Jim McKay, whose birth name was James Kenneth McManus, died Saturday, June 7, of natural causes in his Maryland home. He was 86 years old.

The legendary sportscaster has been one of the most appreciated figures in the entertainment industry. He rose to fame thanks to his well-balanced and decent presence on air.

Jim McKay was the host of the "Wide World of Sports", which was aired by ABC every Saturday night. He had been the anchor of the show for 37 years, from 1961 to 1998. It was for ABC that he hosted no less than 12 Olympic Games including the 1972 Munich Games, when a horrible terrorist attack killed 11 Israeli athletes as well al one German police officer.

McKay, who was reportedly out swimming, rushed to the studio as soon as he heard the gunshot and delivered the 16 hours reportage about the events which made him win one of the 13 Grammy Awards of his career. The line “they are all gone” has made people all over America feel the incredible sadness of the moment.

The late sportscaster had been the only person to win a Grammy for a sports show, and has been a pioneer of the sports entertainment industry by introducing some of the world’s strangest games to the American public in his "Wide World of Sports" show.

His favorite sport was horseracing, and he even founded the Maryland Million Day, which is a series of 12 races that take place in the same day and are designed to promote Maryland’s horse breeding industry.