Bob Costas to End Run as Voice of NBC’s Olympics Coverage

NEW YORK — (CNN) One of the longest runs in sports broadcasting is coming to an end.

Bob Costas, the voice of NBC’s primetime Olympics coverage since 1992, is “passing the torch” to Mike Tirico, the network announced Thursday.

Tirico will make his debut as the network’s primetime host of the games starting with the Winter Olympics from PyeongChang next year.

It’s hard to imagine the Olympics without Costas; he has been the host of a record 11 Olympics.

“It has been both a privilege and an incredible personal and professional experience to have been part of NBC’s Olympic coverage all these years,” Costas said in a statement. “It’s been a wonderful run, but I just felt now was the right time to step away and I’m grateful that NBC left that decision to me.”

Costas is NBC’s longest tenured announcer working for the network the past 37 years.

The news comes as something of a surprise, but may help explain why Tirico moved ESPN to NBC last year after a 25-year run at ESPN.

“That’s the pinnacle of our business, to be a part of the Olympic broadcast,” Tirico told CNN last July. “The world doesn’t come together about many things, many times anymore… To say that’s a part of your life for however long this run is, is wonderful and humbling to me.”

Tirico hosted NBC’s daytime Olympic coverage for the Rio Olympics last August.