With the last of his Olympics-themed Nightly News broadcast scheduled to take place from Japan on Thursday, August 5, Parade.com caught up with Holt to ask him about being there in person, how NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition has attempted to cover the Games, what’s always in his bag on business trips and whether he thinks mental health is the big story of the 2020 Olympics.
What a unique time to cover the Olympics—you don’t need me to tell you that! What is the feeling like on the ground there? Is it appreciation for the unity that the Olympics provides, or apprehension about the dangers of being together right now?
You know, it seems like there’s an abundance of really good, feel-good moments between athletes: helping each other, embracing each other, cheering each other on. It’s hard to measure that against previous Olympics, but you certainly get a sense of unity. I think the athletes are just delighted to be here and to get this show on the road and compete. Whenever I have a conversation with them, I’m usually the one that brings up COVID or some of the challenges of these Games, not them. They want to talk about their sports. They were itching to get here and it’s happening now and they’re excited.
We all know about Simone Biles’ ups and downs at this Games. You also did an excellent piece on sprinter Noah Lyles and how the events from this past year can mentally impact these athletes. How do you think this Olympics is moving the needle in recognizing the importance of mental health for everyone, not just superhuman athletes?
It’s hard to measure it, but just anecdotally, in conversations that I’ve had with people, with coworkers, a lot of people have begun to admit that, yeah, I struggle, I’ve had anxiety before. Now, obviously it comes in different levels of severity, but I think the fact that we’re talking about it and recognizing that it’s a real thing is important and I think it will have a lasting effect. You know, MichaelPhelps was a voice who has been talking about this for some time, very open about it, and the more we acknowledge it, I think the better off we all are. As far as the athletes are concerned, I think they’re looking for some recognition that it’s not just their physical prowess and their conditioning, which we can all see. It is also their headspace; their mental condition is a part of it and that’s harder for us as fans to see when we’re watching them perform. We’re doing the oohs and aahs because they made a great dismount or had a great race, but we’re not really seeing what’s happening in their minds—and so many of them that I’ve spoken to here have, in some form or fashion, spoken about their headspace and where they’re at.
The first Olympics you covered was Salt Lake City in 2002, five months after 9/11. This Olympics is also taking place during an extreme time. Do all Olympics feel the same, or are they all a bit different when you’re actually experiencing it on the ground?
Well, most of them that I’ve covered have had some adversity going in, some issue, some question of how smooth the Games would go on. But every one of them ultimately does come off and people have fond memories of it. It’s hard to compare anything to this particular Olympics because it’s been so unusual, except for the fact that once the athletes are doing what they do, once they start competing, a lot of those other things we were keeping a close eye on kind of fade away. We can’t escape COVID, at least not right now, but it’s not at the top of mind for people that I’ve spoken to here. People are talking like they do at every Olympics about scores and medals and inspiring moments.
Do you have a favorite Olympic sport?
You know, I have a couple. I really enjoy watching swimming in person because you get a new appreciation for just how fast these human beings are. I love sports that are first-one-to-the-finish-line, as opposed to judging sports. But I would say I also really enjoy beach volleyball, the men and women’s beach volleyball, they just lay it all out there and they’ve been doing it in this really blazing heat with this hot sand, but they’re really impressive to watch.
You’re a frequent flier for work, so with travel restrictions starting to ease up and many people itching to go places, I’m wondering what your best travel tips are for this day and age.
This is my third international trip in the last few months. There are certain requirements in each country… in terms of testing and documentation and permissions. So I usually make sure I have all of those, I make multiple copies, put them in my suitcase along with copies of my passport. I bring along extra passport photos in case I go to a place that requires a visa with a picture. I bring shot records — not just my COVID shot record, because there are other things I’m also inoculated against as a traveling journalist. So I’m always trying to think of where I could end up. I’ve tried to bring as many universal phone plugs as possible. Again, depending where you are in the world, you could be caught out and not be able to charge your phone. Those are some of the nerdy things that I do.
I wanted to ask you about NBC’s Nightly News: Kids Edition. Is delivering news to kids that different, and if so, what are some of the biggest differences you keep in mind as you’re putting that broadcast together?
We have kind of grown and learned as we go along. We recognize that we can’t ignore big stories — Black Lives Matter is one of the things we covered, but we try to do it in a way that informs the kids about what’s going on and encourages them to speak to their families about it. So sometimes we’ll do some of the heavier stories and we’ll say, “Kids, you may want to grab a parent or an adult right now to watch this with you and discuss it with you.” But I think a lot of things we talk about, they’re aware of it. They obviously know about COVID—even though I think all of us, early in the pandemic, were kind of closing our eyes and hoping it would go away. But you have to confront your fears, sometimes and one of the things I talk about in the program is that information is really empowering—the more you can put something into perspective in terms of how scary it really is, or maybe not scary at all. So I try to talk in terms like that. Not talking down to them, but make them aware that we’re really speaking to them.
You’ve done some great coverage on some of the lesser-known stories coming out of these Games. Is there one that has really stuck with you?
I don’t know that I have a particular one. I mean, I’ve talked to a lot of athletes and you really get an appreciation for how beat up they are, how many injuries they’ve sustained. I talked to a young woman on the American BMX freestyle team [HannahRoberts] telling me how, at 10 years old, she’d already broken her back and some of the other injuries she suffered. There’s just something about the perseverance that these folks endure to get here. Next, find out how much Team USA athletes earn for winning medals at the Olympics!
