Special Programming Begins Tonight at 8 p.m. ET
Five-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky, Five-Time Olympic Medalist Justin Gatlin & Eight-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Usain Bolt Headline Coverage
“World Champions Week” Special Programming Features Nine Sports Across Seven Days
STAMFORD, Conn. – October 9, 2017 - Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents “World Champions Week,” beginning today, Monday, October 9, with more than 60 hours of coverage of the most thrilling moments from the 2017 World Championships since the launch of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA in July. Across the seven days, primetime showings will feature the biggest U.S. and international stars from nine different sports.
“World Champions Week” programming will highlight marquee moments from this year’s World Championships, including American Lilly King’s world record-breaking 100m breaststroke performance at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July, and American Justin Gatlin’s 100m victory over eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in London in August. Bolt was competing in the final individual race of his storied career. “World Champions Week” will also highlight the unexpected women’s all-around title won by 16-year-old American Morgan Hurd at the World Gymnastics Championship last week in Montréal.
Coverage begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET with two of American Katie Ledecky’s gold-medal performances at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Budapest, and concludes on Sunday, October 15, at 11 p.m. ET with the 2017 World Gymnastics Championships.
Highlights from the 2017 World Championships include:
- Katie Ledecky Captures Five Gold Medals, Sets Women’s World Title Record: Ledecky took home five gold medals at the 2017 FINA World Swimming Championships in Budapest to bring her career total to 14 world titles, the most ever by a female swimmer.
- Caeleb Dressel Ties Michael Phelps’ World Championship Record: The 20-year-old won seven gold medals in Budapest, tying Phelps (2007, Melbourne) to become the only other swimmer to win seven at a World Championships.
- Lilly King Continues Rivalry With Yulia Efimova, Breaks 100m Breaststroke World Record: King went head-to-head with Russian rival Efimova at the 2017 FINA World Swimming Championships and turned in a world record time of 1:04.13 in the 100m breaststroke en route to earning gold.
- Justin Gatlin Bests Usain Bolt in the World-Record Holder’s Final 100m Race: Gatlin took home gold in the 100m at the 2017 IAAF World Track & Field Championships in London, while Bolt placed third in his final individual race.
- American Morgan Hurd Wins Women’s All-Around at World Gymnastics Championships: Hurd won the women’s all-around at the World Gymnastics Championships in Montréal to become the youngest Olympic or world all-around champion since Aliya Mustafina in 2010. The U.S. has now won seven consecutive Olympic or world all-around titles.
- Slovakia’s Peter Sagan Wins Third Consecutive Road Cycling World Championship: Sagan became the first man to win three consecutive world crowns when he narrowly edged Norwegian Alexander Kristoff in the men’s road race at the 2017 UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Bergen.
Following is the full schedule of coverage for “World Champions Week” programming on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA:
| Date | Time (ET) | Event |
| Mon., Oct. 9 | 8 p.m. | FINA World Swimming Championships Day 1: Semifinals & Finals |
| 10 p.m. | FINA World Swimming Championships Day 3: Semifinals & Finals | |
| Tues., Oct. 10 | 12 a.m. | FINA World Water Polo Championships Women’s Gold Medal Match: USA vs. Spain |
| 1:30 a.m. | FINA World Water Polo Championships Men’s Gold Medal Match: Croatia vs. Hungary | |
| 8 p.m. | FINA World Swimming Championships Day 7: Semifinals & Finals | |
| 9 p.m. | FINA World Swimming Championships Day 8: Semifinals & Finals | |
| 11 p.m. | FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Women’s Gold Medal Match: USA Ross/Fendrick vs. GER | |
| Weds., Oct. 11 | 12 a.m. | FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Men’s Bronze (RUS vs. NED) & Gold (BRA vs. AUT) Medal Matches |
| 8 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 2: Evening Session | |
| 10 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 3: Evening Session | |
| Thurs., Oct. 12 | 12:30 a.m. | FINA World Diving Championships Men’s 10m Platform Final |
| 8 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 5: Evening Session | |
| 11 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 6: Evening Session | |
| Fri., Oct. 13 | 8 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 9: Evening Session |
| 10 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 10: Evening Session | |
| Sat., Oct. 14 | 12 a.m. | UWW World Wrestling Championships from Paris, France |
| 8:30 a.m. | UCI Road Cycling World Championships Women’s Road Race | |
| 1 p.m. | IAAF World Track & Field Championships Day 3: Men’s and Women’s Marathons | |
| 8 p.m. | World Gymnastics Championships Women’s All-Around Final | |
| 10 p.m. | World Gymnastics Championships Men’s All-Around Final | |
| Sun., Oct. 15 | 1 a.m. | FISA World Rowing Championships from Sarasota-Bradenton |
| 12:30 p.m. | UCI Road Cycling World Championships Men’s Road Race | |
| 8 p.m. | World Gymnastics Championships Apparatus Finals: Day 1 | |
| 11 p.m. | World Gymnastics Championships Apparatus Finals: Day 2 |
ABOUT OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is a partnership between the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, and NBCUniversal. The TV network offers fans year-round programming of Olympic Sports from around the world, highlighting their favorite American athletes and teams. Programming emphasizes live events from a broad portfolio of summer and winter Olympic Sports. It also includes Olympic-themed original content produced by all three parties, such as original programs produced by filmmakers from around the world commissioned by the global Olympic Channel; rich archival footage from the IOC and NBCU’s libraries of Olympic features and documentaries; and original Team USA programming produced by the USOC that provides authentic, wide-ranging and athlete-focused coverage of the Olympic Movement in the United States. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is live streamed on OlympicChannel.com, the Olympic Channel app, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. Select replays and highlights are available on these digital platforms as well as TeamUSA.org.
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