Olympics on ABC commentators

Hosts

Year	Prime-Time Host	Daytime Host(s)	Late-Night Host(s)
1964 Winter	Jim McKay
1968 Winter	Chris Schenkel 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 Kathleen Sullivan	Donna de Varona
1984 Summer	Jim McKay	Frank Gifford Kathleen Sullivan	Jim Lampley Donna de Varona
1988 Winter	Jim McKay (Monday-Friday)[1] Keith Jackson (weekends)	Keith Jackson	Frank Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford

By event

Winter

1964

Event	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators
Skiing	Jim McKay	Andrea Mead Lawrence Willy Schaeffler
Figure Skating	Dick Button	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][3]

Event	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators
Skiing	Frank Gifford	Bob Beattie Karl Schranz
Figure Skating	Chris Schenkel	Dick Button
Hockey	Curt Gowdy	Brian Conacher
Bobsled	Paul Lamey
Luge	Jackie Stewart	Paul Lamey
Ski Jumping	Art Devlin
Speed Skating	Keith Jackson	Anne Henning

Features	Pierre Salinger

1980^[4][5]

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 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 Chevrier	Mike Eruzione Ken Dryden
Speed Skating	Keith Jackson	Eric Heiden
Figure Skating	Al Michaels	Dick Button Peggy Fleming

Features	Hughes Rudd Ray Gandolf Jim Lampley Dick Schaap Anne Simon Terre Blair 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 Peggy Fleming	David Santee
Freestyle	Tim McCarver	Jeff Chumaz
Ice Hockey	Al Michaels Jiggs McDonald	Ken Dryden Mike Eruzione
Luge	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 Cheryl Miller

Summer

1972

Event	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators
Track & Field	Jim McKay	Bill Toomey (400m races) Marty Liquori (150m and 800m races) Erich Segal (marathon)
Swimming	Keith Jackson
Diving	Jack Whitaker Bill Flemming (filled in for Whitaker while he did gymnastics)	Cynthia Potter
Basketball	Frank Gifford Bill Flemming (filled in for Gifford while he did wrestling)	Bill Russell
Gymnastics	Jim McKay	Gordon Maddux
Boxing	Howard Cosell
Wrestling	Frank Gifford

1976

Event	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators
Track & Field	Keith Jackson	O.J. Simpson Bob Seagren Brian Oldfield Marty Liquori (men) Wyomia Tyus (women)
Swimming	Keith Jackson	Mark Spitz (men) Donna de Varona (women)
Diving	Bill Flemming	Ken Sitzberger (men) Micki King (women)
Basketball	Frank Gifford Curt Gowdy	Bill Russell
Gymnastics	Chris Schenkel	Gordon Maddux (men) Cathy Rigby (women)
Boxing	Howard Cosell
Wrestling	Frank Gifford	Ken Kraft
Equestrian	Chris Schenkel Jackie Stewart	Bill Steinkraus
Rowing	Frank Gifford	Fritz Hobbs

Features	Pierre Salinger Jim Lampley Dave Diles

1984

Event	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators	Reporters
Track & Field	Al Michaels	O. J. Simpson (men's sprints & relays) Wilma Rudolph (women's sprints) Renaldo Nehemiah (hurdles) Marty Liquori (distance) Dwight Stones (field events) Jane Frederick (filled in for Stones while he competed in the high jump)	Donna de Varona
Swimming	Jim Lampley	Mark Spitz (men) Donna de Varona (women)	Diana Nyad
Synchronized Swimming	Donna de Varona	Esther Williams
Diving	Jack Whitaker Bill Flemming (filled in for Whitaker while he did gymnastics)	Cynthia Potter
Basketball	Keith Jackson[6]	Digger Phelps (men) Ann Meyers (women)
Volleyball	Bob Beattie	Kurt Kilgore
Gymnastics	Jack Whitaker	Gordon Maddux Cathy Rigby-McCoy (women) Kurt Thomas (men)
Rhythmic Gymnastics	Al Trautwig	Gordon Maddux Cathy Rigby-McCoy
Boxing	Howard Cosell
Water Polo	Tim Brant	Jim Kruse
Rowing	Curt Gowdy	Steve Gladstone
Canoeing	Diana Nyad	Jay T. Kearney
Kayaking	Diana Nyad
Wrestling	Curt Gowdy	Russ Hellickson
Cycling (Road)	Al Michaels	Greg LeMond
Cycling (Track)	Bill Flemming	Eric Heiden
Baseball (demonstration sport)	Don Chevrier	Jim Palmer
Equestrian	Chris Schenkel	Bill Steinkraus Tad Coffin
Fencing	Arthur Ashe
Soccer	Mario Machado
Weightlifting	Lynn Swann	Bruce Wilhelm
Handball	Al Trautwig
Field Hockey	Al Trautwig	Mike Eruzione

References

1. Jim McKay
2. 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.
3. Ocala Star-Banner - Feb 6, 1976
4. The Palm Beach Post - Feb 8, 1980
5. Boca Raton News - Feb 8, 1980
6. He was relegated to near obscurity at the '84 Olympics in Los Angeles, covering only the snippets of basketball that ABC presented.