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2016-08-06 06:44:41 UTC
CBC puts former Olympians back in the Games as members of their broadcast team in Rio
http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/rio-2016/cbc-puts-former-olympians-back-in-the-games-as-members-of-their-broadcast-team-in-rio
CBC puts former Olympians back in the Games as members of their broadcast team in Rio
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Vicki Hall | August 5, 2016 9:17 PM ET
By the Numbers: CBC coverage of 2016 Rio Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO — Clara Hughes is known for her incredible pain tolerance and ability to gut out the toughest of races — on her skates and on her road bike.
Today, the six-time Olympic medallist stands at the start line of a gruelling marathon of a different kind, covering the victories and defeats for Canadian athletes over 17 days at the 2016 Rio Summer Games with CBC
“This is my third broadcasting Olympics, and one thing I’ve learned is that broadcasters count how many Games they’ve been to as well,” Hughes, 43, said in a rare quiet moment at Canada House before the opening ceremony. “I love being on the other side — the dark side. I love telling the stories of these athletes.”
The task is daunting, with CBC offering more than 900 hours on its English-language channels and 4,000-plus hours of live streaming on the network’s website and app (TSN and Sportsnet are also partners in showing the Games). To do so, the public broadcaster relies heavily on a cast of Olympians-turned-journalists to provide expertise and analysis. “It’s a privilege,” Hughes said. “It’s an honour, and I know it’s something we all take very seriously. We’re all AAA personalities. So we’re going to be prepared, and then we’re going to unleash.”
The job sounds glamorous — and it is, in many ways — with up close access to drama-packed events watched by billions around the world. But the hours are gruelling, the bus transportation is unreliable and sleep is hard to come by.
Related
20 Questions with Scott Russell, host of CBC’s Olympic Games Primetime
CBC to offer more than 900 hours of Rio Olympic coverage, 4,000-plus hours of live streaming
“As a journalist, I try to go about it by conserving energy and saving energy and then giving that energy when it matters,” Hughes said. “I’m not here to see the sites of Rio as a tourist. If I want to do that, I’ll come back another time. This is a business trip.”
Another of them, Kyle Shewfelt, is bouncing in his seat on the bus with sheer excitement through the Rio Olympic Park. The nerves are there for Shewfelt, to be sure, but he’s positively chilled compared to the way he felt in the lead-up to his gold-medal performance in the floor exercise at the 2004 Athens Games.
“The pressure, it’s a lot different,” he said. “As an athlete, I would lie in bed in the days leading up to the competition and I would feel that adrenalin rush. I would feel that sickness – the feeling that ‘Oh my gosh, it’s here.’ You’ve worked for 16 years of your life for that one competition.
“As a broadcaster and journalist, you can always do more to prepare. But at a certain point, you have to trust you know what you need to know in terms of the rules and the technicalities.
”When it comes to broadcasting, Shewfelt speaks to an audience of millions like he’s chatting over beers with an old friend. He takes pride in explaining the finer points of gymnastics to a hockey-mad country that collectively knows little about his sport.
“I wait to get that headset on and I wait for my producers to say, ‘You’re live’ and then I try to share my joy and my passion for the sport,” he said. “That’s not pressure for me. It’s just being genuine and really excited about the sport.”
Upon retiring from competition, hurdler Perdita Felicien went back to school to study broadcast journalism and worked as a video journalist for Hamilton’s CHCH News.
Back in 2004, the heavily favoured Felicien tripped over the first hurdle at the Athens Games in a race she was expected to win. Like every Olympian, she walked through the mixed zone and talked to reporters, even in the midst of personal devastation.
These days, she is the one asking the questions in Rio and she says life on the other side is different.
“You’re not as popular when you’re no longer an athlete,” Felicien said with a laugh. “You don’t get the same love. But seriously, I still get stressed when I’m covering an event. I still get butterflies as if I’m the one out there. I think it’s because I understand what’s at stake.”
Retired sprinter Anson Henry arrived in Rio on Wednesday on the same flight as members of the Canadian track and field team. At the airport, the athletes went one way and the media went another.
He loves his new job, but he still pines at times for days gone by.
“The mindset now is so laid-back and stress free,” said Henry, a two-time Canadian Olympian working for CBC as a digital producer. “In a way, it was torture when I was competing, but I miss it. There is nothing else that duplicates that feeling. There’s pressure in journalism, but it’s nothing like it is for the athletes. They get one moment, and it’s gone.”
CBC COVERAGE PLANS
CBC is the Canadian rightsholder for the Rio Olympics, but the broadcasters has parcelled off some events to TSN and Sportsnet over the next 17 days.
Here’s how it breaks down:
• CBC: As the rightsholder, the public broadcaster hung on to the marquee events so the network will be the home of athletics, swimming, canoe/kayak, diving and rowing. CBC is expected to cover more Canadian medals than either of its partners.
• TSN: The big draws are Kia Nurse and the women’s basketball team, along with golf (Canada’s Brooke Henderson is a legitimate medal threat). TSN also will show cycling (road), judo, rugby and wrestling.
• Sportsnet: Here you can find Genie Bouchard and the Canadian tennis team, along with gymnastics, taekwondo, field hockey and indoor volleyball.
• Soccer, beach volleyball and boxing will appear across all three networks, as will portions of action from all events.
