Meredith Vieira becomes first woman to anchor NBC's prime time Olympics coverage solo when she takes over for Bob Costas [VIDEO]

After about a week of battling some form of an eye infection, Bob Costas has been sitting out of his anchor position for NBC's prime time coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. So far, TODAY's Matt Lauer has been filling in all week, but now NBC is making history by brining in Meredith Vieira for the job. Vieira will be the first woman to hold this position, solo.

"Bob's eye issue has improved but he's not quite ready to do the show," NBC Olympics Executive Producer Jim Bell explained from Sochi on Thursday. "If your eyes are sensitive to bright lights, a TV studio is not the place to be."

Today's website reports:

Vieira is coming on in place of Matt Lauer, who has filled in for the last three days as Costas continues to deal with the effects of an infection that began in his left eye and spread to his right eye earlier this week. Costas called Lauer in from the "bullpen" on Tuesday, ending a streak of 157 consecutive appearances as NBC's Olympics anchor in prime time. It was the first time since 1988 that Costas did not host NBC's coverage.

"It's an honor to fill in for him,'' Vieira said on TODAY Friday. "You think about the Olympics, and you think the athletes and then Bob Costas."

 "It's so funny, I woke up this morning and I was feeling fine, and now my eyes are killing me,'' she said on TODAY. "I watched you guys (Matt and Al) attempt the luge. I think I'm going blind. And I'm really worried because I have to go prime time tonight."

Check out Meredith being interviewed on TODAY this morning: