Medford man talks experience interviewing Team USA Olympians

Medford, Ore. — A Medford man is in South Korea, helping NBC cover the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Shane Bishop has been a producer with Dateline NBC for 24 years, but jumped at the opportunity to take a break from the show to cover the Olympics.

Bishop has been in PyeongChang since the end of January and has had the unique experience of getting to meet Olympians, working with sports reporters from all over the world, and seeing first-hand the preparation that goes into each event.

Bishop said he was able to talk to Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White’s team during a practice last Saturday, before White clinched a gold medal for team USA. Specifically, he spoke to White’s coach, J.J. Thomas, about how he expected White to rank.

“[Thomas] was really optimistic the way Shaun was practicing on Saturday when we were there,” Bishop said. “He knows the sport and he kept saying ‘Shaun’s ripping it, he’s ripping it,” and he seemed very excited about his prospect.”

Bishop said White’s team also has a unique member on board for their PyeongChang experience. Toby Miller, a 17-year-old snowboarder from Truckee, CA, tagged along to White’s social media accounts. Miller took White’s place in the X-Games this year and is expected to compete in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Bishop said he is planning to meet up with White’s team again to learn more about Miller’s role.

On top of getting live performance action, Bishop said another cool aspect of working at the Olympics is getting to see the behind-the-scenes preparation for the events.

PyeongChang isn’t Bishop’s first rodeo. He worked the 2004 games in Athens, and said he hopes to work during the games coming up in 2020 in Tokyo, 2022 in Beijing and 2024 in Paris.

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