NBC has released the full list of on-air personalities for the London Olympics, now less than one month away. We have announcers for everything from stalwarts like track & field, basketball, and swimming to race walking, rhythmic gymnastics, and table tennis. The entire lists contains many familiar names to committed fans of the Olympic Games, but also a few absences from past Olympics and pleasant surprises as well.
Before we get to the announcers for each sport let’s reset the studio hosts for each network, much of which were previously announced by the network, but we’ve finally learned who’ll bring the record amount of cable coverage on NBC Sports Network. The NBCSN crew is led by star new signing Michelle Beadle while Bob Costas leads primetime coverage, as he seemingly will for all eternity.
NBC
Primetime: Bob Costas
Daytime: Dan Patrick, Al Michaels
Late night: Mary Carillo
Correspondents: John McEnroe, Ryan Seacrest, Bela Karolyi, Jimmy Roberts
NBCSN: Michelle Beadle, Liam McHugh, Willie Geist
MSNBC: Kelly Tilghman, Rob Simmelkjaer
Bravo: Pat O’Brien (tennis)
CNBC: Fred Roggin (boxing)
All right, time to strap yourselves in and get ready to go through the list of announcers sport by sport with just a few notes after the jump as well…
SPORT-BY-SPORT RUNDOWN:
GYMNASTICS/TRAMPOLINE:
Al Trautwig, Play-by-play
Elfi Schlegel, Analyst
Tim Daggett, Analyst
Andrea Joyce, Reporter
RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS:
Andrea Joyce, Play-by-play
Elfi Schlegel, Analyst
TRACK & FIELD:
Tom Hammond, Play-by-play
Ato Boldon, Analyst
Dwight Stones, Analyst
Craig Masback, Analyst
Tim Hutchings, Analyst
Lewis Johnson, Reporter
RACE WALKING:
Randy Moss, Play-by-play
Chris Maddocks, Analyst
SWIMMING:
Dan Hicks, Play-by-play
Rowdy Gaines, Analyst
Andera Kremer, Reporter
OPEN WATER SWIMMING:
Steve Schlanger, Play-by-play
Rowdy Gaines, Analyst
DIVING:
Ted Robinson, Play-by-play
Cynthia Potter, Analyst
Alex Flanagan, Reporter
BEACH VOLLEYBALL:
Chris Marlowe, Play-by-play
Kevin Wong, Analyst
Heather Cox, Reporter
INDOOR VOLLEYBALL:
Paul Sunderland, Play-by-play
Kevin Barnett, Analyst
CYCLING (Road):
Steve Schlanger, Play-by-play
Paul Sherwen, Analyst
Todd Harris, Reporter
CYCLING (Track)
Todd Harris, Play-by-play
Paul Sherwen, Analyst
CYCLING (BMX/Mountain Bike)
Todd Harris, Play-by-play
Jamie Bestwick, Analyst
TRIATHLON:
Steve Schlanger, Play-by-play
Julie Swail, Analyst
BASKETBALL:
Bob Fitzgerald, Play-by-play (London)
Chris Carrino, Play-by-play
Dave Strader, Play-by-play
Doug Collins, Analyst (London)
Ann Meyers, Analyst (London)
Tim Capstraw, Analyst
Donny Marshall, Analyst
Lisa Leslie, Analyst
Carolyn Peck, Analyst
Craig Sager, Reporter (London)
Doc Rivers, Studio Analyst (London)
ROWING:
Terry Gannon, Play-by-play
Yaz Farooq, Analyst
CANOEING (Flat Water):
Terry Gannon, Play-by-play
Eric Giddens, Analyst
CANOEING (White Water):
Randy Moss, Play-by-play
Eric Giddens, Analyst
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING:
Randy Moss, Play-by-play
Heather Olson, Analyst
WRESTLING:
Jason Knapp, Play-by-play
Rulon Gardner, Analyst
WATER POLO:
Mike Emrick, Play-by-play
Wolf Wigo, Analyst
Julie Swail, Analyst
BOXING:
Bob Papa, Play-by-play
Teddy Atlas, Analyst
Russ Thaler, Reporter
MODERN PENTATHLON:
Eli Bremer, Analyst
WEIGHTLIFTING:
Jim Watson, Play-by-play
Shane Hamman, Analyst
EQUESTRIAN:
Tim Ryan, Play-by-play
Melanie Smith-Taylor, Analyst
