Mike Tirico on circumnavigating the ‘penisgate’ story at the Olympics

Mike Tirico might have been surprised to learn of Olympic skiers taking part in penisgate when the scandal arose, but he understands it.

The Olympics aren’t the Olympics without some sort of scandal or controversy. And no, we’re not talking about Boomer Esiason being called a “p*ssy” for telling athletes to shut up and skate. We’re talking about ski jumpers allegedly injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to fly further, a scandal that has since been labeled “penisgate.”

“It’s a very deep research pool, and we will continue to get our best person on it.” 😅

– @miketirico on covering “crotchgate” in the #Olympics. pic.twitter.com/9MLvkge7Oa

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 13, 2026

Ski jumpers are allegedly injecting acid to enlarge their penises so they can be measured for larger, looser suits, which can then catch the wind like a sail, allowing the Olympians to make longer jumps. Tirico joined The Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning and was asked how a decorated broadcaster should handle a penisgate.

“I think the ski jumping thing is one of the funnier stories. I think we all go to great lengths to cover a story like that,” Tirico said with a chuckle. “Everything you say about that story is problematic in some way, shape, or form. Isn’t it funny? That is an only-in-the-Olympics funny story.”

A funny story, an international controversy, a cheating scandal, however you want to view it, Tirico gets the logic behind it.

“It makes sense,” the NBC announcer acknowledged. “It makes sense in all regards as you watch, anybody who’s sailed or put a kite up in the air, you see how you want to get the right amount of air to a certain place to keep that in the air long enough…we have not yet covered that story in primetime.”

What is NBC waiting for? When a scandal like this mars the Olympics, you can’t just sit on it, especially in primetime. The people deserve to know.

This is Tirico’s chance to do what many sports broadcasters have failed to do. Normalize the penis. There is a long list of people pleading with sportscasters to normalize the penis. The King of All Media, Howard Stern, soccer host and announcer Chris Wittyngham, WFAN producer Al Dukes, and WGN’s Pat Tomasulo have all called for more penises to be inserted into sports broadcasts. And this is Tirico’s chance to give the people what they want on the global stage.