NEW YORK (AP) — NBC's Dan Hicks was exultant following the United States' thrilling victory in the 4x100-meter freestyle swimming relay, giving Michael Phelps his 19th Olympic gold medal.
"It couldn't have started any better for the most decorated Olympian of all time!" Hicks said.
And it couldn't have come at a better time for NBC, whose Olympic experience effectively began Sunday, too. After two nights of disappointing — even alarming — ratings for the network, everything broke right. Phelps' relay leg gave the U.S. a lead it wouldn't relinquish in a pulsating race.
Katie Ledecky more than lived up to pre-race hype, with a gold-medal freestyle performance so dominating that by one camera angle she seemed like the only swimmer in the pool.