stage race. 

The Landis Cyclery-Trek Time Trial opens competition on Friday, followed by a road race Saturday and a criterium on Sunday. The Valley of the Sun stage race serves as the state’s largest USAC development road race series for juniors.

The three-day event provides a way for teams to assess talent and get in some early-season racing among most training camps for domestic teams. 

Three UCI Continental women’s teams are on the start line this year - Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24, DNA Pro Cycling and Roxo Racing. Leading the way for the pro men’s field are Project Echelon Racing and L39ION of Los Angeles, both on the Continental level. 

To access the start list for the time trial and each day’s results, visit vosstagerace.com/race-results/ .

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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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Tour de France 2023 TV Schedule on NBC Sports

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The world’s most prestigious cycling race, the Tour de France , this year starts in in Bilbao, Spain, where the peloton begins a grueling three-week odyssey over 2,115 miles.

NBC and USA Network combine for live and tape-delayed race coverage on TV July 1-23, but Peacock has live start-to-finish streaming coverage of all stages, and Peacock is the exclusive live presenter of the final stage on Sunday, July 23, as the race concludes at the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

NBC Sports’ cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett broadcasts his 51st Tour de France, joined by analyst Bob Roll. Liggett and Roll are on-site at each stage, along with reporters Steve Porino and Christian Vande Velde.

3️⃣ days to go before the start of the 110th edition of the Tour de France. 📶 Discover the key figures of this edition! ⤵️ #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/PoQPGZQ1Bb — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 28, 2023

2023 Tour de France TV & Streaming Schedule on NBC Sports

All Times Eastern. All live coverage on NBC and USA Network is also available on the NBC Sports app.

Saturday, July 1 6am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:30am Stage 1: Bilbao/Bilbao (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 1: Bilbao/Bilbao (LIVE), Peacock & NBC

Sunday, July 2 2am Stage 1: Bilbao/Bilbao (encore), USA Network 6am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:05am Stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz/Saint-Sébastien (LIVE), Peacock

Monday, July 3 2am Stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz/Saint-Sébastien (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:50am Stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano/Bayonne (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano/Bayonne (LIVE), Peacock & USA Network

Tuesday, July 4 2am Stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano/Bayonne (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7am Stage 4: Dax/Nogaro (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 4: Dax/Nogaro (LIVE), Peacock & USA Network

Wednesday, July 5 2am Stage 4: Dax/Nogaro (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 5: Pau/Laruns (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 5: Pau/Laruns (LIVE), Peacock & USA Network

Thursday, July 6 2am Stage 5: Pau/Laruns (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7am Stage 6: Tarbes/Cauterets-Cambasque (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 6: Tarbes/Cauterets-Cambasque (LIVE) Peacock, USA Network

Friday, July 7 2am Stage 6: Tarbes/Cauterets-Cambasque (encore), USA Network 7am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7:10am Stage 7: Mont-De-Marsan/Bordeaux (LIVE), Peacock 8am Stage 7: Mont-De-Marsan/Bordeaux (LIVE) Peacock, USA Network

Saturday, July 8 2am Stage 7: Mont-De-Marsan/Bordeaux (encore), USA Network 6am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:20am Stage 8: Libourne/Limoges (LIVE), Peacock

Sunday, July 9 2am Stage 8: Libourne/Limoges (encore), USA Network 7am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7:05am Stage 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat/Puy de Dôme (LIVE), Peacock

Monday, July 10 2am Stage 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat/Puy de Dôme (encore), USA Network

Tuesday, July 11 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 10: Vulcania/Issoire (LIVE), Peacock

Wednesday, July 12 2am Stage 10: Vulcania/Issoire (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand/Moulins (LIVE), Peacock

Thursday, July 13 2am Stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand/Moulins (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 12: Roanne/Belleville-en-Beaujolais (LIVE), Peacock

Friday, July 14 2am Stage 12: Roanne/Belleville-en-Beaujolais (encore), USA Network 7am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7:30am Stage 13: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne/Grand Colombier (LIVE), Peacock

Saturday, July 15 2am Stage 13: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne/Grand Colombier (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 14: Annemasse/Morzine Les Portes du Soleil (LIVE), Peacock

Sunday, July 16 2am Stage 14: Annemasse/Morzine Les Portes du Soleil (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 15: Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil/Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (LIVE), Peacock

Monday, July 17 2am Stage 15: Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil/Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (encore), USA Network

Tuesday, July 18 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:50am Stage 16: Passy/Combloux (LIVE), Peacock

Wednesday, July 19 2am Stage 16: Passy/Combloux (encore), USA Network 6am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:05am Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc/Courchevel (LIVE), Peacock

Thursday, July 20 2am Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc/Courchevel (encore), USA Network 6:30am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 6:55am Stage 18: Moûtiers/Bourg-En-Bresse (LIVE), Peacock

Friday, July 21 8am Stage 18: Moûtiers/Bourg-En-Bresse (encore), USA Network 7am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7:05am Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne/Poligny (LIVE), Peacock

Saturday, July 22 2am Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne/Poligny (encore), USA Network 7am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 7:30am Stage 20: Belfort/Le Markstein Fellering (LIVE), Peacock

Sunday July 23 2am Stage 20: Belfort/Le Markstein Fellering (encore), USA Network 10am Tour de France Pre-Race Show (LIVE), Peacock 10:10am Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Paris Champs-Élysées (LIVE), Peacock 5pm Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Paris Champs-Élysées (encore), NBC

Monday, July 24 2am Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Paris Champs-Élysées (encore), USA Network

Tour de France

NBC Sports and Peacock Sign Six-Year Extension for Tour de France U.S. Media Rights

The Tour de France will air live exclusively on the streaming service Peacock starting in 2024 and running through 2029.

The partnership also includes other A.S.O. events like the Tour de France Femmes, La Vuelta a España, La Vuelta Feminina, and the men’s and women’s Paris-Roubaix.

The new deal starts in 2024 and runs through 2029. NBC Sports and Peacock already had Tour de France broadcast rights for 2023. All of the men’s stages beginning in 2024 will be live from start-to-finish on the streaming service Peacock. Select stages will be simulcasted on NBC, according to the release. NBC Sports’ coverage schedule for the 2023 Tour de France is supposed to be announced in the coming months.

