The Olympics, otherwise known as the international athletic stage. This year, the Winter Olympics were held in Milan, Italy. The games were full of athletic achievement, success stories, and even heartbreak, but behind the scenes, Sacred Heart University alumni and current students were working on the production side with NBC.
For me, being at NBC was a dream come true. Being able to see how much work is put into creating Olympic Games coverage for all those in America. For those who aren’t aware, the time zone difference from Italy to Eastern Standard Time is approximately five hours. So, having to work around the clock is something that a lot of NBC employees do for the Olympic Games.
For context, 1600 employees are held at NBC Studios for the Olympic Games. Another 800 were held in Milan, with an extra group going to Cortina, Italy, which is where the skiing, snowboarding and biathlon took place.
As a production intern, my responsibilities were to pull footage to use on NBC’s shows called Primetime Gold zone as well as featured stories on the social media accounts. Working 4PM to sometimes two in the morning, I get to be insanely busy, but I had the experience of a lifetime. Getting behind the scenes coverage of Snoop Dogg, having one on one conversations with Redzone host Scott Hanson, and getting to put together awesome featured stories of select athletes.
Truth be told, most people do not know much about some of the winter sports held at the Winter Olympics. To tell the truth, I’m one of those people. But being in the NBC setting, you quickly grow to learn more about winter sports. For example, I was working on a figure skating project for the medal round of the competition. I knew nothing about figure skating at all, but being in that project around 30 40 people. I quickly grew to understand how figure skating works. From mechanics, scoring, and even names of stunts.
The NBC community is very family-oriented. When you’re around these people for so long, you grow a connection and a relationship with a lot of your coworkers. Although 1600 people is a lot of people to meet. You tend to find your crowd when you are surrounded by the same people for up to four weeks. After a ton of hours, loss of sleep, and hours of watching competition. NBC was able to produce an amazing Olympic Games in 2026.
With maintaining a full course load, and practically a full-time internship, as well also practicing from afar for my sport, I was able to gain knowledge, experience, and a lifetime of memories with my internship for the winter Olympics of 2026. Although I’m sad it is over, I cannot wait to continue my growth in the sports communications and media field.
