American Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel was among the presenters at the 2024 Emmy Awards on Sunday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The awards celebrate the best of American television in a year, and as the biggest television event in the country every four years, the Summer Olympics and its Olympians were honored with a tribute to television coaches and American Olympic Athletes.
Dressel was part of a group of American Olympic and Paralympic athletes who appeared on stage to hand out the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award that was won by Frederick E. O. Toye for the FX series Shōgun. That was part of a magical night for Shōgun that saw the show, set in 17th century Japan, earn 18 awards on 25 nominations.
The segment was led by Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso) and Jane Lynch (Glee), who have both played coaches on television. They were joined by Olympians Ilona Maher (rugby), Stephen Nedoroscik (gymnastics), Dressel, and Paralympian Ezra French (para-athletics), who flanked Hunt and Lynch while they read the name of the winner, Toye.
Video Here:
While it’s become commonplace for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to make cameo appearances on television shows on NBC in Olympic years to promote their coverage, the Emmys air on competing network ABC – though they were hosted in a theatre co-owned by NBC Universal.
Dressel added two gold and a silver medal in the Paris Olympic Games, all in relays, bringing his career total to 9 gold and 1 silver medal. That ties him for the second-most Olympic gold medals across all sports in Olympic history behind Michael Phelps’ 23.
Maher was a member of the U.S. Olympic women’s national rugby sevens team that won a bronze medal in Paris and was also recently announced as a contestant on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars. Nedoroscik gained fame as the bespectacled and unassuming pommel horse specialist for the American men’s gymnastics team that won a historic team bronze medal in Paris. He also won bronze in the individual pommel horse event.
French, 19, won the T63 men’s 100 meter dash and high jump at the Paris Olympic Games. In 2019, he was the youngest athlete at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai.
Focusing on the NBC connection: you’ll realize that you just that you just witnessed Caeleb’s tryout for Rowdy’s job.
Notice that he smiled a lot and didn’t mention anything like “she’s breathing to her left.” Well done, Caeleb! I think you just aced your interview.
Unless there were edits made in the clip, the athletes just stood there and didn’t say a word. Is there more to their appearance?
Yeah, I was waiting for them to join in on the skit 🙁