LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 14. TELEVISION being such an influential presence in the sporting world, there's a chance the championship finals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will be held in the morning. According to reports that have been circulating for about one week, the International Olympic Committee is considering a request from NBC to hold preliminary races in the evening and semifinals and finals in the morning. That setup would allow NBC to better cater to its viewers in the United States.
As one of the most-watched sports every Olympiad, swimming will undoubtedly hold that status in Beijing, particularly with Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff expected to chase major medal hauls. Phelps was the poster athlete for the 2004 Games in Athens. The possibility of morning finals is expected to be discussed by the IOC in the near future.
If such a decision is made, expect many meets to change their formats to a morning-finals setup in order to acclimate athletes to the different format. While NBC has paid significant sums of money for exclusive broadcast rights to the Olympics, allowing the television network to influence the sport would be putting dollars ahead of the athletes.