Bermudians will be able to watch cross-country skier Tucker Murphy compete in the Winter Olympics on SportsMax which has been awarded exclusive rights to broadcast the XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia next month.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the broadcast rights in the Caribbean, which includes Bermuda, to International Media Content Ltd. (IMC), parent company of SportsMax.

IMC, which broadcast the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics, has acquired exclusive English-language broadcast rights on all media platforms, excluding internet and mobile rights, making IMC’s SportsMax and other authorised broadcasters the only place in the Caribbean to view the Winter Games.

Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said: “This agreement is another step in ensuring the universality of the Olympic Games. Having worked with IMC to broadcast both the Vancouver and London Games, we are very pleased to be able to rely on their expertise once again in Sochi.”

IOC member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, added: “IMC will provide live and delayed coverage on their own SportsMax channels and work with free-to-air broadcasters across the Caribbean, ensuring daily coverage of the Sochi Games for sports fans.”

SportsMax will provide live coverage of the Olympics on SportsMax and SportsMax2 starting with the opening ceremony on February 7 straight through to the final competition day on February 23. This will include the excitement of figure skating, downhill skiing and ice hockey live, plus daily highlights programming.

Pat Rousseau, the chairman of IMC, said: “This is part of IMC’s commitment to delivering to the Caribbean the most premier sporting events in the world. The addition of Sochi 2014 to IMC’s programming makes for an incredibly exciting broadcast year with the 2014 Fifa World Cup also coming from IMC.

“In 2010, IMC broadcast the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in the region and we are expecting a similar strong response from our subscribers for Sochi 2014.”