Lindsay Czarniakis opening up about all that goes into covering the world’s biggest sporting event.
This year, Czarniak will be co-hosting Olympic coverage stateside from Connecticut alongside Ahmed Fareed, Jimmy Roberts and Jac Collinsworth.
“I’m really pumped for the role because it’s going to be an opportunity to communicate and take our viewers through what’s going on during the day of Olympic coverage, which is so much fun,” Czarniak tells PEOPLE exclusively. “And honestly, for me, this is my favorite kind of storytelling because you’re in the moment, you’re tossing to the people that are out at the venues — which is going to be really cool just to send people to that scenery and everything — but also to have the chance to weave in some of the storytelling that we’ve prepped for along the way.”
Czarniak notes how previously covering the 2020Summer Olympics, which were delayed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, helped prepare her for this new role, as did hosting the female-focused podcastOn Her Turf.
“I’m excited to be able to blend those two worlds and to share with our viewers some of the things that I’ve learned that are really unique about these athletes that are getting ready to take the stage,” she says. “And there’s just always such an element of ‘This is it’ and ‘This is what you’ve trained for your entire life.’ "
Czarniak adds, “These moments to me, it’s just such a gift, honestly, to be able to be there, to be able to talk about that and to bring that moment to our viewers.”
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Lindsay Czarniak/Instagram
Getting to host in a familiar territory — rather than overseas in Beijing — has its “pros and cons,” Czarniak says, but “overall, it’s very nice.”
“There’s an energy level [in the Connecticut studio] that you feel when you walk in, and that’s because it’s just the hustle-bustle,” she explains. “You’ve got this energy, and with everybody, truly, that I’ve worked with at an Olympic game, you realize how big a deal it is just to have the opportunity to be able to work on it.”
“I think everybody in every single role feels that way because these are not just sports, but these are people’s dreams that you’re dealing with,” Czarniak adds. “Honestly, it’s like, what other type of sporting event is there that for every person that is taking part in it — this is the moment that they have dreamt up since they were a little kid?”
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While she says that her dynamic with her husband of over a decade is “similar to probably what a lot of other couples have,” Czarniak tells PEOPLE the pair are able to relate and work off of one another in a professional manner as well, given that they both are in the same industry.
“We make it work and it’s been very, very helpful to have someone who understands crazy hours and all that kind of thing,” she says.
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All in all, Czarniak is looking forward to her new broadcasting role. She says she is “just grateful to have this opportunity to do the Olympics again.”
“I never take that for granted because it’s just such a unique and special event with so many incredible stories,” she adds. “I’ve had many different roles covering the Olympics, so this, for me, … [is] going to be really exciting and I just can’t wait to get started.”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
