Current:Home > InvestSnoop Dogg at the Olympics: Swimming with Michael Phelps (and a bet with Russell Crowe)-LoTradeCoin
Snoop Dogg at the Olympics: Swimming with Michael Phelps (and a bet with Russell Crowe)
View Date:2024-12-23 19:04:07
Snoop Dogg has some skin in the (Olympic) games as a special correspondent for NBC's coverage of the 2024 Paris competition.
The rapper, 52, and "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe have thrown down on a bet over the growing rivalry between the U.S. and Australian swimming teams. Are you not entertained?
"Me and Russell Crowe have a little wager. USA all the way, baby!" Snoop Dogg said during a media conference call Wednesday with NBC's Olympics executive producer Molly Solomon and "Primetime in Paris" host Mike Tirico.
The swimming events help officially kick off the Paris games Friday with qualifying heats on the same day as the opening ceremony.
Snoop Dogg at the Olympics?Paris Summer Olympics chief predicts 'getting promoted or fired' over rapper's role
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
"The USA-Australia rivalry is one of the fiercest of the games," said Solomon. "We can't wait to see what happens on night one in swimming."
NBC's primetime, tape-delayed coverage of swimming features Snoop Dogg meeting the U.S. swimming team along with the superhero swimmer he calls "Aquaman" — 28-time Olympic medal-winner and NBC contributor Michael Phelps.
"You may know him as Aquaman. But people call him Michael Phelps. And me and Michael Phelps have a session in the pool where I may learn how to do the 25-meter (swim)," said Snoop Dogg. "I'm an athlete. So one thing about me is, when I'm around these Olympians, I feel like I'm just as good as them."
In his first Olympics gig, Snoop Dogg will meet athletes and their families and visit sites around Paris.
Fellow rapper Flavor Flav also has an official rolesponsoring the women's water polo team. "That's my homeboy. He's handling that, making sure they're underwater boogeying," said Snoop Dogg. "We're gonna spread ourselves around and make sure every section of the Olympics has attention. I'll be handling volleyball to weight lifting. We don't want to leave nobody behind. Because this is a hell of an experience for people who've been waiting for years to get here. We're just here to cover."
Snoop Dogg said he was born (as Calvin Broadus Jr.) prepared for the prestigious gig, but has done his homework.
"My preparation for primetime is being me," he said "People are going to find out I really know the sports, I know the angles, I know the conversation."
Tirico said he won't be jumping into Olympic pools like Snoop Dogg, but he's been impressed with the new TV correspondent's work.
"In all seriousness, spending time around Snoop at the track and field trials and in the build-up, he's so genuine and so real," said Tirico. "Viewers are going to see just a different side of the athletes, the sports and the places he goes."
Other celebrities working on NBC's Olympics coverage include Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning, who will host Friday's opening ceremony with Tirico. Jimmy Fallon hosts the Aug. 11 closing ceremony and Leslie Jones provides social coverage.
Snoop Dogg also carries the Olympic torch in the final Paris stretch before the opening ceremony. He recalled how boxing legend Mohammed Ali carried the torch in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
"That's what it feels like to me, my own version of this," he said. "I don't want to get too emotional. But I know this is special. I'm going to put all the energy and resources into love, peace and harmony. Because that's what the Olympics is about. And I feel like that's why they chose me. Because that's what I represent: Peace, love and unity."
Why isn't the men's US basketball dominating? Snoop Dogg knows
Snoop Dogg weighed in on the US men's basketball team's troubles after barely avoiding a huge upset against South Sudan on July 20, and squeaking out a victory against Germany on July 23. The world has changed since the Michael Jordan-led USA "Dream Team" of the 1984 Olympics.
"When the 'Dream Team' was formed. there was probably two players from across the water in the NBA. Now there's 40-something players in the NBA as we speak," he said. "There's so many superstars that aren't from America, that when you put them against America, it's sort of even."
veryGood! (9215)
Related
- NBPA reaches Kyle Singler’s family after cryptic Instagram video draws concern
- 16 people injured after boat explodes at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri
- Georgia begins quest for 3rd straight championship as No. 1 in AP Top 25. Michigan, Ohio State next
- Kim Kardashian's Son Saint West Takes a Leap During Family Lake Outing
- Advance Auto Parts is closing hundreds of stores in an effort to turn its business around
- MLB power rankings: Every American League division is up for grabs
- Community with high medical debt questions its hospitals' charity spending
- Chelsea’s Pochettino enjoys return to Premier League despite 1-1 draw against Liverpool
- Whoopi Goldberg calling herself 'a working person' garners criticism from 'The View' fans
- Is Biden's plan to stem immigration seeing any success?: 5 Things podcast
Ranking
- 'This dude is cool': 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge brings realism to literary detective
- Maui wildfires death toll rises to 93, making it the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since it became a state
- 3-year-old migrant girl dies aboard bus headed from Texas to Chicago
- Illinois National Guard member dies of heat injuries at Camp Shelby in Mississippi
- Halle Berry surprises crowd in iconic 2002 Elie Saab gown from her historic Oscar win
- Officers fatally shoot armed man in North Carolina during a pursuit, police say
- Derek Carr throws a TD pass in New Orleans Saints debut vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- David McCormick is gearing up for a Senate run in Pennsylvania. But he lives in Connecticut
Recommendation
-
Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia Explains Why She’s Not Removing Tattoo of Ex Zach Bryan’s Lyrics
-
'The Fantasticks' creator Tom Jones dies at 95
-
Bachelor Nation's Jade Roper Shares She's Experiencing a Missed Miscarriage
-
Ecuador was calm and peaceful. Now hitmen, kidnappers and robbers walk the streets
-
We Can Tell You How to Get to Sesame Street—and Even More Secrets About the Beloved Show
-
Horoscopes Today, August 12, 2023
-
Billy Porter Calls Out Anna Wintour Over Harry Styles’ Vogue Cover
-
Get Head-to-Toe Hydration With a $59 Deal on $132 Worth of Josie Maran Products