Kirsty Coventry. And it’s no surprise NBC does the occasional bio on foreign swimmers – many of them come to the US to train and compete for American colleges. Coventry went to Auburn. However, they are doing somewhat better on the bios this Olympiad.
In justice to NBC, wasn’t it ABC that really started the whole Olympic Soap thing on American TV with the (in?)famous “Up Close and Personal” segments, back in the 80s?
And fret not, oomphalocentric coverage is widespread. Around these here parts it’s considered a whole-front-page lede on the largest daily paper that a male gymnast from PR climbed from 15th place in his group in '04 to 14th in '08 and was the top Latin American in the competition. And glee, we, too, have had to contend with that our “Athletic Excellence Fund” has spent twice as much hard cash on a delegation half as big as 4 years ago, and that’s expected to do absolutely jack.