Legendary commentator, 80, retires live on air during Olympics 2024 coverage as he says ‘I’m not invincible’
PHIL LIGGETT has retired live on air during the Paris Olympics.
The legendary commentator has hung up his microphone for the last time.
Liggett, 80, made the announcement during Australian broadcaster Nine’s coverage of the games.
He admitted that he would be too old to continue until the next Olympics in 2028 in LA.
He said: “Another four years from now, I’ll be 85.
“And I think that’s too old to spoil the viewers’ fun. But boy, I’ll miss it.”
Host Eddie McGuire could be seen getting emotional as he said: “Don’t get me crying now.”
Liggett has had a vast career in sports commentary and has covered 50 Tours de France and 17 Olympic games.
His career has seen him work as a journalist for Cycling magazine and the Daily Telegraph.
He has also served as a UCI commissaire as well as organising the Milk Race for over two decades.
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He will turn 81 on Sunday, the same day as the closing ceremony in Paris.
He added: “My mailbag was great after the Tour de France. It’s been exceptional during this week on the road events.
“All the people writing to me from Australia, they all say the same thing, ‘don’t ever think of retiring’.
“But hey, I’m not invincible and I don’t want to, as I say, bore everybody.
“I shall miss it desperately.”
He first started commentating at the Olympics in 1980 when the games were held in Moscow.
He revealed that during his time in the Soviet Union he was followed by the KGB.
He said: “Everybody was so happy they had finally broken the Iron Curtain barrier and gone to Moscow.
“But we were followed everywhere by KGB plainclothes policemen.
“And if you went left or right off the main road, they were on you like to say, ‘It’s not safe for you here, so go that way’.
“They steered you out, so you never saw Russia at all.
“That was not really a great memory, but it was a memory where I met a lot of people that looked after my career in the future.”
