Award-winning sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 86

NEW YORK -- Jim McKay elegantly covered competitions from badminton to barrel jumping. Yet he might 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.

Jim McKay was honored with 12 Emmy Awards. (Provided to CBSSports.com)

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.

"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.

"There are not many men who achieved what Jim McKay achieved both professionally and personally," said McKay's son, Sean McManus, president of CBS News and CBS Sports. "He had a flawless reputation and was a legendary figure in the history of sports television. However, with all his achievements the most important thing in his life was his family."

CBS Sports' Jim Nantz said McKay was the broadcasting hero of his youth.

"I hung on to his every word and wrote him letters when I was a kid," he said. "One of the greatest joys of my life was having the chance to get to know him as a friend and father figure.

"There will never be anyone who can match his genuine, heartfelt delivery of a story. His kindness and warmth came through on every telecast. A true reflection of one of the greatest gentlemen the world will ever know."

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.