“We’re excited to reach this long-term agreement with A.S.O. to present the world’s most prestigious cycling event live on Peacock for years to come,” Jon Miller, NBC Sports’ President of Acquisitions and Partnerships, said.

Dan is a writer and editor living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and before coming to Runner’s World and Bicycling was an editor at MileSplit. He competed in cross country and track and field collegiately at DeSales University.

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How To Watch the Tour de France in 2023

Cheer on your favorite riders and teams as the Tour de France comes to NBC, USA Network, and Peacock this July.

Edited By Aaron Gates

Share | Dec 26, 2023

The Tour de France pedals onto TV every July—showcasing the world’s greatest road cyclists. As in recent seasons, NBC Sports will broadcast this year’s event across NBC , USA Network, and Peacock .

Peacock is our favorite service for watching the race because it carries every stage live and on demand. It’s also the streaming home of the Tour de France Femmes and Vuelta a España.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at watching the Tour de France in 2023—including the complete schedule with channel listings.

Don’t miss the Tour de France

Enter your zip code to find the best TV and internet providers for watching cycling’s greatest event.

• Tour de France channels
• Tour de France schedule
• Best ways to watch the Tour de France
• Watch the Tour de France for free

What channel shows the Tour de France?

You can watch the Tour de France on NBC , USA Network, and Peacock . You’ll get the most live coverage from Peacock, which streams every stage and the daily Tour de France Pre-Race Show . USA Network shows a mix of live and encore coverage, while NBC carries select portions of the race—primarily an encore of the final stage in Paris.

Pro tip: To heighten your Tour de France viewing experience, download the official Tour de France mobile app on your Android or iOS device. The app comes with course maps, real-time stats, and live commentary.

2023 Tour de France schedule

This year’s Tour de France begins on July 1 in Spain before crossing into France on the third day. As usual, the 21-day route features a solid mix of flat to mountainous terrain. Two rest days break up the action before racers make their way to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 23.

Data effective as of post date. Race times include Peacock’s live Tour de France Pre-Race Show coverage.

2023 Tour de France Femmes schedule

Just as the men’s tour wraps up in Paris, the Tour de France Femmes takes off from Clermont-Ferrand. This is the second edition of the women’s race and features an eight-day route ending with an individual time trial in Pau.

Data effective as of post date.

Best TV plans for watching the Tour de France

A Peacock subscription is the best way to watch the Tour de France. Starting at $4.99 a month, the streaming service provides live and on-demand access to every stage of the men’s and women’s races. You’ll also get daily pre- and post-race studio coverage during the men’s competition, plus race highlights and rider interviews.

If you’re only interested in the Tour de France, you can cancel your subscription after the final stage. Otherwise, Peacock’s cycling coverage doesn’t stop there. The service also hosts the Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Critérium du Dauphiné, Vuelta a España, and Paris Tours. It’s also home to the Summer Olympics , which features road race and track cycling events every four years.

Which TV providers carry the Tour de France

Besides Peacock, most TV services carry Tour de France coverage via NBC and USA Network. Our table below illustrates which popular providers offer the two channels.

Data effective as of post date. *Available in select markets.

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How to watch the Tour de France for free

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The most convenient way to watch the Tour de France for free is by using an over-the-air (OTA) antenna to pick up your local NBC station. Unfortunately, NBC doesn’t show a lot of race coverage—mostly encore presentations of early and late stages. But it never hurts having an antenna in your TV setup.

If you don’t have an antenna, most cost between $20.00 and $60.00. We recommend the Mohu Leaf 50 for its 60-mile range and slim design. But you’ll want to verify the distance of your nearest NBC station by entering your zip code into the Federal Communications Commission’s Reception Map Tool . That’ll help determine if you need a more robust antenna, which we feature on our Best OTA Antennas page.

Pro tip: To make up for every stage NBC doesn’t air, you can stream free race recaps on NBC Sports’ YouTube channel .

The 110th Tour de France will stream on Peacock and air on NBC and USA Network throughout July 2023. Peacock offers the best way to watch Le Tour because it streams every stage from beginning to end. It also carries the entire women’s race, which begins the same day as the men’s competition ends.

If you’re a cycling fan without access to fast and reliable internet, most cable and satellite TV services have NBC and USA Network. Those channels don’t show as much Tour de France coverage as Peacock, but you’ll still see the most vital moments of the race.

How to watch the Tour de France FAQ

Can you watch the tour de france on nbc.

Yes, some Tour de France coverage airs on NBC. But you’ll want a Peacock Premium subscription to watch every stage from start to finish.

How can I watch today’s Tour de France stage?

If today’s date is between July 1 and July 23, you can watch the current Tour de France stage live and on demand via Peacock . Check out our complete Tour de France 2023 schedule for race start times and channel listings.

Is every cycling Grand Tour race on NBC?

No, not every race in the Grand Tour of Cycling airs on NBC. While NBC Sports channels and platforms televise the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, the Giro d’Italia streams on Max’s  B/R Sports Add-On .

What cycling events are on Peacock?

Popular cycling events featured on Peacock include the Tour de France, Vuelta a España , and Olympic cycling . Other major UCI World Tour races like the Giro d’Italia, Milan–San Remo, and Tour of Flanders stream on services like FloBikes and Max’s B/R Sports Add-On .

Why you should trust us

Our sports experts researched and tested the best ways to watch this year’s Tour de France. We examined which channels and platforms carry each Tour de France stage, then determined our viewing recommendations based on race coverage, pricing, and ease of use.

Check out our How We Rank page to learn more about our methods.

Race day starts here!

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Olympics Overhaul: NBC Bets on Snoop Dogg, Peacock and Wild Ideas to Ensure the 2024 Paris Games Are a Ratings Bonanza

What do Peyton Manning, Snoop Dogg , Kelly Clarkson, Mike Tirico and Jimmy Fallon have in common?

This is not a joke — at least not to the leaders of NBC­ Universal and a small army of NBC Sports producers hunkered down at offices in Stamford, Conn., and Paris, France.

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NBCUniversal can’t afford to be beholden to the traditions established when it first landed Olympics rights for the U.S. in 1988. The company is banking on the appeal of the city of Paris and a parade of pop-­culture figures to bring pizzazz to about 7,000 hours of competi­tion coverage and related programming that will run from July 26 through Aug. 11.

