Tom Brokaw Joins NBC's Coverage of 2016 RIO OLYMPICS

NBC NEWS SPECIAL correspondent Tom Brokaw, one of the most respected and distinguished news anchors in television history, will join NBC Olympics' coverage of the Games of the xxI Olympiad from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Brokaw, the anchor and managing editor of NBC NIGHTLY NEWS from 1982-2004, began his career with NBC News in 1966. He will present features on the history of man along the famed Amazon River, which flows through northern Brazil, and the Gaucho cowboy lifestyle - a bit of the American West in the Brazilian Southeast.

"We are very fortunate to have a broadcasting icon like Tom Brokaw to introduce our viewers to some of the fascinating stories, astonishing landscapes, and unique characters of the Olympic host country," said Jim Bell, Executive Producer, NBC Olympics.

Brokaw has a long history of contributing special stories to NBC's Olympic coverage.

During NBC's 2014 Sochi Olympic coverage, Brokaw's Space Race special chronicled the Cold War space race that took place during the 1950s, 60s and 70s between the United States and the Soviet Union. The show examined the most memorable moments of the space race, including Sputnik; Alexei Leonov's first-ever spacewalk; the Apollo 11 moon landing; and the joint U.S.-Soviet "Apollo-Soyuz" mission in 1975 that, according to astronaut Tom Stafford, ended the race.

Also in Sochi, NBC Olympics presented a special Brokaw interview with six-time Olympic medalist Bode Miller, the most successful male American skier ever.

Brokaw's previous Olympics features and essays include:

2012 London Olympics - Their Finest Hour, which told the story of British resolve during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz and how the U.S. and Britain came together in World War II.

2010 Vancouver Olympics - An Opening Ceremony essay on the relationship between the United States and host nation Canada, and Operation Yellow Ribbon, the story of how the town of Gander in Newfoundland, Canada provided refuge and support for passengers on United States-bound airline flights during and immediately after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

2008 Beijing Olympics - An Opening Ceremony essay on China's preparation for the Olympic Games and their context in modern Chinese history.

2006 Torino Olympics - Lasting Valor, the story of Vernon Baker, an African American soldier who led his platoon on a dangerous mission in Italy near the end of World War II, and received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Clinton 50 years later.

2004 Athens Olympics - The Prisoner Olympics, the story of Polish officers who 60 years earlier staged their own Olympics while held in a German prison camp in 1944 (the 1944 Olympics were cancelled due to World War II).

2002 Salt Lake Olympics - Triumphs of the 10th, a look at the 10th Mountain Division, which was created during World War II comprising troops of expert skiers and mountaineers who aided the Allied victory in Italy, and then returned home to help establish the ski industry that now thrives in America.