Legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett has announced that Paris 2024 will be his last Olympic Games in the commentary booth.
The 80-year-old made the revelation during Australian broadcaster Channel Day Nine of NineShortly after covering the women’s road race, he stated that he would be too old to commentate on the 2028 race in Los Angeles.
Liggett has been a household name in cycling for decades. He has ridden the Tour de France 50 times and has witnessed the evolution of the sport through different eras: from Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault to today’s best Tour rider, Tadej Pogačar.
His career spans the entire modern history of cycling and he has also worked as a journalist for Cycling magazine and the Daily Telegraph, was a certified UCI commissaire and organised the Milk Race for 22 years.
Liggett will turn 81 on the day of the closing ceremony in Paris, as emotional scenes reveal, in which he told presenter Eddie McGuire that the 2024 Games would be his last as a commentator.
“In four years I’ll be 85,” he said.
“And I think that’s too old to spoil the viewers’ fun. But man, I’m gonna miss it.”
Legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett has announced that the Paris Olympics will be his last as the sport’s most recognised and respected voice
The greatest commentator of all time has covered cycling at 17 Olympic Games, starting in Moscow in 1980
Before Liggett announced the news, he was visibly emotional and told Maguire: “Don’t make me cry now.”
He noted that it was the right time to end his Olympic career, which now spans 17 Games.
“My mailbag was great after the Tour de France. It was exceptional during this week of road events,” he said.
‘Everyone who writes to me from Australia says the same thing: never think about retiring.
‘Well, I’m not invincible and I don’t want to, like I said, bore everyone.
“I will miss it terribly.”
Liggett first competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where he said some unusual arrangements had been made.
“Everyone was so happy that they had finally broken through the Iron Curtain and gone to Moscow,” he said.
‘But we were followed everywhere by KGB agents in plain clothes. And if you turned left or right off the main road, they were waiting for you and said, “It’s not safe for you here, so go that way.”
“They sent you away, so you didn’t see Russia at all. It wasn’t a great memory, but it was a memory where I met a lot of people who helped shape my career in the future.”
Mark Cavendish of the United Kingdom and Team Dimension Data is one of thousands of athletes Liggett has interviewed over the years (pictured together)
Liggett is pictured with Australian Tour de France winner Cadel Evans – one of many cycling greats he has commentated on
He said that during his career he had become a mentor to some of the biggest names in Hollywood, with movie stars coming to him for advice and friendship.
“For example, last week I spent a long time on the phone with Ben Stiller, who’s a great actor. Robin Williams was a good friend, the comedian,” Liggett revealed.
‘They all had one thing in common: the bicycle. They loved the bicycle.’
Liggett began his career as a professional cyclist, but switched to journalism and commentary in the early 1970s.
He rose to prominence through his work on the Tour de France and became the ‘Voice of Cycling’, reporting on it for over forty years.
Liggett’s commentary style, characterised by his in-depth knowledge and passionate presentation, has earned him a loyal following among cycling fans.
In addition to cycling, he has reported on various sports, including the Winter Olympics and triathlons.
Liggett has worked for major networks including ITV, NBC and SBS and contributed to cycling broadcasts around the world.
His partnership with fellow commentator Paul Sherwen, which lasted until Sherwen’s death in 2018, became iconic in the cycling world.
Liggett has received numerous awards for his contributions to sports broadcasting, including an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005.
He is also the author of several books on cycling, in which he shares his insights and experiences from decades in cycling.
In addition to his work as a radio presenter, Liggett is involved in conservation, especially in South Africa.