“This kind of celebrity wouldn’t have been part of NBC Olympics coverage of the past. Now it’s one of the foundational elements,” says Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports. “We’ve got to be innovating, trying things differently, trying to match where the media world is in 2024.”

To pull that off, NBCU has turned to a deep bench of talent — from Fallon to Clarkson to a variety of social ­media influencers. Snoop Dogg will deliver man­-on­-the-­street observations as he brings his blunt humor (and maybe even some blunts) to help enliven the primetime coverage. Manning and Clarkson will serve as co­hosts with Tirico for the glitzy opening cer­emony on July 26. Fallon will join with Tirico for the closing ceremony on Aug. 11. In the past, those hosting assignments usually went to NBC News stars. On Peacock, which draws a younger audience, NBCU has drafted Alex Cooper, the podcast megastar and host of “Call Her Daddy,” to offer her thoughts on the buzz surrounding the Games. She’ll also host a series of interactive Olympics watch parties for Peacock.

In something that might seem more at home on “America’s Got Talent” or “The Voice,” the network even plans to deploy five heart-­rate monitors among the parents of athletes. The results will be shown on­screen as moms and dads watch their kids compete — something that test audiences have loved. Will the medical devices have an on-screen sponsor?  “We are talking about it.” says Dan Lovinger, the NBC ad-sales executive who is responsible for snaring hundreds of millions in ad support. “It’s important for us to have some new voices and some fan voices,” Solomon says. The Games are “primarily for sports,” she says, but there’s nothing wrong with “a couple of short bursts of energy.” Clarkson hopes to be one of those bursts. “I love finding out how people overcome their circumstances, how they get to where they are, especially at this level,” she says. “I love the human story.”

Producing the Olympics is a Herculean task in any year. Solomon (the first woman to exec­ utive produce the Olympics for NBC) and her lieutenants are facing the potential for disaster if the new ethos around the presentation of the Games falls flat with the core audience of ded­icated sports fans. NBCU has already captured about $1.2 billion in Olympics ad revenue com­mitments; if viewership is weak, the company will face backlash from Madison Avenue.

The Olympics are billed as the pinnacle of sports, but it can be a tough sell if the athletes aren’t well known. The Games have to generate fan interest in a relatively short time, compared with a baseball or basketball team that has a months-long season that builds toward playoffs and championship games.

“You have a combination of the excitement for some of these sports with the fact that not many of them are household names,” says Daniel Cohen, executive VP of media rights consulting at Octagon, a sports­management unit of Interpublic Group. “We haven’t seen a Phelps in a while,” he says, referring to Michael Phelps, the swimmer whose exploits buoyed the 2012 Summer Games in London and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. NBC is “injecting that celebrity, that household name, but doing it through com­ mentary and talking heads and play by play.”

In addition to testing a primetime show that juggles sports with celebrity appearances, the group also needs to make sure the sports die­ hards are satisfied by Peacock’s live­-event cov­erage, which will be enhanced by all manner of interactive stats, athlete profiles and other dig­ ital bells and whistles. One of NBCU’s key long­ term goals is to use the Olympics as a showcase to draw more paid subscribers to the outlet. The company also needs to use Paris to get viewers excited about the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. Those will be the first Games to take place in the U.S. since 2002, when the Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City. Traditionally, Olympics held in the U.S. whip up American audiences, boosting profits for U.S. networks.

NBCUniversal’s scramble to reinvent its Olympics coverage reflects broader trends in sports on TV, which is the last genre of programming that can still reliably draw large audiences. For decades, everything from NFL football to bowling has been telecast with an emphasis on showing “the thrill of victory … and the agony of defeat” (as ABC’s long­-running “Wide World of Sports” once described it). But these days, to keep the crowds big and to help cover the ever-­increasing costs of sports rights fees, networks are trying to turn game coverage into pop­-culture events. ESPN’s success with its alternative “Monday Night Football” telecast featuring commentary from former NFL quar­terbacks Peyton Manning and Eli Manning has opened the floodgates of experimentation with sports telecasts.

NBCUniversal executives freely acknowledge the Games have given the company a rough ride in the recent past. The Winter Games in Pyeong­-chang, South Korea, in 2018, presented time­ zone challenges for U.S. telecasts, and there were worries about how North Korea would behave. The 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo — delayed a year by COVID — generated less excitement than usual; because fans weren’t allowed in the stands, NBC Sports had a hard time creating the on­-the­-ground vignettes that are a signa­ture element of its coverage. Finally, the Winter Games in Beijing, in 2022, spurred a torrent of criticism around China’s human-­rights record.

After all this, it’s no surprise that some adver­tisers want new ideas. “The tonality of everything changed during the Games’ Asian swing,” says Jeremy Carey, chief investment officer for Optimum Sports. But there is also optimism as the 2024 Games approach. Getting an Olympics “closer to home, in a big city like Paris — we are incredibly excited for it,” Carey says, “and we’ve got Olympic advertisers that are super excited as well.”

Before Solomon and her team plunge into the ins and outs of diving completions and soccer matches, they take time during a recent planning meeting to discuss something really im­portant: a Snoop Dogg update. “He wants to be the biggest kid at the Olym­pics, to be silly, to be sincere,” Solomon tells her crew after paying the entrepreneur a visit.

“He wants to ‘celebrate love and respect.’ Those are really his words. He really wants to be Snoop on the loose and to follow the Dogg, double­-G.”

Solomon has grown accustomed to covering new terrain. She was promoted to her current role as Olympics executive producer just before NBC dove into the Tokyo Games. She’s keenly aware of how quickly viewing habits shift in the era of on-­demand streaming. She uses her family as a focus group, studying how her chil­dren consume their favorite shows to guide her on how to tell the stories of the Olympics. She hopes the recent audience bonanza har­ vested by the NCAA women’s basketball tour­ nament bodes well for the Paris Olympics, which will feature the return of both gymnast Sim­ one Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky. There’s also a men’s basketball tournament that will draw from a potential roster of U.S. players that includes LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.

She also knows how to keep her eye on the ball, so to speak. When a previous NBC Sports president called Solmon to tell her about her Olympics appointment, she was playing golf in Orlando and needed to finish her round before she would speak with him.  “I wasn’t going to talk to anyone while I was on the 16th hole,” Solomon quips. 

