NBC Sports host Ahmed Fareed: Olympics bring nation, world to one place
NEW YORK (WOOD) — Sparta native Ahmed Fareed is headed to the Paris Olympics.
He will host and report from the Games for NBC Sports. It will be his fifth time working the Games, but the first time he’ll be in the host city.
He said the Olympics are a “unique opportunity” for the U.S. and the world to all be “keyed in on one thing,” cheer for their country and learn about other cultures.
“The pride that comes from rooting for Team USA and the Americans, watching them do well, and then finding stories from Olympians from other countries and becoming attached to them as well,” he said.
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Women’s basketball may be a favorite after this season’s amazing season from Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, which drew a lot of eyes to the women’s NCAA Tournament. Fareed said women’s sports in general have long been a shining star in the Olympics for a long time, pointing to swimmer Katie Ledecky, runner Sha’Carri Richardson and gymnast Simone Biles in recent years.
“I feel like NBC and what we’ve tried to do is tell those stories of those megastars, and a lot of times, they have been the women,” Fareed said.
Fareed said his trajectory to the big leagues of sports reporting has been about taking opportunities when they came knocking.
“I never thought that this was a possibility. I didn’t even set out for this to be kind of my like end goal. I just wanted to be the Jack Doles,” he joked. “I was doing local news, and I love local news… And I thought, this is it. This is it for me. I’ve reached my pinnacle.”
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It wasn’t. He took jobs around the country for the MLB Network and NBC Sports. It ultimately put him
“I didn’t say no to the next opportunity, I think was the big thing,” he said.
The Paris Olympics run July 26 to Aug. 11.
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