Colin Jost Reveals Gnarly Injuries That Ended Olympic Coverage Dreams

Tens of thousands of athletes have flocked to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, but surfing athletes—along with the correspondents—were nearly 10,000 miles away from metropolitan France to catch waves in Tahiti. To help cover the events, NBC dispatched Colin Jost to serve as a special correspondent, but wasn't exactly a trip to paradise for the Saturday Night Live star. 

A few days after the Olympics began, Jost scraped his foot on a coral reef, resulting in some gnarly open wounds. "I have been walking in place in this yard because, if I stay still, ants begin crawling inside the wounds... which was not something I anticipated," he told commentator Maria Taylor. 

A few days later, Jost joked that he was seeing medical professionals on site in Teahupo'o more than the athletes actually competing in the games. This was partially because he ended up developing an infection on his foot. 

"I've been visiting the medical tent regularly. It's a weird feeling when you're in the medical tent way more than any of the athletes. It feels like being a war correspondent and saying, 'Hey, army, could I have a Band-Aid?'" he quipped. "I think the medical staff at this point, they know my name, they're very familiar with my badge ID number, they know I'm allergic to penicillin."

He revealed that he was told by the medical professionals that they needed to start seeing him every day because the infection hadn't improved. When Taylor asked him to tell a joke, Jost was quick on his feet (no pun intended). 

"Do I have a joke? I'm here. Colin Jost is a surf correspondent. That's the joke," he said, deadpan. "Or, why did the chicken cross the road? To peck at the staph infection in my foot."

"Do I have a joke? Yeah, I'm here." Colin Jost gives an update on his staph-infected foot in his latest live shot with NBC Olympics Late Night host Maria Taylor. #SNL #Olympics2024Paris @MariaTaylor pic.twitter.com/KorNkozVYy

— LateNighter (@latenightercom) July 30, 2024

NBC ended up sending Jost home ahead of the surfing finals, handing off coverage to Australian broadcaster Luke Bradnam. Surfing competition wrapped up Aug. 5. Neither the network nor Jost have issued a statement explaining the decision.