Still, it's really the competitors who count. When formulating Olympics plans, “you really have to hope” for a breakout by a par­ticular athlete, says Jim Bell, a former NBCU executive who helped produce multiple Olym­pic Games. “With COVID and some of the other factors in the last two Olympics, it has been tough. There were barely any people in the stands, and they were on the other side of the world. Now you’ve got a signature location and it’s the City of Light, the City of Love, and you have all this good energy coming back.” The celebrities represent something NBC pro­ ducers can count on as they wait for heroes to emerge -- still a critical element, says Bell. Nothing succeeds like "American athletes with medals around their necks and great images of their families in the stands celebrating.”

NBC has spent months trying to make viewers familiar with the new format. Promos for the Summer Olympics, which have been running since 2023, have relied not on athletic hopefuls but on influencers with big social-­media foll­owings, like Paris Hilton and Megan Thee Stal­lion. In the past, NBC has started promoting its Olympics telecasts about a year in advance, says Jenny Storms, chief marketing officer of entertainment and sports for NBCUniversal, and has usually relied on athletic themes. For this Olympics, Dolly Parton and Lily Collins have done promotional turns.

“Everything we’ve done has been starting from scratch,” says Storms. “It’s been an exer­cise in bravery, taking something you have done for so long and starting as if you’ve never done it before.”

Solomon says her team has developed new rules for breaking the old ones. Some of them defy conventional wisdom. NBC’s primetime presentation of highlights from earlier in the day, Solomon tells the assembled staffers in Stamford, “is an encore presentation. Some­ thing has to reach a really high bar to deserve a second airing. And if it does deserve a second airing, what are we doing to enhance it, since it was live during the day?”

Her comments reveal how quickly technol­ogy has overturned TV’s rules of engagement. Peacock is the place where Olympics fans can watch every event live in its entirety, but it will also offer a new show called “Gold Zone,” which will move quickly from event to event, searching for the most interesting or decisive moments of competition à la the NFL’s RedZone service.

“It should be perhaps one of the more sought­ after and viewed streams that we offer,” says Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, who has supervised all Olympics business activity since 2005.

NBC estimates more than 20% of Olympics viewership will come from the Peacock stream­ing platform. That percentage will only grow over the next few years. Dan Lovinger, the NBC ad sales executive, says that the pressure to prioritize primetime view­ing has eased, even though advertising rates are still highest for such old­-fashioned viewing on NBC.

“Whether they’re watching linear or digital, we don’t really care,” says Lovinger. “We mon­etize all platforms. I’m very confident that this will be the most supported Olympic Games of all time — in dollars,” he says, adding, “That’s what we count.”

All NBC needs now is for the Games to start. Executives know “pretty early” if the Games are working or not, says Zenkel, based on audience data and social media. “You prepare as well as you can,” he says, “and then you turn on the switch.”

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Celine Dion addresses whether she'll tour again in new interview

Celine Dion says she hopes one day to be well enough to perform for audiences again.

The 56-year-old Grammy winner, who appears on the May 2024 cover of Vogue France , told the publication she was training "like an athlete" to manage her health after being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome.

"Five days a week I undergo athletic, physical and vocal therapy. I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice," explained the mom of three .

“I have to learn to live with it now and stop questioning myself. At the beginning I would ask myself: why me? How did this happen? What have I done? Is this my fault?” she added.

When the publication suggested Dion would be onstage and touring again one day, she responded, "I can’t answer that… Because for four years I’ve been saying to myself that I’m not going back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready... As things stand, I can’t stand here and say to you: 'Yes, in four months.' I don’t know... My body will tell me.

"On the other hand," she added, "I don’t just want to wait. It’s morally hard to live from day to day. It’s hard, I’m working very hard and tomorrow will be even harder. Tomorrow is another day. But there’s one thing that will never stop, and that’s the will. It’s the passion. It’s the dream. It’s the determination."

The “My Heart Will Go On” singer first revealed she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in an emotional video in December 2022.

SPS is a rare, progressive neurological disorder that can cause stiff muscles in the torso, arms and legs, as well as muscle spasms in response to greater sensitivity to noise, touch and emotional distress, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke .

Prior to sharing news of her diagnosis, Dion had canceled tour dates multiple times over the course of 2022. She later canceled all remaining dates on her world tour , explaining in a statement that the challenges of SPS were preventing her from being able to perform.

While speaking to Vogue France, the "It’s All Coming Back to Me Now" singer said she hopes a "miracle" cure can be found for SPS. But for now she is trying to "learn to live with it."

"I have this illness for some unknown reason," she said. "The way I see it, I have two choices. Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of my mirror and sing to myself. I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team. I want to be the best I can be. My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!"

Whether or not she performs onstage again, Dion said she will always feel a passion for singing.

"I started performing when I was 5. Did I want to be a singer? I never had time to ask myself that question. Did people come to see me to hear me tell jokes or to hear me sing? I am a singer.

"I sing in English, in French, I’ve sung in Mandarin, I’ve sung in Japanese, in Spanish and in Italian and people have come, they’ve always come," she added. "That, for me, was the proof that I was, and that I am, truly a singer. One thing’s for sure, I’ll love that feeling until the day I die."

Gina Vivinetto is a writer for TODAY.com.

Two Bay Area athletes make the cut for the Paris Olympics

By nbc bay area staff • published april 21, 2024 • updated on april 21, 2024 at 4:26 pm.

The Paris Olympics are fast approaching and two more Bay Area athletes punched their ticket to the games on Saturday. 

The 2024 U.S Olympic Wrestling Trials took place at Penn State University on Friday and Saturday to determine the qualifying athletes for the Olympics. 

Olympic sports bodies criticize track and field's move to pay Paris gold medalists $50,000

Tour de France, Olympics edition: Learn more about the Paris 2024 venues

20-year-old Amit Elor, from Walnut Creek, made her first Olympic team after defeating Forrest Molinari. Elor has become one of Team USA’s top female wrestlers, winning a world title last year. 

Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.

And Dominique Parrish, from Scotts Valley, defeated a 2012 Olympian to earn a spot at her first Olympics. Parrish also is no stranger to the world stage, earning gold at the 2022 World Championships. 

