With a couple Buckeyes in mind, Jason Knapp preps to call his 7th Olympics for NBC

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — When the Summer Olympics begin in Paris, more than 150 commentators will help present the action on NBC4 and Peacock. One announcer is getting ready to lend his voice to some memorable moments that could involve some Buckeyes.

He’s a voice you might want to get used to hearing if you haven’t already. Jason Knapp will have a busy schedule when the Olympics begin, calling multiple sports after the cauldron is lit on July 26. But viewers shouldn’t have to worry because be brings plenty of experience to the microphone.

“Winning a gold medal is the dream and the ultimate for a lot of these swimmers,” Knapp said. “But for many, just getting to the Olympics and getting the chance to represent their country is so special.”

Calling the less familiar names

Knapp realizes the importance of every moment during an Olympics. The play-by-play announcer will be on the call for NBC’s coverage of the Paris Games, providing his voice during the preliminary heats of the swimming competition during the first week of competition.

Part of his job will be to highlight some of the swimmers that likely won’t make the podium.

“They know, and we know, that they’re only going to have one swim,” Knapp said. “But just to recognize that moment, no matter how fast it is, just to see if they can maybe achieve a lifetime best in that ultimate venue that we’ll see at an Olympic Games in Paris.”

His task will also include introducing the wider American audience to names that they may not be as familiar with, like Ohio State swimmer Hunter Armstrong .

“We’re getting a lot of new viewers for the Olympics that maybe follow these sports every four years. And they know some of the big names — they know who Katie Ledecky is and Simone Manuel and Caeleb Dressel in swimming,” Knapp said. “But maybe try to tell them some other stories that they don’t know.”

Watching Kyle Snyder’s path to gold

In the second week of competition, Knapp will be on the call for the wrestling competition, which will include tracking former Buckeye Kyle Snyder , who will try for his third career Olympic medal in Paris.

“A wrestling match at the Olympics is six minutes long and you have a minute break. And especially for a lot of people who are jumping in, I’ve got seven or eight minutes to tell Kyle Snyder’s life story and also call the action,” Knapp said. “It’s kind of a delicate dance if you will.”

Knapp often calls events off monitors in a production facility, like NBC Sports’ compound in Stamford, Connecticut, where he will be stationed for the Paris Games. But he’s also had the privilege of watching Snyder compete in person, including at the Olympic Trials earlier this year at Penn State and at the Rio Games in 2016.

“It’s been fun for me personally to watch his growth from being a young teenage kid who wowed the world first at the World Championships in 2015 when he became the youngest American at the time to win a World title in his teen years,” Knapp said. “And then the following year at Rio to be able to call that. It’s been remarkable to see him grow up before my eyes.”

The prep work for any Olympics begins weeks and months ahead of time. When it comes to wrestling, the goal for Knapp is to have some sort of nugget ready for any competitor that viewers might come across.

“I’ve gone through the weight classes at the Olympics. There’s 18 of them and there’s 16 athletes in each weight class so if you do the math, that’s 288 athletes I think, I would like to know something about all of them,” Knapp said. “There’s action on three mats and we may be bouncing from mat to mat to mat. I don’t know who I’m going to have, I don’t have time to go look things up so I want to have something on everybody.”

Paris will mark his seventh Olympic assignment with the network. And it’s one he said never gets old.

“It’s great. I love the Olympics, it’s the best sporting event on the planet,” Knapp said. “It’s a thrill to be asked to do another and I hope they keep asking me for a long time.”

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