Bob Costas, who served as prime time NBC host for 11 Summer and Winter Olympic Games, has passed the torch to Mike Tirico for the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.
Tirico joined NBC last May after working at ESPN for 25 years, and he was a favorite to succeed Costas as host of the prime time Olympic broadcasts when Costas decided to step down, The New York Times reported. Tirico hosted NBC’s daytime coverage of the Rio Summer Games last year.
Costas, who would be 66 at the time of the next Olympics, hosted the games for a total of 24 years, winning 27 Emmy awards — the most of any sports broadcaster — for his efforts. Costas said at an NBC press event that he “wanted to step aside while [he] was still able to do it,” CNN reported. He also said he wanted to still be a part of NBC Sports in some capacity when his “presence would make a difference.”
Tirico was the first recipient of the Bob Costas scholarship at Syracuse where both attended. Tirico said he grew up idolizing Costas and told Matt Lauer on the “Today” show that he attended Syracuse “in large part because Bob did.”
“I know what Bob has done, and how great Bob has been. I don’t want to mess it up,” Tirico said, CNN reported. “But I don’t want to try to copy it because if I try to copy it, it’s a recipe for lack of success.”
“I knew Bob wasn’t going to stay in the job for 20 more years,” Tirico said, The New York Times reported, “but I didn’t know if they were going to choose me or when it would happen.”