It’s not bad being Colin Jost. He’s been a Saturday Night Live star for years and the longest serving host of the show’s Weekend Update. He’s married to Scarlett Johansson. And now he’s going to the Olympics for NBC. But not to Paris, no, to Tahiti.
Jost will travel to the French Polynesian paradise to cover just the second Olympic surfing competition on the other side of the world for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It’s not a surprise what you’re probably thinking – if Jost negotiated this into his NBC contract, it’s a brilliant move on his part. If NBC decided to gift him the assignment, he’s the luckiest man working for the peacock network today. But as a matter of fact, Jost is actually a surfer! See, it’s right here in Page Six! And there are really official looking pictures that may or may not be real!
“As you can tell from this in-no-way-doctored photo, I can’t wait to get to Tahiti to cover the 2024 Olympic surfing competition and maybe even get seriously injured trying to surf!” –@ColinJost
Saturday Night Live performer/writer and New York Times best-selling author Colin… pic.twitter.com/yNcuyNoRj2
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 26, 2024
Here’s the actual announcement from NBC Sports:
Saturday Night Live performer/writer and New York Times best-selling author Colin Jost will cover the surfing competition from Teahupo’o, Tahiti, part of French Polynesia, for NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, it was announced today. This will only be the second-ever Olympic surfing competition after the sport debuted during the Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021 and will take place nearly 10,000 miles away from the center of Olympic action in Paris.
Jost will travel to Tahiti in advance of the competition, which begins on July 27, where he will preview the waves and interview athletes.
“Colin Jost hit the NBC Sports jackpot with an epic assignment covering surfing in Tahiti for the Paris Olympics,” says Molly Solomon, Executive Producer and President, Production, NBC Olympics. “Although the setting is a little different than the Weekend Update desk in Studio 8H, Colin, an avid surfer, is going to bring his unique flair to reporting on the competition, athletes, and beautiful surroundings in one of the most breathtaking Olympic venues ever. Tune in to see if he catches a wave for America.”
Jost is just the latest celebrity to take part in NBC’s Olympic coverage, which seems like it’s more tricked out than ever before in terms of who the network is bringing on board this summer. Everyone from Peyton Manning to Kelly Clarkson to Snoop Dogg to Jost will take part in the festivities this year.
Colin Jost should at least add a bit of starpower and his trademark comedic stylings to the Olympic surfing competition, and the views from Tahiti will certainly be worth tuning in for. Time will tell if NBC pulling out all the stops from across sports and pop culture will result in a ratings rebound this year.