NBC Olympics announces talent roster for 2014 Paralympic Winter Games

NBC's Paralympics talent roster has won 45 Paralympic medals, including 30 gold

Chris Waddell, most-decorated male skier in Paralympic history, to host opening ceremony; Jessica Long to join NBC Paralympics coverage as on-site reporter

NBC Olympics and the U.S. Olympic Committee will present an unprecedented 52 hours of coverage of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games with 13 commentators, including seven veteran Olympic commentators and four Paralympians who have competed in 16 Paralympic Games, winning a combined 45 medals (30 gold, 10 silver and five bronze). The collective on-air and competition experience of NBC's Paralympics talent roster totals 42 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Paralympians on Team NBC include: Chris Waddell, the most-decorated male skier in Paralympic history; 17-time Paralympic swimming medalist Jessica Long, who was the subject of the 20-minute feature "Long Way Home: The Jessica Long Story," which aired during NBC's Olympic coverage; 12-time Paralympic skiing gold medalist Sarah Will; and two-time Paralympic sled hockey medalist Kip St. Germaine. The career 45 Paralympic medals won by Team NBC would have led the medal count at the 2010 Paralympics, ahead of Russia (38) and Germany (24).

The Paralympic commentator roster includes the following Olympic veterans: Russ Thaler, who hosted "Olympic Ice" during the Sochi Games and regularly hosts NHL studio and MLS coverage; Carolyn Manno, who reported on freestyle skiing and is the co-host of "SportsDash with Yahoo! Sports"; five-time Olympic snowboarding play-by-play voice Todd Harris; Olympic biathlon play-by-play voice Steve Schlanger; analyst and 1998 Nagano Olympic biathlete Stacey Wooley; eight-time Olympic bobsled, luge and skeleton reporter Lewis Johnson; analyst and Olympic curling bronze medalist Pete Fenson; three-time Olympic play-by-play Jim Watson; and veteran Olympic hockey announcer Dave Strader.

The team will cover all five Paralympic winter sports - alpine skiing (which includes snowboarding), cross-country skiing, biathlon, wheelchair curling and sled hockey - across NBC, NBCSN and TeamUSA.org.

The opening ceremony will air live Friday, March 7, at 11 a.m. ET on NBCSN. Waddell, who won 12 medals in sit-skiing over four Paralympic Winter Games, and was inducted into the U.S. Paralympic Hall of Fame as well as the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, will host the opening ceremony live alongside Schlanger.