Desmond Michael Lynam, OBE[1] (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born British television and radio presenter.

In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presenting Grandstand, Match of the Day, Wimbledon, the Grand National, Sportsnight, the World Cup and Olympic Games, as well as presenting non-sporting programmes such as Holiday, How Do They Do That?

Lynam was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland,[2] and moved with his family to Brighton, England, at the age of six.

Lynam moved to television in 1977 starting off with Sportswide as part of Nationwide continuing until the series ended in 1983, and then presented Grandstand (1979–1991, occasionally until 1999), Sportsnight (1991–1997) and Match of the Day (1988–1999).

He also fronted BBC coverage of Wimbledon (highlights 1983[5] to 1989[6] with Gerald Williams, main presenter 1991–1997 and 1999), the Grand National (1985–1999), the Football World Cup (1982–1998) and the Olympic Games (1980–1996).

In 1998, Lynam made a brief return to BBC Radio 2, presenting the 5–7pm Drivetime show on Fridays only.

After disappointing viewing figures in the first couple of months for The Premiership on ITV, a decision was made to shift the programme from its original 7pm slot to a permanent later time of 10:30pm, from 17 November 2001.

[13] In May 2005, Lynam presented the BBC One programme We'll Meet Again, marking the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

In June and July 2005, Lynam co-presented (with Sir David Frost) the series The World's Greatest Sporting Legend on Sky One.

when introducing coverage of an England match at 2pm on a Monday during the 1998 Football World Cup finals.

[18] Lynam did, however, return for Countdown's 5000th episode, broadcast on 26 March 2010, as the Dictionary Corner guest.

[8] From 2011 to 2013, Lynam co-hosted, with Christopher Matthew, three series of Touchline Tales on BBC Radio 4, a humorous look at sport.