The 2018 Winter Olympics Games are less than eight days away, and the NBC production team has been working for two years to get it right. The Olympics this year will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. After producing ten Olympic games, Vice President & Coordinating Producer of NBC Olympics, Rebecca Chatman gives an insider’s perspective on the games from a behind-the-scenes standpoint.

NBC is bringing 120,000 tons of equipment including 2,700 broadcast monitors, 700 cameras and 51 edit suites to their broadcast center in PyeongChang. It’s almost 7,000 miles from New York to Seoul and the time difference is 14 hours, but the biggest challenge for Chatman and the NBC team is getting everything and everyone there. “The challenges we have for every Olympics are bringing 2,000 people to a foreign country, and making sure everyone gets there, has a hotel room and transportation,” Chatman said.

Over 10,500 athletes from all over the world are expected to participate in the Winter Games. American alpine skiers, Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn are two women who are expected to win medals. Then there’s Nathan Chen, known as the “Quad King” for his acrobatic skating routine, and, according to Chatman, “he’s really revolutionized figure skating, so he’s someone to watch.”

This year, NBC will be televising the first live Winter Olympics across the country. This means the American audience, east and west coast, will be able to watch all events in real time. However, live programming during the Winter Olympics, where weather can be an issue, poses a challenge for the NBC team. “The sports are happening at similar times, so we’re trying to balance our coverage. Are we skating or skiing? Go to alpine skiing, now show Nathan, now Mikaela! So we’re just trying to figure out what the puzzle is,” Chatman said.

The Olympics is a sporting event where the world unites and comes together to compete in sports. The history between North and South Korea has always been acrimonious. However, in recent weeks the North and South have agreed to walk together in the Opening Ceremony and combine their women’s hockey teams into one.

For 16 days the best athletes will compete on the world stage. NBC has 2,400 hours of coverage to use to cover the stories of the Gold Medalists. Yet, it’s not only the winners who draw interest; it’s the individuals who have devoted their lives to compete in the Olympic Games.