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LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 110TH TOUR DE FRANCE BEGINS THIS SATURDAY, JULY 1, ON PEACOCK & NBC

Live Coverage of All 21 Stages of Tour de France July 1-23 Across Peacock, NBC, and USA Network; Final Round Coverage Concludes Sunday, July 23, at 10 a.m. ET Exclusively on Peacock

2023 Tour de France Festivities Begin TODAY with Official Team Presentations at 12:30 p.m. ET on Peacock

Peacock to Stream Live Start-to-Finish Coverage of Every Stage, Plus Daily Tour de France Pre-Race Shows

‘Team Radio’ Communication Between Riders and Team Directors to be Featured During Broadcast for First Time

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 29, 2023 – Beginning with live coverage of Stage 1 this Saturday, July 1, NBC Sports present three weeks of wall-to-wall live and encore coverage of the 110 th Tour de France across Peacock, NBC and USA Network from July 1-23.

Daily live coverage of the Tour de France, featuring all 21 stages, begins this Saturday at 6 a.m. ET on Peacock with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show , followed by Stage 1 from Bilbao, Spain, at 6:30 a.m. ET on Peacock and continuing at 8 a.m. ET on Peacock and NBC.

Today at 12:30 p.m. ET, Peacock presents coverage of the official Team Presentation, where riders will present their team colors as the 22 teams are introduced for the 2023 Tour de France from Bilbao.

The first weekday stage begins Monday, July 3, with live race coverage beginning on Peacock at 6:50 a.m. ET and continuing at 8 a.m. ET on Peacock and USA Network.

Coverage throughout each day of the 21-stage event begins with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show on Peacock, followed by live race coverage. Final weekend coverage culminates on Saturday, July 22, with Stage 20 live on Peacock at 7:30 a.m. ET, and final stage coverage on Sunday, July 23, live on Peacock at 10 a.m. ET. NBC will present encore coverage of the final stage at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Peacock will stream live start-to-finish coverage of every stage of the 2023 Tour de France, featuring NBC Sports-produced coverage, as well as commentary from the world feed. Peacock will also feature full-stage replays, highlights, stage recaps, rider interviews, and more.

To sign up and watch every minute of live action from the 2023 Tour de France, click here .

Peacock’s expansive programming offers the most live sports of any SVOD service in the United States , including live coverage of Sunday Night Football , Big Ten football (beginning in September), Olympic Games, MLB Sunday Leadoff , Premier League, Notre Dame Football, NASCAR, NTT IndyCar Series, and much more. Peacock also offers daily sports programming on the NBC Sports channel.

2023 TOUR DE FRANCE

The 2023 Tour de France will cover a total distance of approximately 2,115 miles, beginning in Bilbao, Spain, and finishing 22 days later in Paris.

Expected yellow jersey frontrunners in this year’s field include defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) of Denmark and two-time champion and 2022 runner-up Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) of Slovenia, who won this year’s Paris-Nice. Green jersey contenders expected to compete include Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep), Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who won two stages last year, and seven-time Tour de France points classification winner Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies). Reigning green jersey winner Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) is also expected to compete.

Aiming to make Tour de France history, 34-time stage winner Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) looks to break a tie with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx (34) for the most stage wins in race history.

Americans expected to participate in this year’s Tour de France include 2021 stage winner Sepp Kuss (Team Jumbo-Visma), who helped chaperone Primož Roglič to victory at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), who finished 12 th overall last year, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Lawson Craddock (Team Jayco AlUla), and Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan Team).

COMMENTATORS

NBC Sports’ cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett , universally known as the ‘voice of cycling,’ will cover his 51st Tour de France alongside analyst Bob Roll . Liggett and Roll will be on-site at each stage, along with reporters Steve Porino and former professional cyclist Christian Vande Velde .

Paul Burmeister will host daily pre-race and post-race studio coverage alongside Sam Bewley and Brent Bookwalter , who make their NBC Sports debuts as cycling analysts .

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

NBC Sports will integrate several features into its coverage of this year’s Tour de France:

• ‘Team Radio’ Audio : For the first time, NBC Sports will present select ‘Team Radio’ audio during the broadcast, playing clips of the communication between team directors and riders throughout the race
• NBC Sports will utilize a cutting edge “Virtual” graphics Telestrator, which debuted throughout the 2019 Tour de France and produces augmented reality cyclist graphics for the commentators to move and analyze
• The enhanced augmented reality features will include 3-D animated maps that track where the riders are in real time on the route and profile the stage terrain
• Vande Velde will have a camera focused on him as he reports to offer real-time updates on race situations, while traveling aboard a motorcycle on the course
• Real-time data of course gradients and the riders’ speeds

NBC Sports’ coverage will include real-time speeds of both the leaders and the peloton, and additional maps that show more detailed versions of the finishes and each mountain climb.

Coverage will also utilize several production enhancements and updated graphic elements, including a pointer feature to easily identify and focus on one rider in the peloton, and exclusive profiles on teams and riders.

NBC SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA:

Fans can keep up with the Tour de France through NBC Sports’ social media platforms throughout the race, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, video clips, up-to-date news reports and stories from around the cycling world through the NBC Sports Cycling Facebook page and @NBCSNCycling on Twitter. In addition, fans can visit NBCSports.com/cycling for a live stream schedule, stage maps, results, routes and more.

NBC SPORTS’ 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE SCHEDULE

(subject to change, all times ET)***All live coverage on NBC and USA Network is also available on the NBC Sports app:

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Who Will Be on the U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team? USWNT Boasts No Shortage of Star Power

Led by a wave of new stars like Naomi Girma, Jaedyn Shaw, and Sophia Smith, and a new coach, the women's national squad is a team in transition.

Despite the retirement of soccer icons Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz, this year’s U.S. Women’s National Team has more than enough talent to put its best foot forward at the 2024 Paris Olympics . 

The USWNT is the all-time winningest team since women’s soccer became an Olympic event in 1996 – notching four gold medals, a silver, and a bronze over that span. It has, however, been a while since the sport was dominated by Americans, as Canada took gold in the 2020 Tokyo Games and Germany came away with top honors in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

This is now a time of transition for the program.   

