That of course was well before the omicron variant began raging around the world, creating increasing concerns that anyone traveling to Beijing, from the athletes of the world to accredited members of the media, could test positive while at the Games and have to spend days and even weeks in quarantine.
“The Beijing model is going to be very similar to Tokyo in that the heartbeat of our Olympic operation will actually be in Stamford, Conn., at our NBC Sports headquarters. We’ll have more personnel there than in the host city,” said Molly Solomon, president and executive producer, NBC Olympics Production.
“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.”