--- title: Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics Due to Zika Concerns description: Savannah Guthrie is expecting her second child and will be opting out of the Olympics in Rio over concerns of the Zika virus. canonical: https://time.com/4359685/savannah-guthrie-rio-olympics-zika/ author: Emma Ockerman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-07T14:50:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:26:17.741Z article:section: Health og:title: Pregnant Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics, Citing Zika og:description: The "Today" anchor announced she was expecting her second child og:url: https://time.com/4359685/savannah-guthrie-rio-olympics-zika/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fff79c50f04189/698896c13c16397c5645d8d0/savannah-guthrie-pregnant.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People In Media og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pregnant Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics, Citing Zika twitter:description: The "Today" anchor announced she was expecting her second child twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fff79c50f04189/698896c13c16397c5645d8d0/savannah-guthrie-pregnant.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pregnant Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics Because of Zika by [Emma Ockerman](https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Jun 7, 2016 2:50 PM UTC  Savannah Guthrie attend the Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People in Media at Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City on April 6, 2016. Savannah Guthrie attend the Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People in Media at Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City on April 6, 2016.Ilya S. Savenok—Getty Images by [Emma Ockerman](https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Jun 7, 2016 2:50 PM UTC Savannah Guthrie, _Today_ anchor, announced on the NBC show Tuesday morning that she was expecting her second child, and would not cover the Summer Olympics in Brazil based on her concerns about the Zika virus. NBCUniversal employees are not [required to travel to Rio if they are concerned about Zika](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pregnant-savannah-guthrie-opts-rio-900202), according to _The Hollywood Reporter._ The mosquito-borne virus can cause birth defects in [pregnant women,](http://time.com/4318624/zika-virus-and-birth-defects-what-you-need-to-know/) such as microcephaly, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head. [The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pregnant women avoid traveling](http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/zika-brazil) to areas within parts of South America, Central America, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean — including Brazil. “I’m not going to be able to go to Rio, so you’ll have to go to beach volleyball without me,” Guthrie said Tuesday morning on _Today_, sitting with her colleagues. Some athletes have voiced concern about exposure to Zika in Rio as well, and American cyclist Tejay van Garderen[ declined to participate in the Games due to his wife’s pregnancy. ](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2016/06/02/us-cyclist-withdraws-from-rio-consideration-citing-zika/85292836/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4359685/savannah-guthrie-rio-olympics-zika/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4359685/savannah-guthrie-rio-olympics-zika/"},"headline":"Pregnant Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics Because of Zika","datePublished":"2016-06-07T14:50:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:26:17.741Z","description":"The Today anchor announced that she was expecting her second child","url":"https://time.com/4359685/savannah-guthrie-rio-olympics-zika/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fff79c50f04189/698896c13c16397c5645d8d0/savannah-guthrie-pregnant.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emma Ockerman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fff79c50f04189/698896c13c16397c5645d8d0/savannah-guthrie-pregnant.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People In Media","caption":"Savannah Guthrie attend the Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People in Media at Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City on April 6, 2016.","creditText":"Ilya S. 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