The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full swing.
While almost every competition is being held in the historic city of Paris, France, there’s one Olympic event that had to be exported to a site nearly 10,000 miles away from where the games are being held – surfing. Instead of the best surfers in the world gathering in Paris, they are all staying and competing in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, which boasts the “most perfect waves” on planet Earth.
In other words, all of the surfers that qualified for the summer Olympics are living their best lives in Tahiti. They lucked out and got both an incredible place to stay (avoiding the cardboard beds of the Olympic villages) and a stunning view of the French Polynesia. There hasn’t been a ton of coverage of surfing so far, but a couple of iconic images have already made their way out of the surfing competition.
From this incredible, real photo of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina:
This moment from Olympic Men's Surfing. 🤯 #GabrielMedina#OlympicSurfing
📸 Getty Images/Jerome Brouillet pic.twitter.com/AtasnkVApY
— World Surf League (@wsl) July 30, 2024
To this not-so-flattering moment of a rare full-moon spotting in Tahiti, thanks to German surfer Tim Elter:
Let's just say there was a full moon during this Olympic surfing competition. #ParisOlympics 🏄♂️📺🌕🍑pic.twitter.com/H8yhdC7GiC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 27, 2024
Somehow, despite all of the viral moments that have come out of olympic surfing so far, a non-athlete covering the events in Tahiti on behalf of NBC has stolen the show. Some might not recognize Colin Jost since he’s not sitting behind the iconic Weekend Update desk, but the SNL cast member somehow got sent out to Tahiti to help with the surfing coverage.
And it’s been a disaster.
Jost, someone with surfing experience himself (who once had his life saved by Jimmy Buffett after a surfing accident), started out his time in Tahiti by getting an open wound on his foot. He details how that happened, and how he was handling it, in this update:
“This job has been a total joy. There are some obstacles that I did not anticipate. For example, before you came to me, I had gotten some open wounds on my foot from hitting coral reef. I actually have been walking in place in this yard because if I stand still, ants begin crawling inside the wounds.”
It’s constantly hard to tell if Colin Jost covering Olympic surfing in Tahiti is an SNL sketch or a serious journalism assignment pic.twitter.com/WxkeKlBFzA
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) July 29, 2024
And if the wounds on Jost’s feet weren’t enough (they’ve apparently turned into staph infections), Jost provided another update last night that he woke up with an ear infection. As he was medicating himself with Piña coladas, the comedian correspondent gave an update on his health:
“I woke up this morning and discovered that I had added ear infection to my growing list of ailments. So I’m now on three different medications – four if you count Piña coladas. My new goal by the time I leave here is to have as many infections as there are Olympic events.”
Colin Jost says he woke up Tuesday with an ear infection… in addition to the staph infection on his foot. "My new goal is to have as many infections as there are Olympic Events" he tells Mike Tirico. #SNL #Olympics2024Paris pic.twitter.com/iKz2smvvV3
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) July 31, 2024
So much for that cushy gig out in paradise. It has been tough sledding out in Tahiti for Colin Jost, but I refuse to feel bad for someone that’s married to Scarlett Johansson…
