During this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir gained fans as an on-air commentary team that clicked. Now it seems that Lipinski will continue to live out her dream of covering the Olympics.
NBC this week announced that Lipinski and Weir have been promoted to head of NBC’s figure skating broadcast team. The pair appeared on NBC’s Today Show Wednesday morning to celebrate the promotion.
.@JohnnyGWeir & @TaraLipinski just revealed they will be the @NBCOlympics figure skating announce team for the 2018 games in PyeongChang!
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 22, 2014
They're baaaack!! @JohnnyGWeir and @taralipinski pic.twitter.com/BcSf8SPyIJ
— Al Roker (@alroker) October 22, 2014
According to an AP report, Lipinski and Weir will be joined by Terry Gannon to host NBC’s figure skating coverage during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The new team will replace Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, and Tom Hammond, the team that has helmed NBC’s Olympic figure skating coverage for over a decade. According to the AP Hamilton will remain with NBC as a special contributor during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and other large figure skating events.
Lipinski and Weir expressed their desire to keep figure skating coverage serious, but light. Weir told the AP that the pair’s broadcasting style is “more like a conversation between us and the audience.”
Lipinski and Weir will appear for the first time in their new roles this weekend during NBC’s broadcast of the Skate America Competition in Chicago.
Heading off to Chicago today for Skate America with @taralipinski! I hope to see you all at the venue and this Sunday at 4E on @NBCSports!
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) October 23, 2014
Since Lipinski and Weir appeared on NBC Winter Olympics broadcasts this year the pair have become a fixture as fashion commentators at high-profile events. The pair were part of Access Hollywood‘s coverage of this year’s Academy Awards in March and returned to to NBC in April to cover fashion during the Kentucky Derby.
Both Lipinski and Weir are former figure skaters who competed in past Winter Olympics. Lipinski won a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics and Weir is a three-time U.S. national figure skating champion.