{"id":9281,"date":"2021-01-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tegnasandbox.com\/tegna\/advertise\/2021\/01\/28\/king5s-chris-egan-on-what-makes-tegnas-olympic-coverage-so-special\/"},"modified":"2023-01-25T11:45:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T18:45:11","slug":"king5s-chris-egan-on-what-makes-tegnas-olympic-coverage-so-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/king5s-chris-egan-on-what-makes-tegnas-olympic-coverage-so-special\/","title":{"rendered":"KING 5\u2019s Chris Egan on What Makes TEGNA’s Olympic Coverage So Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

With all the struggles we faced in 2020, global audiences are looking for something that can unite everyone in unity and<\/span>\u00a0triumph. The\u00a0<\/span>upcoming<\/span>\u00a0Olympic Games\u00a0<\/span>in Tokyo will provide just that<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>TEGNA<\/span>‘s\u00a0<\/span>NBC stations are honored to be\u00a0<\/span>the Olympics headquarters for millions of viewers across the country.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the NBC family for more than 20 years,\u00a0<\/span>Chris Egan, sports anchor for KING5 in Seattle<\/span><\/a>, is one of\u00a0<\/span>TEGNA<\/span>\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>sports reporters\u00a0<\/span>in a unique position to share stories that fully showcase the\u00a0<\/span>power of inspiration our <\/span>country\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>hometown athletes represent<\/span>. One of those athletes is<\/span>\u00a0WNBA star Sue Bird<\/span>. Another one is\u00a0<\/span>cross-country skier Kikkan Randal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With th<\/span>e #1 pick i<\/span>n the 2002<\/span>\u00a0WNBA draft<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0The Seattle Stor<\/span>m<\/span>\u00a0drafted Bird, a point guard\u00a0<\/span>from<\/span>\u00a0UConn<\/span>, where she won two NCAA championships.\u00a0<\/span>Not only has Bird gone on to win four WNBA cha<\/span>mpionships<\/span> with Seattle, but she\u2019s also won four<\/span>\u00a0Olympic<\/span>\u00a0gold medals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In 2021, she\u2019ll be looking for a fift<\/span>h.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a sports journalist, I\u2019ve gotten to know her well and see her behind the scenes<\/span>\u00a0at places like\u00a0<\/span>community events, youth basketball clinics, and charity events<\/span>,\u201d Egan said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>It’s been really special\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>get to know her and\u00a0<\/span>cover her Olympic run a<\/span>s well as<\/span>\u00a0her time with the Storm<\/span>\u00a0– from her very first press conference all the way to Rio when they were putting her fourth gold medal around her neck.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bird is just one of the many athletes in the Pacific Northwest that Egan has built a bond. \u201cI\u2019ve become invested with these athletes quite a bit,\u201d he admitted. \u201c<\/span>I\u2019ve watched a lot of them up close and gotten to see their hometowns, meet their parents, meet their coaches<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the family aspect that makes the\u00a0<\/span>Olympics<\/span>\u00a0all the more special<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Egan admits, <\/span>\u201cThe best is when you develop a relationship with mom and dad<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0which is something you don\u2019t necessarily do with the Seahawks, Mariners, or the Sounders<\/span>. With the Olympics, you get to see parents <\/span>who spend<\/span>\u00a0so much time traveling, watching practices, paying the bills. It’s the whole family going for these medals.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Developing great relationships with local athletes\u00a0<\/span>is just one of the things t<\/span>hat makes TEGNA\u2019s Olympic coverage so special.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhen Team USA team won the gold medal,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Egan sa<\/span>ys,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>she\u00a0<\/span>(Bird)\u00a0<\/span>walked\u00a0<\/span>into the press area,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>point<\/span>ed at me, and said <\/span>\u2018<\/span>I’m talking to him first<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Egan\u2019s relationship with Sue Bird is just one of the amazing stories that Egan has to share \u2013 and just one of the athletes he and Team TEGNA have gone above and beyond to cover<\/span>\u00a0throughout the years<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the 2018 Winter Ga<\/span>mes<\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Pyeongchang<\/span>, Egan teamed up with fellow TEGNA sports reporter\u00a0<\/span>Dave Schwartz<\/span>\u00a0to cover the Olympic cross-country skiing team of Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cShe was the only mom in those Winter Games,\u201d Egan recalled<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cWe did a feature on her<\/span>\u00a0leading up to the\u00a0<\/span>G<\/span>ames.\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>e spent a day with her, interviewed her, her husband, and we met her child.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flash forward\u00a0<\/span>to what Egan calls \u201cone of the most magical nights I can ever remember.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0Egan and Schwartz were together again and were among a small handful of\u00a0<\/span>American<\/span>\u00a0media,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>because,<\/span>\u00a0as Egan explains,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cthe US chances of winning were not good<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>But a<\/span>fter one-quarter of the race, the US is in first place. Halfway through the race, the US is still in first place. Three-quarters of the race, and the US is still winning. Then Dave and I are looking at each other like, \u201cIs this really going to happen? Are they going to win? A<\/span>re we<\/span>\u00a0going to be the only ones representing these two American skiers up at this mountain?<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Sure enough,\u00a0<\/span>the fol<\/span>ks I met in Alaska, Kikkan Randall, and her family, along with Jessie Diggins, who Dave had been covering in Minnesota, win the first-ever gold medal for the US in women’s cross country skiing<\/span>,\u201d says Egan. \u201cI<\/span>t was just a magical night. And to be part of TEGNA and to follow that from the beginning to the gold medals was <\/span>just amazing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About TEGNA\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Sports have the unique ability to unite and inspire people from every city and every nation across the world. At TEGNA, our NBC stations are honored to be the home to three of the most iconic sporting events \u2013 The 2021 S<\/span>ummer Olympics in Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and Super Bowl LVI<\/span>. It’s three world stages, three amazing showcases of unity, triumph, and victory. <\/span>Contact us today to learn more and be part of this inspiring journey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the 2016\u00a0Games in\u00a0Rio\u00a0to Tokyo in 2021, KING 5 Sports Reporter and Anchor Chris Egan shares his favorite memories from covering the Olympic Games throughout his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","wpautop"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}