Craig Melvin

Hey, everyone.

Craig Melvin here from today.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are finally here.

And as we gear up for the games, the Today Show is celebrating the athletes who define what it means to push for greatness on our podcast series, The Road to Milan.

NBC News correspondent Stephanie Goss sits down with athletes at every step of the Olympic journey, from seasoned veterans like Lindsey Vonn and Michaela Schifrin to newcomers like Isabel Levito and Jordan Stolz, who are stepping onto the world stage for the first time ever.

It's a great way to get to know the athletes who are about to give it their all as the world watches.

Listen on the Today Podcast feed or search The Road to Milan wherever you get your podcasts.

Well, you know, my primary obligation remains to Dateline. This Dateline thing, this is correct.

Well, you know, my primary obligation remains to Dateline. This Dateline thing, this is correct.

Well, it was all-consuming, man. It was all-consuming in Columbia, South Carolina, where I'm from. WIS Television was the big station there, still is. And it was one of those stories for two weeks. Multiple stories, every newscast. And this little town, Union, South Carolina, where it happened, it was about an hour from where I grew up. Things like this didn't happen at Union. I mean, Union was...

Well, it was all-consuming, man. It was all-consuming in Columbia, South Carolina, where I'm from. WIS Television was the big station there, still is. And it was one of those stories for two weeks. Multiple stories, every newscast. And this little town, Union, South Carolina, where it happened, it was about an hour from where I grew up. Things like this didn't happen at Union. I mean, Union was...

It was like Mayberry, you know, everyone knew everybody, you know, half the towns related to the other half. I mean, that's just kinda, there's just small town, South Carolina. You know, I grew up a good Baptist boy. Even I remember on church on Sunday, you know, we were praying for these boys. We were praying for their safe return. Like it was just that there were ribbons that had gone up.

It was like Mayberry, you know, everyone knew everybody, you know, half the towns related to the other half. I mean, that's just kinda, there's just small town, South Carolina. You know, I grew up a good Baptist boy. Even I remember on church on Sunday, you know, we were praying for these boys. We were praying for their safe return. Like it was just that there were ribbons that had gone up.

I can't remember the color, but I remember they had these ribbons all over cities and towns just remembering Michael and Alex. So yeah, it was top of mind for a long time.

I can't remember the color, but I remember they had these ribbons all over cities and towns just remembering Michael and Alex. So yeah, it was top of mind for a long time.

None of that happened. You got the benefit of the doubt back then, certainly more often than not. You had this young white woman, and I hate even saying this now 30 years later, she didn't look like someone who might kill their children. She just didn't look the part. And so from jump, she immediately starts to garner respect.

None of that happened. You got the benefit of the doubt back then, certainly more often than not. You had this young white woman, and I hate even saying this now 30 years later, she didn't look like someone who might kill their children. She just didn't look the part. And so from jump, she immediately starts to garner respect.

Justifiable sympathy, you know, and so it triggers this this manhunt and you've got.

Justifiable sympathy, you know, and so it triggers this this manhunt and you've got.

And that obviously helped tremendously. And then when they put out the pictures first and then the video of these little boys, it was really sort of the perfect storm. She would see the searches. She would see the helicopters in the air, the bloodhounds on the ground, all of these investigators, these volunteers. And she still kept it up. And it wasn't just the telling of the lie.