Couric apologizes for comments on Dutch

Katie Couric apologized for saying that the Dutch are so successful in speed skating because skates have been used as a form of transportation when canals freeze in the Netherlands.

Her remark during the Olympics’ opening ceremony invited some Dutch mockery on social media from people who said the information was outdated. The Netherlands embassy to the United States invited Couric to visit the country to see all of the innovative ways the Dutch get around.

Couric late Monday tweeted her apologies for being on thin ice with her comments.

The veteran anchor said she was trying to salute the country’s historic passion for the sport, but it didn’t come out that way.

NBC: Five days into the Olympics, NBC is taking a cautious victory lap.

While viewership is down from the Sochi Games four years ago, it’s not by as much as most TV shows have dropped in the past four years. More importantly for NBC, the audience is bigger so far than the network privately promised advertisers, giving its executives the chance to make more money.

Monday continued that trend. The Nielsen company said 22.3 million people watched the Olympics in prime time, 20.9 million of them on NBC. That compares with NBC’S viewership of 22.4 million for the corresponding night four years ago.

Skiing: Mikaela Shiffrin’s debut at the wind-blown Pyeongchang Olympics was postponed a second time.

Plans to run the slalom, with Shiffrin defending her title from 2014, were shelved one hour after the original scheduled start at 10:15 a.m. South Korea time. The race will be held Friday instead.

That creates a busy program for the next two days: Two women’s technical races at Yongpyong and two men’s speed races at Jeongseon, 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.

Norovirus: Five more cases of norovirus were reported at the Pyeongchang Olympics, bringing the total confirmed cases to 199 since the beginning of the month.

Of the new cases reported, two are in Pyeongchang and two are in Gangneung, the South Korean city where ice sports are taking place.

Authorities said 154 of those affected have recovered and been released from quarantine.

Earlier in the Olympics, about 1,200 security workers were sequestered over norovirus fears, forcing the military to step in to help with security.

Norovirus is a common, infectious bug that causes symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting but doesn’t require medical treatment.

There are signs all over the Olympics reminding people to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer.