Thursday, July 31, 2008

Sailing on the BBC


RYA Press Release: Sailors go for gold on the BBC

There is no need to miss a second of Britain’s sailors’ quest for gold in Qingdao next month as the BBC brings you round-the-clock coverage from all the action on the water at Beijing 2008.

With full race coverage set to start at 6am – the time of the first scheduled warning signal in China – every day on the BBC Interactive ‘Red Button’ service and at least 30 minutes of sailing highlights planned on BBC One every morning, you can watch all the excitement unfold as it happens in Qingdao.

Viewers will be guided through the thrills and spills of the Olympic sailing competition by experienced sailing commentator Richard Simmonds joined by double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson, who will provide expert analysis and insight into the sport.

All the interactive coverage will be repeated each evening while an hour-long daily Olympic highlights show will also be tracking Britain’s progress around the sports on BBC One at 7pm.

Meanwhile, on Monday 19 August – the day of the scheduled 470 medal races – BBC 5Live will be broadcasting their Breakfast Programme live from the Olympic Sailing Venue while BBC Radio’s Juliette Ferrington will be based in Qingdao for the duration of the Games.

Around 300 hours of Olympic drama will be broadcast on BBC One and Two over the course of the Games while BBC Interactive air time will be upped from 1,000 hours of coverage at the Athens Olympics to 2,450 hours in China.

The Olympic Sailing Regatta takes place from Saturday 9 August – Thursday 21 August.

All broadcast and event schedules are subject to change.

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