(AbsoluteNews.com) – The Winter Olympics start on February 4, but not every network will be present in Beijing, China, to comment on the events. On January 19, NBC Sports announced it wouldn’t send any announcing teams to report on the games in February due to coronavirus concerns. The teams were going to cover the figure skating, snowboarding, and Alpine skiing competitions in person, but will now call the events from its Stamford, Connecticut location. However, NBC Olympic host Mike Tirico will be in Beijing briefly to cover the events just prior to the start of the games and the opening ceremony. Shortly after, he’ll depart Beijing and head to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, California.
NBC Olympics president Molly Solomon: "We're going to be focusing on telling the stories of Team USA and covering the competition, but the world as we all know is a really complicated place right now and we understand there are some difficult issues regarding the host nation."
— Neil Best (@sportswatch) January 19, 2022
Winter sports analyst Todd Richards said the move won’t affect how he does his job because even if he were present in China, he would be “staring at a computer screen.” It appears NBC has concerns over the country’s zero-tolerance policy and doesn’t want anyone held up for quarantine while attending the Olympics.
ESPN recently reported the game’s organizers would only allow selected spectators because of the pandemic. To date, no other news source publicly announced plans to stay home during the Winter Games.
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