Ilia Malinin’s biggest moment of all headlines Friday’s Olympic TV schedule

If you’ve watched any of the Winter Olympics so far, even just a little, you’ve likely heard about Ilia Malinin.

The 21-year-old figure skater from Fairfax, Va., is no doubt among the biggest superstars of these Games. Each time he has gotten on the ice, he has commanded the spotlight — and delivered.

First, it was clinching gold for the United States in the team event with the next-to-last free skate of the competition. Then, when the men’s individual event started, he easily topped the field in the short program on Tuesday.

Now comes the free skate on Friday, and the expectations will be as big as the roars the “Quad God” gets for his breathtaking moves. If he delivers as expected, Malinin will officially arrive as a superstar.

Coverage of the free skate event starts at 1 p.m. on USA Network, then shifts to NBC at 3:05 p.m. Malinin will go last, so expect plenty of hype and buildup.

Elsewhere around the Games on Friday, the U.S. women’s ice hockey team plays Italy at 3:10 p.m. on USA Network. If you’re up early, the Sweden-Finland men’s hockey game is a classic and star-studded rivalry. The puck drops at 6:10 a.m. on Peacock.

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If you want to check something different from the usual, there’s speedskating’s men’s 10,000-meter race at 10:30 a.m. on USA. It’s the longest race of any speedskating competition. American Casey Dawson is in the 12-competitor field, and Norway’s Sander Eitrem will be going for a gold medal double after winning the 5,000.

NBC’s TV coverage will have live events from noon to 5 p.m. Philadelphia time on weekdays and starting in the mornings on the weekends. There’s a six-hour time difference between Italy and here. The traditional prime-time coverage will have highlights of the day and storytelling features.

As far as the TV channels, the Olympics are airing on NBC, USA, CNBC, and NBCSN. Spanish coverage can be found on Telemundo and Universo.

NBCSN is carrying the Gold Zone whip-around show that was so popular during the Summer Olympics in 2024, with hosts including Scott Hanson of NFL RedZone. It used to be just on Peacock, NBC’s online streaming service, but now is on TV, too.

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Every event is available to stream live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. You’ll have to log in with your pay-TV provider, whether cable, satellite, or streaming platforms including YouTube TV, FuboTV, and Sling TV.

On Peacock, the events are on the platform’s premium subscription tier, which starts at $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year.

Here is the full event schedule for the entire Olympics, and here are live scores and results.

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USA Network