SOCCER:
Arlo White, Play-by-play (London)
JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play
Glenn Davis, Play-by-play
Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play
Allen Hopkins, Play-by-play and Analyst
Kyle Martino, Analyst (London)
Marcelo Balboa, Analyst
Shep Messing, Analyst
Cobi Jones, Analyst
Brandi Chastain, Analyst (London)
Kate Markgraf, Analyst
Cat Whitehill, Analyst
Angela Hucles, Analyst
Drea Avent, Reporter (London)
TENNIS:
Brett Haber, Play-by-play
Andrew Catalon, Play-by-play
Ted Robinson, Play-by-play (Men’s Final)
Justin Gimbelstob, Analyst
Rennae Stubbs, Analyst
John McEnroe, Analyst (Men’s Final)
Jon Wertheim, Reporter
HANDBALL:
Mike Gorman, Play-by-play
Dawn Lewis, Analyst
TABLE TENNIS:
Ari Wolfe, Play-by-play
Sean O’Neill, Analyst
BADMINTON:
Jim Kozimor, Play-by-play
Steve Kearney, Analyst
FENCING:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Jeff Bukantz, Analyst
ARCHERY:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Jason Knapp, Play-by-play
Rick McKinney, Analyst
SHOOTING:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Jason Knapp, Play-by-play
Shari LeGate, Analyst
FIELD HOCKEY:
Mike Corey, Play-by-play
Missy Meharg, Analyst
JUDO:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Leo White, Analyst
SPORTSDESK REPORTERS:
Lester Holt
Michele Tafoya
Tamron Hall
Pierre McGuire
Stephanie Gosk
Carolyn Manno
Marshall Harris
Dr. Nancy Snyderman
Apolo Ohno
Notes:
*I’m willing to bet a fair percentage of you got to the end and let out an audible groan when you saw Pierre McGuire listed.
*Perhaps the biggest name missing is Mike Breen from the basketball coverage. He and Doug Collins were excellent in 2008. It looks like Bob Fitzgerald, play by play man for the Golden State Warriors and CSN Bay Area will be the top basketball voice. Fitzgerald isn’t known to a lot of folks nationwide, but he and Jim Barnett make up one of my favorite local NBA teams. He could be one of the breakout announcers this year. Celtics coach Doc Rivers is a coup for NBC to bring in as a studio analyst, making his Olympic debut.
*Volleyball is not going to be the same without Karch Kiraly.
*Many of the marquee sports return the announcers that have been tried and true for multiple Olympics, especially the Big 3 of Gymnastics, Swimming, and Track & Field. Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines were two of the stars in Beijing and with the Phelps-Lochte rivalry sure to be NBC’s #1 lead story for the Games, they should star again.
*Men’s and women’s soccer has the biggest stable of announcers. Keep an eye on NBCSN lead MLS announcer Arlo White. The young Englishman is smooth as silk and a cross between Martin Tyler and Ian Darke. He and Kyle Martino have come together quite well on those MLS telecasts.
*Randy Moss (not the WR, the horse racing analyst) may win the award for wildest Olympic assignment I’ve ever seen – play by play for Canoeing, Synchronized Swimming, and Race Walking. God speed, Randy.
*And finally, it’s awesome to see two of our favorites receive assigments. Celtics announcer Mike Gorman will call the cult favorite of Handball and the voice of hockey, the great Mike Emrick will call Water Polo.
What sports are you most looking forward to and what do you make of the announcing and hosting assignments? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments are closed.