The following is a list of commentators that were featured in the American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) television coverage of the Olympic Games from its first Olympic Games, the 1964 Winter Olympics through the 1988 Winter Olympics, its final Olympic telecast to date.
Hosts Winter Olympic Games YearPrime-Time HostDaytime Host(s)Late-Night Host(s) 1964 Jim McKay 1968 Chris SchenkelJim McKay 1976 Jim McKay 1980 Jim McKay 1984 Jim McKay Jim LampleyKathleen Sullivan Donna de Varona 1988 Jim McKayKeith Jackson Keith Jackson Frank GiffordKathie Lee Gifford
Summer Olympic Games YearPrime-Time HostDaytime Host(s)Late-Night Host(s) 1968 Chris Schenkel 1972 Chris Schenkel 1976 Jim McKay 1984 Jim McKay Frank GiffordKathleen Sullivan Jim LampleyDonna de Varona
By event Winter Olympics 1964 EventPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)SkiingJim McKayAndrea Mead LawrenceWilly SchaefflerFigure Skating Dick Button Carol HeissBobsledStan BenhamIce hockeyCurt GowdySpeed skatingCurt Gowdy
Jim McKay, Curt Gowdy, and Jim Simpson were the only play-by-play announcers that were utilized by ABC throughout the 1964 Winter Olympics.
Beginning in 1962, Dick Button worked as a figure skating analyst for ABC Sports, which had acquired the rights to the United States Figure Skating Championships as well as the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships. During ABC's coverage of figure skating events in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Button became the sport's best-known analyst, well known for his frank and often caustic appraisal of skaters' performances. He won an Emmy Award in 1981 for Outstanding Sports Personality – Analyst. Although other U.S. television networks aired the Winter Olympics from the 1990s onward, Button still appeared on ABC's broadcasts of the U.S. and World Figure Skating Championships until ABC removed them from its broadcast schedule in 2008.
According to writer and figure skating historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, Button "in effect educated [an] entire generation in how to watch skating", viewers who had never viewed the sport as live spectators before seeing it on television.Kestnbaum, p. 109
1968 EventPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)SkiingJim McKayFigure SkatingChris SchenkelDick ButtonHockeyCurt GowdySki JumpingArt Devlin
1976 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsSkiingFrank GiffordBob BeattieKarl SchranzFigure SkatingChris SchenkelDick ButtonHockeyCurt GowdyBrian ConacherBobsledCurt GowdyPaul LameyLugeJackie StewartPaul LameySki JumpingArt DevlinSpeed SkatingWarner WolfAnne Henning
FeaturesJim LampleyPierre Salinger
ABC Sports hired Bob Beattie as a ski-racing commentator, where he was frequently paired with Frank Gifford, a former NFL running back. Beattie's television work included alpine commentary during ABC's coverage of four Winter Olympics in 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1988, and also covered volleyball at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He later worked as ABC's winter sports correspondent, which also involved non-alpine sports, and occasionally worked as an announcer for non-winter sports on ABC's Wide World of Sports program.
1980 Source:Boca Raton News - Feb 8, 1980 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsOpening CeremonyJim McKay Figure SkatingJim McKayDick ButtonSpeed SkatingKeith JacksonSheila Young OchowitzHockeyAl MichaelsKen DrydenSkiingFrank GiffordBob BeattieSusie PattersonBobsledCurt GowdyJackie StewartPaul LameyCross CountryBill FlemmingPeter GravesSki JumpingChris SchenkelArt DevlinLugeCurt GowdyBill CaterinoClosing CeremonyJim McKay
FeaturesJim LampleyDon Meredith
One of Al Michaels's more famous broadcasts were of the 1980 Winter Olympics ice hockey medal round match between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the attempted third game of the 1989 World Series.
In 1980, an unheralded group of college ice hockey players from the United States won the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games. The medal round match on February 22—which, contrary to popular belief, did not yet assure the team of the gold medal—was of particular interest, as it was played against a heavily favored professional squad from the Soviet Union, and was in front of an incredibly excited pro-American crowd in Lake Placid, New York. Michaels's memorable broadcast of this game, including his interjection—"Do you believe in miracles? YES!"—as time expired on the 4–3 U.S. victory, earned the game the media nickname of The Miracle on Ice.
Most assume that the game was broadcast live (indeed, CTV, which held Canadian rights to the game, aired it live); but in reality, the game started at 5:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and ABC decided against pre-empting local and network news (on the East Coast) to carry the game live. Instead, most of it—including the entire third period—was broadcast within the regularly scheduled, prime-time telecast from 8:30 to 11 p.m. Eastern time (and on a six-and-a-half-hour delay on the West Coast from 8:30 to 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time). Despite being on tape, the game was one of the highest-rated programs of the 1979–80 television season and remains the most-watched ice hockey game in the history of American television.
Michaels, along with broadcasting partner Ken Dryden, recreated their Olympic commentary in the 2004 movie Miracle. Although Michaels and Dryden recreated the bulk of their commentary for the film, the closing seconds of the game against the Soviet Union used the original ABC Sports commentary from 1980. Gavin O'Connor, the director of Miracle, decided to use the last 10 seconds of Michaels's original "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" call in the film because he felt he couldn't ask him to recreate the emotion he experienced at that moment. Thus they cleaned up the recording to make the transition to the authentic call as seamless as possible.
Immediately before Mike Eruzione's game-winning goal for the US, Dryden expressed his concern that the team was "depending a little bit too much" on goaltender Jim Craig after Craig had just made "too many good saves."
Michaels later recalled, "When I look back, obviously Lake Placid would be the highlight of my career. I can't think of anything that would ever top it. I can't dream up a scenario."
Michaels was only on this particular assignment because he had done one hockey game, eight years prior. The game in question was the gold medal game (the Soviet Union vs. Czechoslovakia) of the 1972 Winter Olympics (on NBC) in Sapporo, Japan. Other announcers on the ABC Sports roster such as Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford, and Howard Cosell had never done a hockey game before. Michaels recalled this during a Real Sports interview in January 2009. Michaels also apparently beat out WABC-AM and New York Islanders commentator George Michael for the assignment.
Two days later, Michaels would broadcast the gold medal game, in which the U.S. defeated Finland, closing the game out by declaring "This impossible dream comes true!"
Al Michaels continued serving as ABC's lead play-by-play announcer for their ice hockey coverage for their next two Winter Olympics, both with Dryden, the lead color commentator. In 1984 from Sarajevo, Mike Eruzione, who was the captain of the gold medal-winning United States ice hockey team from 1980, primarily worked with Don Chevrier. For ABC's final Winter Olympics four years later, Eruzione was this time, paired with Jiggs McDonald.
1984 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsReportersBobsledTim BrantJohn MorganSki JumpingKeith JacksonJay RandCross CountryJack WhitakerJack TurnerDiana NyadAlpine SkiingFrank GiffordJim Lampley (women's downhill)Bob BeattieCindy Nelson (women's downhill)LugeSam PoseyJeff TuckerFigure SkatingAl MichaelsJim LampleyPeggy Fleming and Dick ButtonIce HockeyAl MichaelsDon ChevrierKen DrydenMike EruzioneSpeed SkatingKeith JacksonDon Chevrier (men's 5000)Eric Heiden
FeaturesHughes RuddRay GandolfJim LampleyDick SchaapAnne SimonTerre BlairBarbara Kolonay
1988 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsReportersOpening CeremonyJim McKayPeter JenningsSkiingAl TrautwigBob BeattieJack EdwardsBiathlonMike AdamleKeri SwensonBobsledLynn SwannJohn MorganCross CountryMike AdamleBill KochFigure SkatingJim McKayDick Button and Peggy FlemingDavid Santee and Jack WhitakerFreestyleTim McCarverJeff ChumasIce HockeyAl MichaelsJiggs McDonaldKen DrydenMike EruzioneLugeSam PoseyJeff TuckerNordic CombinedChris SchenkelGreg WindspergerNordic SkiingMike AdamleBill KochRodeoCurt GowdyLarry MahanShort TrackKeith JacksonLydia StephansSki JumpingChris SchenkelJeff HastingsSpeedskatingGary BenderEric HeidenClosing CeremonyJim McKayPeter Jennings
FeaturesDonna de VaronaBecky DixonJim HillTim McCarverJack Whitaker (essayist)Dan DierdorfCheryl Miller
Summer Olympics 1968 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsOpening CeremonyJim McKay Peter JenningsTrack & FieldJim McKayHayes JonesParry O'BrienJim BeattySwimmingBill FlemmingMurray Rose (men)Donna de Varona (women)DivingKen SitzbergerBasketballBill FlemmingJack TwymanGymnasticsJim McKay Tom Maloney BoxingHoward CosellRowingBud PalmerBill StoweClosing CeremonyJim McKay Peter Jennings
1972 EventPlay-by-playColor commentatorsOpening CeremonyJim McKay Track & FieldJim McKayBill Toomey (400m races)Marty Liquori (150m and 800m races)Erich Segal (marathon)SwimmingKeith JacksonMurray Rose (men)Donna de Varona (women)DivingKeith JacksonKen Sitzberger (men)Ken Sitzberger (women)BasketballFrank GiffordBill Flemming (filled in for Gifford while he did wrestling)Bill RussellGymnasticsJim McKayGordon MadduxBoxingHoward CosellWrestlingFrank GiffordRowingBill Stowe
In 1972, NBC showed the Winter Games from Sapporo, Japan, then ABC returned to carry the Summer Games in Munich, Germany. It was during the Summer Games that Palestinian terrorists attacked the Olympic Village and killed 11 Israeli athletes. Although Chris Schenkel was the actual host of the Games that year, Arledge assigned the story to McKay largely because he was a local news anchor in Baltimore, Maryland prior to joining CBS in 1950 and later ABC in 1961. McKay was joined on set by ABC news correspondent (and former and future evening news anchor) Peter Jennings, and coverage continued for many hours, until the outcome was known. Howard Cosell went with the film crew to get interviews in the village.
After an unsuccessful rescue attempt of the athletes held hostage, at 3:24 AM German Time, McKay came on the air with this statement:
McKay later won an Emmy Award for his coverage. He stated in a 2003 HBO documentary about his life and career that he was most proud of a telegram he received from Walter Cronkite the day after the massacre praising his work.
Howard Cosell also played a key role on ABC's coverage of the Palestinian terror group Black September's mass murder of Israeli athletes in Munich at the 1972 Summer Olympics; providing reports directly from the Olympic Village (his image can be seen and voice heard in Steven Spielberg's film about the terror attack).
In the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, and the 1984 games in Los Angeles, Cosell was the main voice for boxing. Sugar Ray Leonard won the gold medal in his light welterweight class at Montreal, beginning his meteoric rise to a world professional title three years later. Cosell became close to Leonard, during this period, announcing many of his fights."I Never Played The Game", by Howard Cosell, 1985.