CBC Sports Tokyo Olympic coverage earns 9 nominations from Canadian Screen Awards

It has been quite the journey, but CBC Sports has garnered further recognition for its coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

CBC Sports has received nine nominations from the Canadian Screen Awards for its coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as announced Tuesday.

The list of awards includes Best Sports Program or Series, Best Sports Host, Best Sports Analyst, Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer, Best Live Production, Social Media for The Extra Hour and Best Sports Opening. 

"This past year, our creators, journalists and production partners once again overcame the challenges of the pandemic to share exceptional news and entertainment with Canadian audiences across CBC/Radio-Canada platforms," said  Catherine Tait, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

"We are so proud that their hard work has been recognized with these Canadian Screen Award nominations. Our programming continues to shine in Canada and around the world, and its success shows the dedication, creativity and talent of our teams and partners." 

CBC also was the bronze recipient of the prestigious Olympic Golden Rings award for Best Olympic Digital Service, as awarded by the International Olympic Committee.

The Summer Games produced record-high digital audiences for CBC, which was the most-watched TV network in Canada throughout the Tokyo Olympics.

Nominees

Sports hosts Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo are both up for the Best Sports Host award. The duo host CBC Sports' Road to the Olympics Games show throughout the year leading up the Olympics.

Petrillo won the award in 2016 for Best Sports Host in a Sports Program or Series category for her work on CBC's coverage of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, which made her the first woman to win an award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for her role as host of a sports program or series.

Russell, already an Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award-winning broadcaster in his own right, has covered 16 Olympics with the network.

Michael Smith, former Canadian decathlete and athletics analyst, as well as basketball analyst Meghan McPeak, are both up for Best Sports Analyst. Smith helped broadcast a number of athletics events during the Tokyo Games, while McPeak bolstered CBC Sports' coverage of the basketball tournaments in Tokyo.

Mark Lee and Rob Snoek are the two nominees for the Best Sports Play-by-Play announcer award. For Lee, the Tokyo Games were his 15th with CBC/Radio-Canada, and he is currently working the Beijing Games for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton. Snoek was a play-by-play announcer for aquatics events during Tokyo 2020, and is doing snowboarding for CBC during Beijing 2022.

Ryan Johnston, executive producer of the digital department for CBC Sports, as well as Sarah Jenkins, lead producer of CBC Sports' digital studio, are the nominees for Best Live Production, Social Media for The Extra Hour show. The show had become a key component to CBC's around-the-clock coverage of the Olympic Games, and continues to be during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Best Sports Opening nomination is for The Marathon.