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Alex Morgan, who will turn 35 before the opening ceremony, is the lone remaining player from the 2012 London Olympics -- the last time the U.S. won gold in the event -- and her spot in the top 18 this time around is not assured. 

Success at the Olympics has been elusive ever since, with the bronze medal won at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games considered a disappointment. The true nadir came with last year’s early exit from the World Cup in the Round of 16, a shocking loss that ultimately cost head coach Vlatko Andonovski his job.

New Faces on the Pitch ... and on the Sideline

This year, though, feels different. The team, having undergone a youth movement, is fresh off a SheBelieves Cup title victory in penalty kicks over archrival Canada on April, coming just a month after winning the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

Team USA will enter the Summer Games with both momentum and motivation.  

“We have a little chip on our shoulder, [but] I think we always play like that honestly,” midfielder Rose Lavelle told NBC’s TODAY in April.

The Olympic squad will be led by a new coach, Emma Hayes, who comes over from Chelsea in the Women’s Super League with a championship pedigree on both sides of the Atlantic -- including previous stops with the Long Island Lady Riders and Iona College. 

“She’s a serial winner,” USWNT star defender Crystal Dunn  recently told Front Row Soccer of Hayes, for whom she played at Chelsea during the 2017-18 Women’s Super League Season. "I can expect her to just be an all-time professional coach who knows what it takes of get the job done and is going to bring great intensity.”

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Hayes will have a talented squad with which to work: A smattering of experienced veterans, including midfielder Lindsay Horan and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, to mix with a batch of young stars like Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith and Jaedyn Shaw. She’ll have to cut the roster down to the Olympic-mandated 18 players, down from the 23-player roster at most tournaments.

They will have a challenge navigating an international field that has closed the talent gap since the glory days of the program.

Here’s a look at the players who could make the final roster tasked with representing the U.S. in Paris:

Goalkeepers

Alyssa naeher.

A pillar of the U.S. team for a decade, Naeher ranks third all-time in caps, wins and shutouts for a goalkeeper in U.S. history. The 35-year-old has won two FIFA Women’s World Cup Championships and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is the NWSL’s all-time leader in both saves and appearances. She is the unquestioned starter on the 2024 Olympic squad. 

Casey Murphy

At 6-foot-1, Murphy is the tallest goalkeeper in USWNT history. The 27-year-old made an impressive debut for the USWNT, going unbeaten in her first nine starts. The North Carolina Courage star gives the national squad a strong backup. 

Jane Campbell

Crowned the 2023 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year after a superlative season for the Houston Dash last year, Campbell seems to have cemented her spot as the third keeper on the roster. Campbell, 29, made the team as the third goalkeeper in both the Gold Cup and the SheBelieves Cup this year. With a shortened bench at the Olympics, however, it’s unlikely the team will carry a third goalkeeper.

Naomi Girma

With the 2023 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year honor under her belt and a dominant performance on an otherwise disappointing World Cup squad last year, the 23-year-old Girma is primed to go from being the face of the future of the American squad to a pillar of the present. The Stanford grad now stars for the San Diego Wave, and is the first player of Ethiopian descent to earn a spot on the USWNT. 

Crystal Dunn

A versatile player, Dunn, 31, was a star on the 2019 FIFA World Cup-winning squad. In 2015, the then-23-year-old won both the NWSL Most Valuable Player and the Golden Boot awards, becoming the youngest player to win both honors. She now plays for Gotham FC, close to her hometown of Rockville Centre, Long Island. 

Tierna Davidson

A teammate of Dunn’s at Gotham, the 25-year-old Davidson is up and running after a 2022 ACL tear kept her out of last year’s World Cup. The play-making center back helped Stanford to a 2017 NCAA championship and was drafted first overall in the 2019 NWSL College Draft by the Chicago Red Stars. Davidson was the youngest member of the American 2019 World Cup-winning team. 

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Abby Dahlkemper

A dominant tackler at center-back, the 30-year-old has been a perennial winner at every level she’s played, representing the U.S. since 2010 when she first appeared for the U-17s, a squad she captained. She helped lead UCLA it its first national championship in women’s soccer in 2013, and also won three championships in her first four seasons in the NWSL. 

Considered one of the best fullbacks in the world, Fox signed with Arsenal of the Women’s Super League in January after three years in the NWSL. Fox  led Team USA with 26 interceptions in international play last year. The 25-year-old adds speed, defensive reliability, and an ability to go on the attack from the backfield. 

Jenna Nighswonger

One of the newer faces on the top USWNT squad, the 23-year-old defender and Florida State product is still a veteran of the national program, having made the U-17 team at the age of 14. Nighswonger is fresh off a 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year for Gotham FC. 

Casey Krueger

Another veteran presence in the back half of the field, Krueger has overcome two torn ACLs and a serious ankle injury over her career. She remains an unsung hero of the national team, providing shutdown one-on-one coverage on defense. 

Becky Sauerbrunn

Second to only Ashley Morgan in time logged for the USWNT among active players, the 38-year-old Sauerbrunn missed the 2023 World Cup with an injury and has not made the rosters for the last two international tournaments. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that the former captain, who won the NWSL Defender of the Year three years in a row from 2013-15, will get a chance to bow out from the international stage at a fourth Olympics. 

Midfielders

Rose lavelle.

The only obstacle that could keep the star 28-year-old Gotham FC midfielder out of a spot on the Olympic squad is a lower leg injury suffered during the Gold Cup tournament in March. Lavelle, the first overall draft pick in the NWSL in 2017, is one of the most dynamic players on the U.S. squad. She scored one of the biggest goals in U.S. Soccer history to clinch the 2019 World Cup final game against the Netherlands.

Lindsey Horan

A USWNT captain who will turn 30 before the Summer Games, Horan will be playing in her third Olympics. She became the first American female player to turn professional straight out of high school when she signed with Paris Saint-Germain in 2012. Horan would go on to score 46 goals in 58 appearances for the French club before heading back to the States to join the Portland Thorns, which she would lead to a NWSL championship in 2017 and win the league MVP the following season. 