— with files from Rob Longley, Postmedia News
***@postmedia.com
http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/rio-2016/cbc-puts-former-olympians-back-in-the-games-as-members-of-their-broadcast-team-in-rio
CBC puts former Olympians back in the Games as members of their broadcast team in Rio
Republish
Reprint
Vicki Hall | August 5, 2016 9:17 PM ET
By the Numbers: CBC coverage of 2016 Rio Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO — Clara Hughes is known for her incredible pain tolerance and ability to gut out the toughest of races — on her skates and on her road bike.
Today, the six-time Olympic medallist stands at the start line of a gruelling marathon of a different kind, covering the victories and defeats for Canadian athletes over 17 days at the 2016 Rio Summer Games with CBC
“This is my third broadcasting Olympics, and one thing I’ve learned is that broadcasters count how many Games they’ve been to as well,” Hughes, 43, said in a rare quiet moment at Canada House before the opening ceremony. “I love being on the other side — the dark side. I love telling the stories of these athletes.”
The task is daunting, with CBC offering more than 900 hours on its English-language channels and 4,000-plus hours of live streaming on the network’s website and app (TSN and Sportsnet are also partners in showing the Games). To do so, the public broadcaster relies heavily on a cast of Olympians-turned-journalists to provide expertise and analysis. “It’s a privilege,” Hughes said. “It’s an honour, and I know it’s something we all take very seriously. We’re all AAA personalities. So we’re going to be prepared, and then we’re going to unleash.”
The job sounds glamorous — and it is, in many ways — with up close access to drama-packed events watched by billions around the world. But the hours are gruelling, the bus transportation is unreliable and sleep is hard to come by.
Related
20 Questions with Scott Russell, host of CBC’s Olympic Games Primetime
CBC to offer more than 900 hours of Rio Olympic coverage, 4,000-plus hours of live streaming
“As a journalist, I try to go about it by conserving energy and saving energy and then giving that energy when it matters,” Hughes said. “I’m not here to see the sites of Rio as a tourist. If I want to do that, I’ll come back another time. This is a business trip.”
Another of them, Kyle Shewfelt, is bouncing in his seat on the bus with sheer excitement through the Rio Olympic Park. The nerves are there for Shewfelt, to be sure, but he’s positively chilled compared to the way he felt in the lead-up to his gold-medal performance in the floor exercise at the 2004 Athens Games.
“The pressure, it’s a lot different,” he said. “As an athlete, I would lie in bed in the days leading up to the competition and I would feel that adrenalin rush. I would feel that sickness – the feeling that ‘Oh my gosh, it’s here.’ You’ve worked for 16 years of your life for that one competition.
“As a broadcaster and journalist, you can always do more to prepare. But at a certain point, you have to trust you know what you need to know in terms of the rules and the technicalities.
”When it comes to broadcasting, Shewfelt speaks to an audience of millions like he’s chatting over beers with an old friend. He takes pride in explaining the finer points of gymnastics to a hockey-mad country that collectively knows little about his sport.
“I wait to get that headset on and I wait for my producers to say, ‘You’re live’ and then I try to share my joy and my passion for the sport,” he said. “That’s not pressure for me. It’s just being genuine and really excited about the sport.”
Upon retiring from competition, hurdler Perdita Felicien went back to school to study broadcast journalism and worked as a video journalist for Hamilton’s CHCH News.
Back in 2004, the heavily favoured Felicien tripped over the first hurdle at the Athens Games in a race she was expected to win. Like every Olympian, she walked through the mixed zone and talked to reporters, even in the midst of personal devastation.
These days, she is the one asking the questions in Rio and she says life on the other side is different.
“You’re not as popular when you’re no longer an athlete,” Felicien said with a laugh. “You don’t get the same love. But seriously, I still get stressed when I’m covering an event. I still get butterflies as if I’m the one out there. I think it’s because I understand what’s at stake.”
Retired sprinter Anson Henry arrived in Rio on Wednesday on the same flight as members of the Canadian track and field team. At the airport, the athletes went one way and the media went another.
He loves his new job, but he still pines at times for days gone by.
“The mindset now is so laid-back and stress free,” said Henry, a two-time Canadian Olympian working for CBC as a digital producer. “In a way, it was torture when I was competing, but I miss it. There is nothing else that duplicates that feeling. There’s pressure in journalism, but it’s nothing like it is for the athletes. They get one moment, and it’s gone.”
CBC COVERAGE PLANS
CBC is the Canadian rightsholder for the Rio Olympics, but the broadcasters has parcelled off some events to TSN and Sportsnet over the next 17 days.
Here’s how it breaks down:
• CBC: As the rightsholder, the public broadcaster hung on to the marquee events so the network will be the home of athletics, swimming, canoe/kayak, diving and rowing. CBC is expected to cover more Canadian medals than either of its partners.
• TSN: The big draws are Kia Nurse and the women’s basketball team, along with golf (Canada’s Brooke Henderson is a legitimate medal threat). TSN also will show cycling (road), judo, rugby and wrestling.
• Sportsnet: Here you can find Genie Bouchard and the Canadian tennis team, along with gymnastics, taekwondo, field hockey and indoor volleyball.
• Soccer, beach volleyball and boxing will appear across all three networks, as will portions of action from all events.
— with files from Rob Longley, Postmedia News
***@postmedia.com