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Hoda Kotb left 'weeping' during emotional moment far away from home
By Ahad Sanwari,
2024-07-31
Today Show Host Hoda Kotb yells support to Simone Biles after exiting the competition during the Women's team final on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan (Getty Images)
The 59-year-old TV anchor and her co-hosts Savannah Guthrie , Craig Melvin , and Al Roker flew down to the French capital last week to cover the Games for the network, and it's been eventful to say the least.
Hoda and Savannah, in particular, have already made several buzzworthy moments of their own reacting in the stands to the triumphs from the U.S. Olympics Artistic Gymnastics teams , both men and women.
Simone Biles , Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, now dubbed the "Golden Girls," secured their team gold after a tough battle against silver medalists Italy and bronze medalists Brazil.
When the five stepped onto the podium for the medal ceremony and the American national anthem was played, the moment seemingly left Hoda in tears, as she told Team U.S.A. later .
Hoda spoke with the athletes after their historic win at Bercy Arena, and confessed that she was "weeping" with them, saying: "When that anthem played, for the United States, y'all stood up there on that podium, I was behind you and I was weeping, man!"
The emotional Hoda gushed that she felt like a "proud mom" watching them bask in their glory, and Jordan confirmed that she was "definitely crying" in response.
Hoda and Savannah spoke on the show the following morning with Jade and Hezly while Simone and Suni prepped for their individual all-around finals on Thursday, August 1. Suni is the defending all-around gold medalist, while Simone won the same medal in Rio in 2016.
This is officially the second gold medal for Jade, who won the hardware back in 2021 at Tokyo for the floor final, and this is the first win for 16-year-old Olympic debutante Hezly, the youngest member of the Team U.S.A. delegate.
"It just feels so incredible," Jade said on the Today Show . "I'm super excited and super proud of this team, of everything we've overcome to get back here on top of the podium again."
In 2021, the American team lost the Team finals to the Russian Olympic Committee (which is banned from this year's Games) amid Simone Biles' withdrawal due to her mental health. However, they still came away with the silver medal.
As for upcoming events, Fred Richard and Paul Juda from the men's team will compete in the individual all-around final today after making a comeback with their own team bronze earlier this week, the first gymnastics medal for the American men's team since 2008.
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