The 2024 Paris Olympics marks Telemundo’s largest-ever talent roster for an Olympics, with more than 40 commentators involved. Their Spanish-language coverage has been notable throughout these Games, and some of that comes from host Miguel Gurwitz.
Gurwitz, who’s one of the key hosts here alongside Jessica Carillo, has been covering the Olympics since 2000. He recently spoke to AA on what makes Telemundo’s coverage of the Games stand out, saying they try to bring the passion shared by many of their viewers.
“I think when we talk about Hispanics, we talk about passion, right?” he said. “We’re really passionate about sports. It’s not only in soccer, we’re really passionate in in every single sport. It’s part of our culture…we have a lot of passion for sports. So, for me, everything is about that passion. The way we experiment, every single discipline in the Olympics.”
That’s seen in everything from Andrés Cantor’s famed “GOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!” calls (which he even taught Snoop Dogg) to event coverage and the evening shows. On those, Gurwitz said working with Carillo (who’s known for her work on Telemundo newsmagazine show Al Rojo Vivo , and who previously co-hosted with Gurwitz at the 2016 Rio Olympics) is excellent given her breadth of knowledge in sports and beyond and ability to connect with viewers who aren’t necessarily traditional sports fans.
“Jessica is a great partner,” Gurwitz said. “I know that this is a sporting event, but this is a great opportunity to unite families. This is a family event, right? Everybody watches the Olympics. Everybody watches the Olympics. If you don’t like soccer, you can watch, let’s say swimming. If you don’t like swimming, you can watch volleyball. If you don’t like volleyball, you can watch a basketball dream team. I mean, it’s a large and beautiful buffet of sports.
“And knowing that this is more than sports, I think Jessica is a great complement for us to have. For me, it’s an honor to have her in this position. She is very professional. She’s really good at what she does. So for us in Telemundo Deportes, it’s a privilege to have her on again.”
Another prominent commentator for Telemundo is Jessi Losado , returning for these Games as a special guest host after serving as lead host at the first Olympics Telemundo broadcast in 2002. Gurwitz said it’s great to have Losado involved again.
“It means a lot. I know if you talk about Olympics and Telemundo, you need to talk about Jessi Losado,” he said. “I mean, he’s like, and we say in Spanish, a maestro for all of us. He’s an institution not only for Telemundo, but for the Hispanics. So it’s an honor and it’s a privilege having him again in Telemundo and it’s a way of saying ‘Thank you, Jessi’ for all of what you have done in sports with Telemundo.”
Gurwitz has also been covering the Olympics for decades. He said the biggest change for him has been how easy it is to access information on any event now.
“You need to adapt to new times, right? The technology…you know, when when I started this, you were in the TV studio and you’d have like maybe 85 monitors, trying to watch everything. Now you have everything in your phone. It’s crazy, man, it’s crazy. It’s helpful, but it’s crazy, so you need to adapt.”
He said the key for him throughout all the Olympics he’s covered has been being willing to react on the fly to sudden stories.
“I always say the same thing: expect nothing. Allow yourself to to be surprised and you’ll be surprised in every single game.”
Another element with Telemundo’s coverage is that it’s not just focused on athletes representing the U.S., but athletes from many Hispanic countries. And that’s seen in their analyst roster, which has athletes who have represented Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and more. Gurwitz said he loves the chance to focus on all those markets, but it comes with its own hurdles.
“It’s a great opportunity and a great responsibility because you need to attend to all of those markets. It’s not only about the athletes from the U.S. or the athletes from Mexico, but Colombia, the Cubans, the Argentinians, the Brazilians, and all those guys from Spain. So it’s challenging. And at the Olympic Games, everything is happening so fast and at the same time that you need to be very bright in your decisions to deliver the content the way that everyone is expecting.
“And you’re not talking about one market. We are trying to satisfy maybe 10 or 15 markets, from Honduras and El Salvador and beyond. It’s challenging, and more so for the production team.”
For Gurwitz, though, he’s thrilled to again be involved in Telemundo coverage. And he said he approaches every Games with a high level of intensity, and hopes to make each one the best possible.
“It’s not about how many Olympics you have in your curriculum, in your history,” he said. “It’s about the next Olympics.”
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