Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on Missing the Beijing Olympics: ‘It Just Didn’t Make Sense for Us’

Despite all the high-tech tricks, political posturing and pyrotechnics, the best part of the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics proved to be the athletes.

Savannah Guthrie has become a beloved figure on morning television, so her fans understandably noticed when she took to social media to reveal that she would be absent from TV for a bit.MORE: Savannah Guthrie details her very real visit to the dentistThe Today star took to Instagram to relish in the fact that she would have an extended weekend break from the show following a Monday break for President's Day.WATCH: Savannah Guthrie's son sends adorable message to his sisterShe shared a picture of a pair of feathered slippers with an S and G on them and written below: "Out of Office." In her caption, she said: "Happy holiday weekend, y'all!!!"Fans immediately took to the comments to wish Savannah a long and restful holiday weekend, with one saying: "Love those slippers," and another writing: "Have an amazing weekend!!!"MORE: Savannah Guthrie has fans saying the same thing after Super Bowl ad"Same to you, Savannah," a third said, with one fan commenting: "Happy Weekend Ms.

Vladyslav Heraskevych, who is representing Ukraine in the skeleton race, unfurled an 8 X 10″ sign as he came off his third of four heats that read simply, in English, “No War in Ukraine.” It marks the first overtly political statement from a competitor in a Games that has been rife with subtle (and not to subtle) political messaging.

Focusing on the positive. After a difficult start at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin offered a glimpse at how she approached her remaining time at the international sports competition.

A legendary career. Shaun White reflected on his snowboarding achievements after his final Olympic Games ended without a medal.

Kamila Valieva is cementing her place as one of the greatest figure skaters of all time and she is only 15-years-old.

kicked off their opening day, tweeting her thoughts about the city’s alleged human rights violations.“There is no reason to watch a Winter Olympics that is holding up and spreading propaganda for a regime that is committing actual genocide and ethnic cleansing,” she claimed. “On top of poisoning the world and killing 6 million people.

Go team go! Team USA has a long history of winning at the Winter Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Games are no different.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorShaun White has announced his official retirement from competitive snowboarding, with Beijing 2022 marking not only his last time on the Olympic stage, but also in any official competition.“It will be my last competition, which is pretty special,” White told a news conference in Zhangjiakou, China on Saturday, according to the official Olympic website. “It’s been a beautiful run.

It’s early days at the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, but NBC must already be praying for some Gold medal glory or the Super Bowl to give them a boost. Right now, coming off record low viewership in the first night of primetime coverage, the billions the Comcast-owned network fork out to broadcast the Games until 2032 isn’t looking like money well spent.

Chinese authorities interrupted a Dutch journalist’s live report on the Winter Olympics Friday, dragging him off-camera and creating confusion as to why his broadcast was halted.

Meghan McCain has slammed the 2022 Winter Olympics, branding them the "Genocide Games" over China's human rights abuses.MORE: Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie share disappointment over 2022 Winter Olympics newsThe 37-year-old took to social media to share an image designed by Chinese artist badiucao, which was created in protest of the host country. It showed an ice hockey player wearing the Chinese flag with blood on their stick and mask as they knocked over a Tibetan monk.WATCH: Meghan McCain announces departure from The View"I will not watch one minute of the @Beijing2022," she captioned her post, adding the hashtag, "#GenocideGames."On Twitter, she expanded on her opinion, writing: "There is no reason to watch a Winter Olympics that is holding up and spreading propaganda for a regime that is committing actual genocide and ethnic cleansing - on top of poisoning the world and killing 6 million people.

Ellise Shafer A Dutch journalist was interrupted and pulled out of frame by a Chinese security guard while covering the Beijing Olympics on Friday.As can be seen in a video that quickly went viral on Friday, NOS correspondent Sjoerd den Daas was reporting outside of the National Stadium in Beijing during the Olympics’ opening ceremony when he was stopped by a security guard and pushed out of frame.Onze correspondent @sjoerddendaas werd om 12.00u live in het NOS Journaal door beveiligers voor de camera weggetrokken. Helaas is dit steeds vaker de dagelijkse realiteit voor journalisten in China.

The opening ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has happened and we have tons of great photos from the event.

Jenna Bush Hager and Carson Daly were among Savannah Guthrie's pals who were quick to comment as she shared a picture with her new co-anchor.MORE: Savannah Guthrie shares throwback baby bump photo during touching on-air tributeThe Today Show host was joined by Lindsey Vonn to host NBC special presentation of the 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, and the pair shared a super sweet selfie.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticOn the first day of the Olympic Games, the “Today” show had an unenviable task.The flagship NBC morning show is a key engine for goosing excitement over the Olympics, and its Friday-morning broadcast recapping the just-concluded opening ceremony in Beijing was intended, in part, to boost the Games. But the show’s flagship talent, Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, were stuck stateside in light of COVID-19, and the happy chatter about athletes’ prospects in the days ahead was balanced with an unusual volume of conversation about geopolitics.

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details of this morning’s Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony live on NBC.

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie will not be making their way to China for the 2022 Winter Olympics due to COVID protocols, and the pair have now shared how "bummed" they are with the news.MORE: Savannah Guthrie shares throwback baby bump photo during touching on-air tributeThe Today Show anchors are usually among the many NBC stars who travel for the games, but this year the pandemic and ongoing fears of a resurgence have forced NBC to alter plans. Hoda and Savannah also both recently suffered from the virus, and fear that they may test positive again while in China.WATCH: Hoda and Savannah share how to watch the Winter Olympic GamesSpeaking to People magazine, Hoda shared her disappointment that the team won't get to "bond" and "have a great time as a team." "So that part I'm missing, because I love that part.