NBC defends Shiffrin coverage, suggests sexism by critics

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC offered a full-throated defense of how it covered skier Mikaela Shiffrin's shocking Olympics flameout, to the point of suggesting there's sexism involved in criticism that it was cruel in its portrayal of her emotional response.

NBC's cameras focused on Shiffrin for much of the time as she sat forlornly on the course, head bowed, for more than 20 minutes. The network aired a raw interview where she fought off tears and said she's second-guessing everything she's done for 15 years.

For the second straight Olympics, the emotional health of athletes performing on the biggest stage has become a focus of discussion. The experiences of gymnast Simone Biles ad tennis player Naomi Osaka last summer were fresh in the mind of NBC's critics, and the online blowback was fierce.

As one response on Twitter put it: “Show some empathy.” NBC, said another, was “shaming” Shiffrin — “torturing” her. “The relentless hype machine," one critic wrote, “has claimed another victim.”

No — NBC was doing its job, said Molly Solomon, executive producer of NBC's Olympics coverage.

“We have an obligation in that moment, as the broadcaster of the Olympic games, to cover the moment,” Solomon said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday evening. “There's no script when there's a wipeout on the slopes or a fall in figure skating. We're watching real people with real emotions in real time and we did everything we were supposed to do.”

Shiffrin's performance was huge news, she said — the biggest story of the Games so far.

“I've thought a lot about this, and if Joe Burrow or Matthew Stafford sit on the sidelines 22 minutes after the Super Bowl on Sunday, you can bet the cameras are going to stay on them,” Solomon said.

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