Colin Jost ends time as Olympics surfing correspondent early

WASHINGTON — Colin Jost abruptly stepped away from NBC's Olympics surfing coverage in Tahiti over the weekend.

The "Saturday Night Live" star had been tasked with covering the surfing tournament in the French Polynesian island. A reason for his sudden departure is still not known. 

According to reports from Australian outlets, Jost was "called back home to New York amid a two-day competition break due to a lack of swell."

Australian weatherman Luke Bradman was tapped to replace the comedian during the competition's final days. 

On Monday, the comedian seemed to allude to concerns about his early exit on Instagram as the semifinal and final events of surfing got underway. 

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Semis and finals of Olympic surfing happening right now in Tahiti. At the Wall of Skulls," he said in the caption of a pre-taped segment.

Jost, 42, had a rough start to his correspondent gig in Tahiti after suffering a toe injury on his left foot shortly after touching down on the island. 

"You know it’s going great when you’ve been to the Olympic medical tent more than any of the athletes," Jost captioned a picture of his bandaged toes. 

"This might ruin my WikiFeet score but I just arrived in Tahiti for the surfing Olympics and the reef was excited to greet me," Jost said in an earlier post showing his bloodied foot.

In an interview with Mike Tirico, the "Weekend Update" star explained that his injury was a result of surfing. 

"I did pretty well until the first wave and then I ended up standing on the coral reef,” Jost said. “Much like the coral reef safety expert, but without coral shoes on. So I got a little scraped up."

Jost's toe injury led him to become quite familiar with the staff in the Olympics medical tent. 

"At this point, they know my name. They're very familiar with my badge ID number," he told Maria Taylor during another segment. "They know I'm allergic to penicillin."

While updating Tirico on the Olympics surfing competition on July 30, the comedian said he had also developed an inner ear infection and was on "three different medications."

"My new goal by the time I leave here is to have as many infections as there are Olympic events," Jost joked. 

By the time the surfing competition picked back up, Jost was gone.