Another potential Olympic first-timer, the 25-year-old defensive midfielder is known as a fantastic passer. Though Coffey was left off the 2023 World Cup squad, she has been regularly included on the USWNT roster this year. Coffey was key cog in the Portland Thorns squad that won the 2022 NWSL Championship and was named an NWSL MVP finalist in 2023. Sports is in her blood: Her father, Wayne, was a long-time sportswriter for the New York Daily News, and her sister, Alex, is the Phillies beat-writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

RELATED: Simone Biles opens up about "Twisties" Struggles, Viral Backlash to Her Husband's Interview

Korbin Albert

At 20, Albert is another relatively new addition to the team. The Notre Dame product is already establishing herself as an offensive force from the midfield at Paris Saint-Germain. Her image took a major hit, however, when she was exposed for sharing homophobic and transphobic posts on TikTok . Albert publicly apologized in March after USWNT legend Rapinoe seemingly called her out. Forming an effective double-pivot with Coffey during the USWNT’s Gold Cup run, Albert should also make the final Olympic roster. 

Emily Sonnett

An unsung part of two World Cup squads and the last Olympics teams, the 30-year-old veteran can play multiple spots in the midfield. She currently plays for Gotham FC of the NWSL. 

Olivia Moultrie

A soccer protégé, Moultre signed an endorsement deal with Nike at the age of 13, joined the USWNT U-17 team a year later, and signed a professional contract with the Portland Thorns as a 15-year-old. She scored two goals in her first start for the USWNT  in February during a Gold Cup match against the Dominican Republican. Despite her world-class talent, Moultre may get squeezed off the Olympic squad given the glut of talent at midfield and her lack of experience. 

Lily Yohannes

The youngest potential member of the squad won’t turn 17 until June, but is already a seasoned veteran on the field. This season Yohannes became the youngest player to start a Women’s Champions League group stage match, suiting up for Dutch powerhouse Ajax. Born in the U.S., but based in the Netherlands, where her father moved for work, she is still a rookie in international play with the recent SheBelieves Cup being her first stint with the senior team. 

Sophia Smith

The top pick in the 2022 NWSL draft out of Stanford, Smith, 23, is already one of the most dangerous weapons on a talented U.S. team. In 2022, Smith was named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year after leading the USWNT in scoring with 11 goals, and NWSL MVP in a season in which she won a championship with the Portland Thorns. Smith followed that up in 2023 by winning the NWSL Golden Boot for leading the league in goals. 

Mallory Swanson

In December of 2015, at the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Qualifying Tournament, Mal Swanson scored seven goals in five games to help the USA win the tournament title. The feat helped earn the then-17-year-old a call-up to the full Women’s National Team, making her the youngest player to debut for the USA in the last 11 years. She’s been a fixture ever since. Her devastating knee injury in a World Cup tune-up game forced her out of that tournament.

Jaedyn Shaw

Just 19 years old, Shaw is primed to be the next big star of the U.S. Team. She’s already dominated the NWSL, becoming the youngest player to score on her league debut for the San Diego Wave two years ago. Equally dangerous as a striker or an attacking midfielder, Shaw scored four goals in six matches in the recent Gold Cup to lead the USWNT team in her first tournament for the squad. The sky’s the limit for Shaw.   

Trinity Rodman

Already a dynamic offensive player at just 21 years of age, Rodman is considered one of the most important players on the American squad in a transition era. The daughter of Chicago Bulls icon Dennis Rodman won 2021 NWSL Rookie of the Year for the Washington Spirit and has only gotten better since. She was the youngest player in league history to record 10 goals and 10 assists in a season. 

Alex Morgan

As potentially the last link to the 2012 Gold Medal-winning Olympic team, Morgan could bring veteran leadership to a team full of younger stars. That’s if the 35-year-old makes a squad that’s in transition. Morgan has all the credentials: She’s fifth all time in goals scored for the USWNT (123) and ninth all time in assists (53). Morgan still has some kick left, having won the NWSL Golden Boot award as the league’s top scorer in 2022, scoring 15 goals in just 17 games.

Catarina Macario

One of the most dangerous scorers on the squad, Macario is coming back from a two-year layoff after a devastating ACL tear two years ago. Despite the setback, the 23-year-old had already notched eight goals and two assists in her first 18 caps with the team. Currently at Chelsea playing for Hayes, the striker has previously terrorized opposing goalkeepers at Stanford and then French juggernaut Lyon before her injury. Born in Brazil, Macario is the first naturalized citizen to play for the top USWNT squad. 

Alyssa Thompson

A year ago, the then 18-year-old soccer protégé was the youngest player on the World Cup squad and considered the future of the program. But a back injury has kept Thompson off the field for both the Gold Cup and the SheBelieves Cup, and there may not be enough recovery time for her to be in consideration for the Paris games.

Beginning July 26, you can  catch complete coverage of the Olympics  on Peacock and  NBC.

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The Olympics are nearly here. For a weary world, they can't come soon enough.

Start the countdown clock. In exactly 100 days, more than 10,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators will converge on Paris for the start of the 33rd Summer Olympic Games , a 16-day extravaganza that marks the first time the City of Lights has hosted the world’s pre-eminent sports festival in a century.

In keeping with the slogan for this year’s Olympics, “Games Wide Open,” the opening ceremony will take place outside a stadium setting for the first time. The plans are ambitious: a 3.5-mile boat parade along the Seine before as many as 325,000 onlookers on the river’s banks. The hundreds of athletic events — hosted by dozens of venues across Paris and other cities in metropolitan France — will likewise be open to large crowds.

In many respects, the Paris Games promise to be one of the most elaborate cultural rituals since Covid swept across the world beginning in late 2019. Health restrictions forced the organizers of Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 to sharply limit the scale of the festivities, with events largely closed to the public. Paris 2024, powered in part by pent-up demand for communal experiences, symbolizes an international post-pandemic vibe shift.

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But with that spirit of openness comes all-too-familiar challenges. The festivities in Europe’s most densely populated city are shadowed by security concerns . The International Olympic Committee and French officials have insisted that they are putting strict security measures in place. Yet the recent history of violence in France — including the 2015 terror attack in Paris that left 138 people dead and at least 416 injured — stalks public consciousness there.

The geopolitical backdrop for the Paris Games is no less troubling. The war between Israel and Hamas recently crossed the six-month mark, raising fears of a protracted conflict and wider regional instability. The devastation in the Gaza Strip has provoked international outrage, isolating Israel on the global stage. Meanwhile, Russia continues to gain ground in its military offensive against Ukraine as some Western nations worry about the rise of authoritarianism.

