St. Louisan Steve Schlanger broadcasts another epic U.S. women's Olympic gold-medal run (2024)

St. Louisan Steve Schlanger had what many people consider the call of the 2018 Winter Olympics, maybe one of the best in the history of the Games, when he and analyst Chad Salmela combined for an epic description of Jessica Diggins finishing off the women’s cross-country team sprint final. It was a frantic comeback to give the Americans a huge upset victory in an event they never had won.

Schlanger was on the call again Sunday for another epic U.S. performance, as Kristen Faulkner became the first American woman in 40 years to win a gold medal in women’s road racing, roaring to the title uncontested at the end in the cycling event.

Eight years earlier, the scene was much different. Diggins had to make a dramatic push in the final seconds to win gold, passing Sweden’s Stina Nilsson in the final few strides.

“A landmark moment that will be etched in U.S. Olympic history!’” Schlanger proclaimed on the air then. “The first-ever cross-country gold medal for the U.S.!”

In contrast, Faulkner won going away — by 58 seconds over Dutch rider Marianne Vos, one of the top female cyclists ever. So Schlanger kicked it in much earlier this time, when Faulkner made her big move with 3.3 kilometers to go.

“The goes Faulkner! She launches the move up the left-hand side of the road!” Schlanger exclaimed. “... Nobody’s chasing. Nobody is chasing the American. The gap is exploding! ... This is stunning. A breathtaking acceleration! An attack for all time. In a city of artists, this is a true avant-garde performance by Kristen Faulkner!”

She originally wasn’t scheduled to be in the race, instead participating for the U.S. in the track cycling’s team pursuit event. She won gold there, too, as the U.S. edged New Zealand on Wednesday. She had added women’s road racing to her repertoire just a a month earlier, after a teammate dropped out to focus on another event.

As Sunday’s race wound down and the finish became anticlimactic, Schlanger captured the moment as she coasted to victory in a picturesque setting:

“She’s about to author the upset of a lifetime! ... Kristen Faulkner, from the small town of Homer, Alaska, making the turn, across the Seine (River). She is the genuine article. And Kristen Faulkner, in the shadow of the Eifel Tower, with a landmark U.S. gold medal in the women’s road race!”

It was so impressive that NBC led its prime-time show that night with that clip.

“This was definitely one of my favorite Olympic moments,” Schlanger told the Post-Dispatch. “It was a confluence of special circ*mstances that made it so compelling. An unexpected American winner with an incredible backstory, going up against much more seasoned champions, the 40-year anniversary of the last U.S. gold medal and then the fact that the drama built until the final minutes on the biggest stage in the sport. As a broadcaster, I couldn’t draw up a better script.”

Schlanger and analyst Bob Roll were not in Paris to make the call, not even close. They were about 3,600 miles away, in NBC’s compound in Stamford, Connecticut — where many of its broadcasters have been working during the Olympics.

“Our call was not impacted by doing it remotely because in cycling, even if you are there, you are calling it off a monitor at the finish line anyway,” Schlanger said. “The race is constantly moving, and cameras are cutting to different locations all over the course. The only time you would actually see the athletes in person is when they get to the finish line. It’s just the nature of calling certain Olympic sports. Alpine Skiing is the same way. I’m used to it.”

Schlanger also broadcast the triathlon events, which drew fire for the swimming portion of the competition being held in the notoriously polluted Seine.

“It has been one of the major stories of these Olympics, and the NBC bosses told us at the beginning not to shy away from talking about it,” he said. “We covered it pretty thoroughly in each show and even tried to have some fun with it at times. Made reference to the fact that it might not be as bad as Andy Duphresne crawling through the sewage tunnel to escape Shawshank prison (in film adaptation “The Shawshank Redemption”), but it was less than ideal for athletes who have been training all their lives for this one big day.

“All in all, it was not a huge deal for us to manage from an editorial standpoint.”

The Games are winding down, but Schlanger has a busy schedule in the final flourish. While all Olympic events are streamed on Peaco*ck, some of those he’s covering also are set to be on conventional channels as the Games wind down this weekend.

He’s scheduled to broadcast five cycling races Friday, culminating with events at 11:20 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on cable channel E!, then two more races Saturday including the men’s Madison final at 1:30 p.m. on CNBC. His schedule wraps up Sunday, the closing day of the games, when he’ll be on NBC (KSDK, Channel 5 locally) for finals in men’s keirin, women’s sprint and omnium. That coverage begins at 8 a.m.