Olympics Update: Meredith Vieira Becomes the First Female Host of NBC’s Olympics Coverage

And it only took an eye infection so bad that an anchor became temporarily blind. Bob Costas, NBC’s long time host of their prime time Olympics coverage, has unfortunately come down with a pretty extreme eye infection just in time for the beginning of this year’s games. As long as he could still read notes and sit in a bright room, he was game to continue the job, but for the past three days, Matt Lauer has filled in. The Olympics and The Today Show make a pretty demanding schedule for Lauer, so starting tonight, NBC anchor Meredith Vieira will be filling in until Costas can make it back from sick leave. This will make her the first woman to ever host NBC’s primetime Olympics coverage solo.

But that’s not the only thing that’s happened since our last Olympics update:

• For the first time in history, a downhill skiing event has ended in a dead heat, with Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin both taking home the gold medal.
• Germany’s Carina Vogt is taking home the first gold medal in women’s ski jumping in history. The women’s division of the sport was only introduced this year after a long lobby by athletes.
• And for news that doesn’t involve world firsts, this is how Kate Hansen warms up: by putting on her headphones and dancing to Beyonce like no one’s watching. Flawless.
• For The Daily Show, Jason Jones interviews the human-on-the-Russian-street about gay rights, and finds one woman whose beautiful answer is a quote from Joss Whedon‘s Angel.

(photo credit to Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters/Reuters)