ABC's Wide World of Sports commentator Jim McKay was in the pool at his hotel, taking a break from reporting on the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, when he got the news that several members of the Israeli team had been taken prisoner by a militant Palestinian group known as Black September. McKay immediately put his clothes on over his wet swimsuit and went on camera to address the viewers. McKay remained on air almost nonstop, giving updates, until he received the tragic news that all the hostages had been killed. In a famous broadcast, he said, "When I was a kid, my father used to say 'Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.' Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They've now said that there were eleven hostages. Two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning; nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

McKay's grace and compassion while reporting on the tragedy was the one constant through that terrible time. He won an Emmy for that particular broadcast and continued to report on the Olympics for many years, until his recent death in 2008.