St. Scholastica Nordic ski coach Chad Salmela again will be a color commentator for NBC’s coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Salmela, who handled commentary for the biathlon during the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, again will provide commentary for that event. He also has been told he will be involved in coverage of cross country skiing – including in the Nordic combined event.

“I am obviously very excited for the opportunity,” Salmela said. “I have spent most of my life trying to promote and help athletes in these sports, so to get the opportunity to deliver these sports to the American television market on such a grand scale inspires me.”

Salmela built his reputation through public-address announcing at major events, then was hired in 2006 to work Olympic biathlon coverage on the USA Network after getting support for the role from Emmy-winning independent TV producer Kent Gordis.

Biathlon received unprecedented TV coverage that year, primarily broadcast live during the early morning in the United States, but also during weekend prime mid-day coverage, which was seen by 16 to 18 million viewers.

After long-time Olympic cross country skiing commentator Paul Robbins died last year, NBC approached Salmela about the possibility of covering all of the Nordic sports in Vancouver. He was offered the job after a tryout at the FIS World Cup Cross Country event last winter in Sweden.

Salmela will be teamed with Al Trautwig, a longtime announcer of Olympic cross country and Nordic combined events. It is not known if all of the competitions will be broadcast.

“I’m a little daunted at the schedule, trying to cover all three sports, combined being the busiest venue of the Olympic Games, but I'm excited for the challenge,” Salmela said. “It’s simply great to have a role like this in such a major world event. I try not to think about the magnitude of it when I'm on the air.”

Salmela became St. Scholastica’s first Nordic ski coach in 2006. Two of his skiers have been selected to participate in the National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships.