What it’s like to watch the 2026 Olympics alongside an Olympic silver medalist

If NBC is looking for another cadre analyst to join its team in 2030, look no further than Noelle Pikus Pace.

The 2014 Olympic silver medalist sat at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, with her husband, Janson Pace, and their four children (Lacee, 18, Traycen, 14, Maki, 10, and Payton, 10) on Saturday morning to watch the final heat of the women’s steel bike race at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, 12 years after she won an Olympic silver medal.

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It’s as if NBC had set up microphones at Pace’s home and provided Pace’s game commentary to its staff, which included Pace’s former teammate and roommate Bree Schaaf.

From telling American Roy “Mystique” to “suck it up,” to pointing out previous medalists, to saying Germany’s Suzanne Krell will at least win silver, Pace will predict what analysts will say, almost word for word, seconds before they say it.

“Do you like how I always say everything he says?” she said with a smile.

The Pace family laughed every time, with Jensen stressing that the game was live and his wife didn’t know what the analysts were going to say in advance.

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Twelve years after winning the silver medal, Pace invited Deseret News reporters and photographers to her home to watch some of her former skeleton competitors perform live, including this year’s gold medalist Jennifer Flock of Austria.

“When I compete, it’s really heartening to see that there are still athletes competing. But this may very well be the last Olympics where I’m going to have athletes that I compete with or against,” she said. “Then after this, I may not know who those athletes are.”

She added, “It’s a fun race because I still know some of the athletes as competitors and it’s great to see them and their long run in the sport that they’re still going to fight for and they’re still going to be on the podium.”

The Paces: A Family of Skeleton Analysts

It’s clear the Pace family knows their bones when commentating on their athletes’ runs. It’s not just Noelle and Jenson. Lacey and Treyson, who were both on hand to watch their mother’s final Olympics, also offered their own comments.

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Lacee Pace was just 6 when her mom won silver — she still remembers the cheers in the Russian stands — but you wouldn’t know it from her skeletal IQ.

“I love hearing Lacee’s comments about the skeleton. I’m like, ‘Oh, she knows.’ She’s always like, ‘Oh, ah, ah.'” But before Pace could finish, Lacey Pace interjected, “Her head is too high.”

Pace agreed with his daughter’s observation. “I’m so proud of you. You see these things. That’s awesome,” she said.

High school track and field athlete Lacee Pace will soon serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the other side of the mountains in the Swiss Alps that serve as the backdrop for the Milan Olympics venues.

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While none of Pace’s children participate in the sport, Saturday morning’s skeleton viewing inspired the family to come up with a plan to have all four Pace children join the U.S. team when the 2034 Winter Olympics return to Utah.

Lacee Pace will play mixed doubles in speed skating and curling with Traycen, who will put his golf career on hold to form a brother-sister team, like this year’s gold medalists Isabella and Rasmus Wranå of Sweden.

Maki will follow in her mother’s footsteps and become the next Pace family skeleton star. His answer earned him a high five from his mom. Payton will compete in luge, which is a bit disappointing to his mother but still earns him a high five because it’s a sliding sport.

“Luge is actually a really good sport,” she said, later adding that she would be signing up the twins in the class of 2034 for speed skating.

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Watch a friend become a gold medalist

Entering the fourth round of preliminaries, Austrian player Flock is in the lead. She is also backing Flock, in addition to Roy and fellow American Kelly Curtis, who Pace has previously said she was happy to support.

The Austrian made her Olympic debut at the same Games where she won silver in Pest. Pace described her as “one of the sweetest athletes on the track.”

“Oh, I really hope she gets this,” Pace said as Flock started running. The two-time Olympian was all smiles and staring intently at the TV, almost willing to grab the gold medal from his couch. “She’s amazing. You can see her intelligence. Oh my God.”

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Pace could not keep his hands still, sometimes clenching his fists, sometimes clapping his hands, sometimes putting his hands under his knees, and then putting them back under his knees.

“She did it. She was on top,” Jensen said of Flock.

“She still has to come up,” Pace corrected, gesturing with his hands. “Right here, right here, right here.”

After Flock crossed the finish line, Pace raised his arms in celebration and leaned back on the couch. Her friend and former rival finally won her first Olympic medal.