- Olympics on ABC commentators
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Contents
Hosts
Year Prime-Time Host Daytime Host(s) Late-Night Host(s) 1964 Winter Jim McKay 1968 Winter Chris Schenkel and Jim McKay (opening and closing ceremonies only) 1968 Summer Chris Schenkel 1972 Summer Chris Schenkel 1976 Winter Jim McKay 1976 Summer Jim McKay 1980 Winter Jim McKay 1984 Winter Jim McKay Jim Lampley and Kathleen Sullivan Donna de Varona 1984 Summer Jim McKay Frank Gifford and Kathleen Sullivan Jim Lampley and Donna de Varona 1988 Winter Jim McKay (Monday-Friday)[1] and Keith Jackson (weekends) Keith Jackson Frank Gifford and Kathie Lee Gifford By event
Winter
1964
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Skiing Jim McKay Andrea Mead Lawrence and Willy Schaeffler Figure Skating Dick Button and Carol Heiss Bobsled Stan Benham 1968
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Skiing Jim McKay Figure Skating Chris Schenkel Dick Button Hockey Curt Gowdy Ski Jumping Art Devlin 1976[2]
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Skiiing Frank Gifford Bob Beattie and Karl Schranz Figure Skating Chris Schenkel Dick Button Hockey Curt Gowdy Brian Conacher Bobsled Paul Lamey Luge Paul Lamey Ski Jumping Art Devlin Speed Skating Keith Jackson Anne Henning 1980[3][4]
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Figure Skating Jim McKay Dick Button Speed Skating Keith Jackson Sheila Young Ochowitz Hockey Al Michaels Ken Dryden Skiing Frank Gifford Bob Beattie and Susie Patterson Bobsled Curt Gowdy Paul Lamey Cross Country Bill Flemming Peter Graves Ski Jumping Chris Schenkel Art Devlin Luge Curt Gowdy Bill Caterino Features Don Meredith 1984
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Reporters Bobsled Tim Brant John Morgan Ski Jumping Keith Jackson Jay Rand Cross Country Jack Whitaker Jack Turner Diana Nyad Skiing Frank Gifford Bob Beattie Luge Sam Posey Jeff Tucker Ice Hockey Al Michaels
Don ChevrierMike Eruzione and Ken Dryden Speed Skating Keith Jackson Eric Heiden Figure Skating Al Michaels Dick Button and Peggy Fleming Features Hughes Rudd, Ray Gandolf, Jim Lampley, Dick Schaap, Anne Simon, Terre Blair and Barbara Kolonay 1988
Event Play-by-play announcers Color commentators Reporters Skiing Al Trautwig Bob Beattie Jack Edwards Biathlon Mike Adamle Keri Swensen Bobsled Lynn Swann John Morgan Cross Country Mike Adamle Bill Koch Figure Skating Jim McKay Dick Button and Peggy Fleming David Santee Freestyle Tim McCarver Jeff Chumaz Ice Hockey Al Michaels
Jiggs McDonaldKen Dryden
Mike EruzioneLuge Sam Posey Jeff Tucker Nordic Combined Chris Schenkel Greg Windsberger Nordic Skiing Mike Adamle Bill Koch Rodeo Curt Gowdy Larry Mahan Short Track Keith Jackson Lydia Stephens Ski Jumping Chris Schenkel Jeff Hastings Speedskating Gary Bender Eric Heiden Features Donna de Varona, Becky Dixon, Jim Hill, Tim McCarver, Jack Whitaker (essayist), Dan Dierdorf and Cheryl Miller Summer
1984
References
- ^ Jim McKay
- ^ ABC SPENT MILLIONS of dollars for the rights to broadcast the Olympics, and millions more for equipment like a studio assembled in New York, broken down for shipment, and put back together in Innsbruck. Then they assigned American sportscasters who act as if they knew nothing about winter sports to cover the events with only the help of some former participants, whom they title "experts." Frank Gifford, ex-New-York-Giants pro football player and connoisseur of Super Bowls, commented on the Olympic downhill race: "Look at all those people flocking to the slopes. You know, this event is the Super Bowl of Austria." Werner Wolf, former small town broadcaster, explained speed skating distances: "This is the 500 meter event--that's about five and a half football fields long." Curt Gowdy, on special leave from NBC's football and baseball coverage as well as a fishing buff, narrated the US vs USSR hockey game: "There's the first whistle." Long pause. Brian Conacher, the hockey expert, breaks in, "Uh, Curt, that's an offside call." Gowdy: "Yeah, offside against the US. You know, the Russians are remarkable for not being offside." Even the "experts" screwed up. Anne Henning, gold medal winner in 1972's speed skating, said that for a skater to do well in the 500 meter event, she would have to skate the first 100 meters in 10.8 seconds or less. But the first skater did an 11.7, and Henning said "Great time, great time!" And then there was anchorman Jim McKay's flub of the final hockey score, calling it 6-1 when two minutes before we'd seen Steve Jensen of the US close the gap to 6-2.
- ^ The Palm Beach Post - Feb 8, 1980
- ^ Boca Raton News - Feb 8, 1980
- ^ He was relegated to near obscurity at the '84 Olympics in Los Angeles, covering only the snippets of basketball that ABC presented.
Categories:- ABC Sports
- Lists of Olympic broadcasters
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