NEW YORK - Jim McKay elegantly covered competitions from badminton to barrel jumping. Yet he may best be remembered for that grim day at the Munich Olympics when he broke the news with three simple words: “They’re all gone.”

The groundbreaking sportscaster died Saturday of natural causes at his farm in Monkton, Md. He was 86.

McKay was the one who spanned the globe to bring television viewers the constant variety of sports on ABC’s influential “Wide World of Sports,” where he told of “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

A far different kind of agony awaited in 1972 when word came down in Munich that Palestinian terrorists had kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes. McKay was summoned from a day off, hurriedly putting clothes over a bathing suit to anchor ABC’s coverage of the drama as the games stood still.

The commando raid to free the hostages ended awfully. McKay told the world. Later, at the closing ceremony, he read a poem by A.E. Housman, “To an Athlete Dying Young.”

AP This 1980 file photo originally from ABC-TV shows Jim McKay.

“I had to control myself,” he later recalled. “I was full of emotion. But when you are a professional, it is important to communicate what it is like, to capture the moment.”

President Bush lauded McKay for his “skill and sensitivity” during coverage of the 1972 Olympics.

“He was a talented and eloquent newsman and storyteller whose special gift was his ability to make the viewers at home genuinely care about more than just who won or lost,” Bush said in a statement.

It was “Wide World of Sports” that built ABC Sports into a powerhouse after its debut in 1961. The age before ESPN and a constant video loop of highlights was simpler then, and viewers tuned in to see what new kind of competition McKay could find. ABC estimated McKay traveled 4½ million miles on assignment for “Wide World,” covering 40 countries.

When he moved from NBC to ABC Sports, pioneering television executive Roone Arledge specifically sought out McKay.

What they're saying about Jim McKay “He had a remarkable career and a remarkable life. Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t come up to me and say how much they admired my father.” — Sean McManus, McKay’s son and the president of CBS News and Sports. “There are no superlatives that can adequately honor Jim McKay. He meant so much to so many people. He was a founding father of sports television, one of the most respected commentators in the history of broadcasting and journalism.” — George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports. "While we all know what an absolute titan he was in his chosen field, I will always remember him as an extraordinary human being guided by a strong moral compass. He was the best husband to his wife, an extraordinary father to his own children and for all of us who had the privilege to grow up around him as boys, he helped shape us into men." — Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics. "He brought a reporter's eye, a literate touch, and above all a personal humanity to every assignment. He had a combination of qualities seldom seen in the history of the medium, not just sports." — Bob Costas, NBC Sports broadcaster. "He was the personification of class and style. There has never been a more respected individual in the business and deservedly so. His love for life could only be matched by his love for Margaret. His enthusiasm permeated every event he covered and thus always made it far more interesting. I always thought of him as a favorite teacher. He was so into whatever it was he was doing that he drew you into every event he covered." — Al Michaels, NBC Sports broadcaster. “For a generation of Americans, Jim was more than the much-honored host of Wide World of Sports and ABC’s Olympic coverage. He was a talented and eloquent newsman and storyteller whose special gift was his ability to make the viewers at home genuinely care about more than just who won or lost.” — President George Bush. “Jim is synonymous with the Olympic Games. As host of ABC’s Olympic coverage, he brought into our homes the triumphs and struggles of athletes from around the world.” — U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth. “I guess I remember him more than anything standing on some ski slope with snow falling around him and covering some downhill ski event somewhere in the world, whether it was the Olympics or not. The amazing thing about seeing sports from other parts of the world, that changed kind of our view of sports and our world experience of sports.” — Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “There will never be anyone who can match his genuine heartfelt delivery of a story. His kindness and warmth came through on every telecast.” — sportscaster Jim Nantz.

“Some people ... can make something dramatic by the inflections of their voices, without shouting,” Arledge said. “Jim’s not just somebody yelling at you. He has a sense of words, a sense of the drama of the moment.”

Sportscaster Mike Tirico recalled that at his home when growing up in New York “dinner wasn’t served until ’Wide World of Sports’ was over.” Tirico went on work at four British Opens with McKay.

“I remember him more than anything standing on some ski slope with snow falling around him and covering some downhill ski event somewhere in the world, whether it was the Olympics or not,” Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson said from the NBA finals in Boston. Jackson said McKay changed “our view of sports and our world experience of sports.”

The New York Yankees paused to remember McKay before their game Saturday. He died hours before Big Brown attempted to earn a Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes in McKay’s favorite sport of all, horse racing.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy in World War II, James McManus was a newspaper reporter who transferred to television when The (Baltimore) Sun started its own station. He was the first on-air broadcaster seen in Baltimore, and hosted a three-hour weekday show, “The Sports Parade.”

He moved to New York to do a similar show there dubbed “The Real McKay” by a CBS executive. McManus changed his professional name accordingly.

“He had a remarkable career and a remarkable life,” his son, Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, told The Associated Press on Saturday. “Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t come up to me and say how much they admired my father.”

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