These international crises could come into play during the Games in the form of protests and other political demonstrations.

“It is certain that the international context is particularly tense today,” Tony Estanguet, president of the Games’ organizing committee, recently told Radio France . “I believe in this universal event. It’s up to us to preserve, to talk about sport and not to politicize the subject too much.”

Nevertheless, Olympics organizers are determined to put on a show that stuns the throngs assembled on the boulevards of Paris, not to mention the millions of people expected to watch the Games unfold on their televisions and mobile devices. If the surge of enthusiasm for the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift, March Madness and the solar eclipse is any guide, then audiences are craving spectacle — and the Paris Games could be just the ticket.

Going for the gold

The scale of the Paris Games is immense: nearly 40 sports and more than 300 events hosted in at least 35 venues in Paris and other cities across metropolitan France. Following two Games that were hampered by Covid protocols and other tight restrictions, Paris could resemble a colossal international party, heralded by five Olympic rings (fashioned from recycled French steel) that will be displayed on the south side of the Eiffel Tower.

“The last two Olympics certainly didn’t have the look and feel of what we expect from the Games,” said Jeremy Fuchs, a sports writer and the author of a 2021 book about the history of the Olympics. “I would expect Paris to go all out. … With fans back in the stands, we should expect one of the more raucous Games in recent memory.”

The iconic landmarks will be immediately recognizable to worldwide TV viewers. Beach volleyball players will show off their jump serves at a temporary outdoor arena at the Champ de Mars, a large public park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Equestrian and modern pentathlon competitions will take place at the Palace of Versailles , one of the emblems of French royal history. The 124-year-old Grand Palais will host fencing and taekwondo.

At least one venue that hosted events during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris will be put to use again: Stade Yves-du-Manoir, the home of the opening ceremony 100 years ago. (The stadium also hosted some of the races depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Chariots of Fire.”) This time around, the 117-year-old arena will stage field hockey competitions.

The sports themselves are sure to draw wide attention, from basketball and boxing to sailing and swimming. Breaking (also known as break dancing) is set to make its Olympics debut, and three recently introduced competitions — sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing — will be integrated into the Paris Games, too. (Karate, softball and baseball won’t be part of the lineup.)

The vast majority of events are set to unfold across France, though there is one exception. The surfing competition will take place in a village on the southwestern coast of Tahiti. Paris organizers chose to hold the surfing events on the French Polynesian island because it “offers an opportunity to engage French overseas territories and their communities in the Olympic Games — for the first time in history — while showcasing France’s rich and diverse heritage.”

Paris organizers have signaled that they are attempting to reach younger audiences by featuring sports that are “closely associated with youth and reward creativity and athletic performance.” But given that relatively few people in their teens and 20s watch traditional linear television, the IOC faces a steep climb in convincing viewers in that age bracket to tune in, according to David Goldblatt, the author of “The Games: A Global History of the Olympics.”

This year’s Games will be more widely accessible to at-home viewers thanks in part to streaming. Peacock, the streaming platform owned by NBCUniversal, plans to invest heavily in live coverage of the festivities, including a “multiview” feature that allows subscribers to watch up to four competitions at the same time.

Superstar personalities could help make the case for the Games as must-see TV. Simone Biles, the seven-time Olympic medal-winning gymnast, hopes to compete in Paris. The list of U.S. athletes who could make waves also includes swimmer Katie Ledecky as well as track-and-field sprinters Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson.

David Wallechinsky, a former president of the International Society of Olympic Historians and the author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics,” said he was most excited about the track-and-field competitions because he believes the sport has the most universal appeal — unlike, say, “swimming the 400-meter medley or participating in equestrian dressage.”

In total, more than 200 countries — known in IOC parlance as national olympic committees, or NOCs — plan to send their most elite athletes to Paris, where most will check into the Olympic Village on the banks of the Seine. Russia and Belarus were banned from the Olympics after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — four days after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The final stretch

In recent months, preparations for the Games have arguably been overshadowed by the grinding realities of war and humanitarian disaster. Paris 2024 is just the latest in a long line of Olympic Games that have taken place against a backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, according to Wallechinsky, who pointed to several key examples.

The 1936 Summer Olympics were hosted by Berlin and opened by Adolf Hitler three years before the outbreak of World War II. Twenty-nine countries boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal to protest the fact that New Zealand’s rugby team had toured apartheid South Africa. The massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian members of the Black September terrorist organization cast a pall over the 1972 Summer Games in Munich and underscored the violent tensions that are often inseparable from the athletic competitions at the heart of the Olympics.

In the Cold War era, the U.S. led a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and the former Soviet Union sat out the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In the lead-up to the Paris Games, France announced it would deploy 45,000 police, military officers and army troops across the country. The country has requested reinforcements from 46 foreign partners — a “classic approach adopted by host countries when organizing major international events,” the Interior Ministry has said. Everyone involved in the Games — security officials, building workers, volunteers — will be put through background checks, too.

French government officials also decided to cap the number of people allowed to watch the opening ceremony at 325,000. Two years ago, organizers had proposed making the July 26 opening festivities accessible to as many as 600,000 people, a grand gathering that would span 6 kilometers (roughly 3.7 miles), stretching from the east of Paris to the Trocadéro.

In response to a request for comment on the security fears, an IOC spokesperson said French authorities had informed the committee that “they have been working for a couple of years under the assumption that the highest security measures will be required.” The spokesperson said that, per usual practices, “there is also very close international cooperation.”

“Based on this and the regular reports the IOC receives from them, we have full confidence in the French authorities and their strong collaboration with their international partners,” the spokesperson added.

In the run-up to the opening ceremony, organizers are also confronting markedly less existential issues — including high levels of “pollution of fecal origin” and other bacteria in the Seine , an environmental headache that might force officials to nix the triathlon swimming section.

“We are working hard on it. You know it’s one of the bigger challenges,” Estanguet told reporters this month.

In the end, though, spectators around the world will likely be focused on the pageantry and competition, savoring the first full-fledged Olympic Games in more than half a decade.

Disclosure: NBC News parent company NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

Daniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News.