Winter Olympics TV schedule: What to watch Friday, Feb. 21

American Mikaela Shiffrin attempts Olympic gold in the women's slalom race, while Team USA faces off with its historic rival Canada in the men's hockey semifinal. 

|
Ruben Sprich / Reuters
Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. clears a gate during the first run of the women's alpine skiing slalom event today at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center.

As the second week of the Olympic Games in Sochi winds down, eight medals are up for grabs on Friday including in alpine and freestyle skiing, speedskating, biathlon, and curling.

The United States and Canada face off today in one of the Games' most anticipated events – the semifinal match of men's ice hockey – for a chance to compete for the gold medal on Sunday. Meanwhile, ski sensation Mikaela Shiffrin makes another attempt at the Olympic podium during the slalom race.  

NBC will air a tape-delayed afternoon broadcast from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EST and a prime-time broadcast at 8 p.m. EST. Its affiliate networks, including NBC Sports, MSNBC, and CNBC, will broadcast events throughout the day, and all events can be live-streamed by cable subscribers at nbcolympics.com.

You don’t want to miss: 

Women's slalom

The US hasn't won a medal in slalom in 30 years, and World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin is its best hope to end this drought in Sochi. But, having placed sixth in the giant slalom event earlier this week, she's up against equally tough competition today. Another medal favorite is Slovenian Tina Maze, on a quest to notch her third Olympic gold after winning the giant slalom event and tying for first place in the downhill race. Also competing is Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, the defending slalom gold medalist from Vancouver who has two Sochi medals of her own. 

This event will be broadcast on NBC primetime. 

Men’s hockey

United States will face off with Canada today for a chance to advance to the final on Sunday, where the gold medal will be decided. The game will mark the latest chapter in the historic US-Canada hockey rivalry. The United States lost to Canada in the previous Winter Games in 2004 and 2010, with Canada proceeding to win the Olympic golds both times. This time, however, Team USA “are the favorites in the sense that they are playing the best hockey of any of the four remaining teams, and have done so against the best competition,” said ESPN.com.  

Today’s losing team will compete in the bronze-medal match tomorrow against either Sweden or Finland – the two other teams playing a semifinal match today. 

This game will be broadcast at noon and again at 5 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network. 

Short track speed skating 

Friday brings to an end short track events on the skating rink with three finals: men's 500-meters, women's 1,000-meters, and men's relay. American skater J. R. Celski will attempt to offset at least some of the disappointment the US skaters have faced at these Games during the men’s short-track race. In the women’s 1,000-meter race, US skaters Emily Scott and Jessica Smith advanced to the quarterfinals. But they face tough competition in the finals, including from Li Jianrou of China who is a strong favorite after placing first in the 500-meter event last week.

These events will be broadcast on NBC primetime. 

Women's ski cross

French skiers are out to try repeating the country’s surprise sweep of the ski cross podium in the men’s event yesterday. Four French women will race for a chance at the gold medal, but two Canadian athletes, Kelsey Serwa and Marielle Thompson, are close on their heels. No Americans will be competing in the final round of the race.

This event will be broadcast on NBC at 3 p.m. EST.

What else is on:

NBC 3 - 5 p.m. EST: Freestyle Skiing (Women's Ski Cross), Biathlon (Women's Relay)

NBC 8 p.m. EST: Alpine Skiing (Women's Slalom), Short Track (Men's 500m, Men's Relay, Women's 1000m), Speed Skating (Men's Team Pursuit)

NBC 12:30 a.m. EST: Speed Skating (Women's Team Pursuit)

NBC Sports Network 3 p.m. EST: Men's ice hockey (Sweden vs. Finland)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Winter Olympics TV schedule: What to watch Friday, Feb. 21
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2014/0221/Winter-Olympics-TV-schedule-What-to-watch-Friday-Feb.-21
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe