When NBC televises next year’s Winter Olympics from South Korea, a familiar face will long be gone from the prime-time anchor seat.
NBC reports that Mike Tirico will be taking over from Bob Costas as the prime-time host of the network’s Olympics coverage starting next winter.
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The 50-year-old Tirico has been touted an heir apparent since joining NBC Sports from ESPN last year, and helped with the network’s coverage of the Rio Olympics last summer.
Bob Costas passes the torch to @miketirico at the @TODAYshow: https://t.co/jZ5J3YyFfd pic.twitter.com/4fVdzom448
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 9, 2017
As for Costas, the Emmy Award-winning sportscaster has been the on-air anchor for NBC’s Olympics since 1992 and made the decision on his own last year that the time was right for a change.
“I’m going to be like the rest of the country, watching Mike Tirico, who will be an able successor in Korea for the Winter Olympics beginning a year from today,” Costas said on the Today Show.
With 11 Olympic games under his belt, Costas considers himself “lucky.”
And while he’s giving up the signature sports gig, don’t shut him out anytime soon. Costas said he’s not retiring and plans to continue his other roles with NBC Sports and NBC News.
“I’m not retiring, I’m just transitioning,” he said.
Originally posted on Womanista.com.
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