Photo: Hagen Hopkins/NBC/Getty
For theTodayteam, theOlympicsare “almost like summer camp,” saysHoda Kotb.
“The pandemic obviously has changed plans in a multitude of ways. This is just another example,” saysSavannah Guthrie, who was originally set to host NBC’s Opening Ceremony coverage live from Beijing, but will now do so remotely from Stamford, Connecticut, Friday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. EST. “Like everything, we’ve just adjusted.”
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“That’s the reason I can’t be there, becauseI just had COVIDway too close in time,” says Guthrie. “And there’s a not-insignificant risk that you pop a positive test while there, and if you do, that triggers all kinds of protocols that are understandable, so it just didn’t make sense for us.”
“Normally, this is two weeks where we get to bond and have a great time as a team,” Kotb says, “So that part I’m missing, because I love that part. That’s the bummer part of it.”
There are, however, a few people who are veryhappyabout the turn of events: their kids.
“No one wants to leave their kids behind for two weeks,” says Kotb, who ismom to Haley, 4, and Hope, 2.
“My kids are real happy. When I said, ‘Mommy does not have to go to China for two weeks,’ they were very,veryhappy,” adds Guthrie, who is mom toVale, 7, andCharley, 5. “The main upside to not going is to get to be with your kids. When we do go, we miss them like crazy, but honestly, I feel like my kids, they really appreciate me for the first 10, 20 minutes I’m home.”
Adds Kotb: “When you come home and walk in the door it’s like a ticker-tape parade — one that ends quickly!”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.To register to cheer on Team USA at the TODAY Plaza at Rockefeller Center head toToday.com.
source: people.com
