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A quintessential Winter Olympics sport, short track speed-skating is something that will likely mesmerize and excite you over the next two weeks before you completely forget about it until 2022. As such, you’re going to need to know how to watch all the action in Pyeongchang.
In the United States, all of the medal events and important races will be broadcast on either NBC or NBC Sports Network (complete TV listings here). If you don’t have cable or a cable log-in, you can watch a simulcast of both of these channels live online by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
strong>FuboTV: NBC (live in the most markets) and NBCSN are both included in the “Fubo Premier” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch any of those channels live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
DirecTV Now: NBC (live in select markets) and NBCSN are both included in each of the four channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, plus you can get a free Amazon Fire TV if you prepay two months. Once signed up, you can watch any of the channels on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
Sling TV: NBC (live in select markets) and NBCSN are both included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch those channels on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
In addition to being able to watch those channels via the above streaming services, you can also watch every single race (preliminary heats, semifinals, finals) live on your computer via NBCOlympics.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the NBC Sports app. To watch any of these streams, you’ll have a 30-minute free preview before needing to sign in to your TV provider, but you can use your FuboTV, DirecTV Now or Sling TV credentials to do that.
Preview
When it comes to short track, the country to watch is South Korea–and that’s not just because they’ll be on their home ice inside Gangneung Arena. 21 of Korea’s 26 all-time Winter Olympics gold medals have come in short track speed-skating, and they have the athletes to add several more to that tally in 2018.
On the men’s side, it starts with Hwang Dae-heon. The 18-year-old’s best race is the 1500m, where he captured two golds and two silvers during the 2017-18 ISU World Cup season, but he’s also considered a strong contender in the 1000m, where he ranked third after the season.
With South Korea also finishing second in the overall World Cup 5000m relay standings behind Canada, the men have a legitimate chance to win three out of four short track golds.
And the women could potentially better that record. Choi Min Jeong is a contender to sweep all three individual events–she accomplished that feat during the Budapest World Cup event, then won two out of three golds at the Seoul World Cup event a couple months later–while Shim Suk-hee is a contender in the 1000m and 1500m. Unsurprisingly, they’re also favorites in the 3000m relay.
If you’re looking for Americans to make some noise, three-time Olympic medalist J.R. Celski finished third in the 1500m at the most recent World Cup race, as did the American relay team, and both should be in contention once again. On the women’s side, 18-year-old Maame Biney is a rising star who could sneak onto the podium in the 500m.
The first medal event is the men’s 1500m on Saturday, February 10 (about 7:30 a.m. ET in the USA). You can find the complete schedule of races right here.
