Fans banned from Olympics as Japan declares COVID state of emergency localnews8.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from localnews8.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The Tokyo Olympics made history last year when they were postponed until this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now comes another unfortunate first.
Facing a surge in coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital, the government has declared a new state of emergency beginning next week and officials confirmed Thursday what had been suspected for months the Summer Games will proceed for the first time with no spectators allowed in the stands.
The sound of silence in empty stadiums and arenas will inarguably diminish the massive sports competition, said the International Olympic Committee, organizers and government officials in a joint statement that offered “regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place.”
Let’s just let Steve Kornacki do everything.
NBC Sports announced Monday that Kornacki, whose day job is national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, will join the coverage team for the Kentucky Derby Saturday on NBC.
Why not? Kornacki, whose, shall we say,
enthusiastic analysis of the 2020 election earned him the nickname “chartthrob,” decked out in his ever-present khakis while hunched over a video board raving about how a small Georgia county was trending, has already tackled another sport. He chimed in on “Football Night in America” last fall.
“We expect he will be right at home working a sport that includes terms like neck-and-neck, down-to-the-wire, and dead heat,” Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer of NBC Sports’ Kentucky Derby coverage and “Football Night in America,” said in a statement.
Steve Kornacki will cover the Kentucky Derby for NBC Why stop there? freep.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freep.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
FOUR-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS JOINS NBC SPORTS KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE, SATURDAY, MAY 1 AT 2:30 PM ET ON NBC 04/20/21
Four-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross, will join NBC Sports’ 2021 Kentucky Derby coverage as a lifestyle and fashion correspondent next Saturday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Richards-Ross will offer commentary on the fashion and pageantry at Churchill Downs on the Saturday, May 1 Kentucky Derby broadcast at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and the Kentucky Oaks show, Friday, April 30 at Noon ET on NBCSN.
Richards-Ross, who will be attending her first Kentucky Derby, served as a guest analyst on NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials before joining the track & field team on a regular basis at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She also co-hosts Central Ave., a syndicated weekly lifestyle show.