WASHINGTON — TODAY Show co-host Savannah Guthrie will be handling her Olympic duties stateside for the Winter Games, including commentary for the Opening Ceremony.
Prime-time host Mike Tirico addressed the coverage plan, brought about in part by China’s strict COVID-19 policies, at the start of the Opening Ceremony broadcast.
“We’ve adapted our coverage in light of the conditions here in China,” he told the audience. “Which means in addition to our personnel here on the ground in Beijing we have more than 1,000 back in our NBC Sports headquarters in Connecticut, including Savannah Guthrie.”
Tirico will anchor coverage from Beijing from Feb. 3-10 before flying to Los Angeles to host the next three days and the network’s coverage of the Super Bowl. NBC said it would determine over Super Bowl weekend where Tirico would be based for the final week of the Games.
During the Tokyo Olympics, Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were among the members of the TODAY team who still traveled to Japan. They told PEOPLE Magazine it was a “bummer” they wouldn’t be able to travel to the Winter Olympics, but said their kids were all excited they’d be staying home.
It will be the second straight Games for which the broadcast teams will work mostly out of NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, rather than the host city.
“Something significant has changed virtually every day for the last three months, forcing us to adjust our plan numerous times. And I expect that to continue as well as the challenge of doing the Olympics,” said Molly Solomon, the head of NBC’s Olympics production unit.
“With COVID’s changing conditions and China’s zero-tolerance policy, it’s just added a layer of complexity to all of this, so we need to make sure we can provide the same quality experience to the American viewers. That’s why we are split between the two cities.”
NBC has called action remotely for some sports during past Olympics, including basketball and hockey. Remote coverage became common on all networks during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in 2020 and early last year when fans were not allowed in many arenas and stadiums.
Most of NBC’s announcers were stateside for the Summer Games, but the marquee sports of track and field, swimming and gymnastics had announcers in Tokyo.
NBC is not alone in sending a smaller team to the Olympics this year. In fact, all outsiders are being kept at arms length for the duration of the games.
Olympic athletes, media and workers will be cut off from the rest of China during the Games, with the only places they can go being competition venues, their accommodations and transportation between the two.
China plans to isolate anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 for at least two days, pending a negative result. The country also has a mandatory 21-day isolation period for anyone entering the country who isn’t vaccinated.
Several U.S. athletes, including Elana Meyers Taylor, who was elected as one of Team USA’s flag bearers, have been stuck in quarantine after testing positive for COVID. She is replaced at the opening ceremony by Brittany Bowe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.