With the 2012 Olympic Games quickly approaching, one of the last remaining obstacles for the athletes to get to London are the Olympic Trials. Consider this the warm up act to the big show, although the Trials can be pretty dramatic all on their own. Athletes train, some their entire lives, for a shot to represent their country and themselves on the podium….only to fall a few seconds or tenths of a point short of realizing that dream. Others swim, run, jump or vault to victory, the path to gold already laid out in front of them. These are the first memories we’ll make of the London Games.
 
NBC and NBC Sports Network have televised a record number of Trial events, starting back in April. However, a few of the most popular sports – Swimming and Gymnastics in particular – have yet to finalize their contributions to Team USA. This selection process will take place (for the most part, gymnastics is a little bit of an outlier) over the next few days. View schedule.
 
This year, our customers will have more ways to watch than ever with U.S. Olympic Trial events being not only televised but streamed live at NBCOlympics.com with NBC Olympics Live Extra. When prompted, our customers just need to select “Bright House Networks” as their Cable provider & then log in with your My Services user name and password. (Don’t have a My Services yet? Get one here.) Once you’re signed in, this gives you access to NBC Olympics Live Extra streaming of the 2012 London Olympics and full event replays, Athlete Profiles, London features and more at NBCOlympics.com.
 
Meanwhile, I’ll be watching the Trials. We already know what a few of the stories are going to be: Can Dara Torres, at age 45, make her 6th Olympic team? Will Janet Evans mount her own comeback? Will Ryan Lochte overtake Michael Phelps as the swimmer to watch in London? It’s widely considered there are truly only 1 (maybe 2) spots that are up for contention on the women’s gymnastics side – can 2008 vets Alicia Sacramone & Nastia Liukin make the case that they deserve them? I’m ready to find out!
 
What U.S. Olympic Trial events are you watching? Will you watch online?