Great Scott! Retiring broadcaster Russell expecting emotional finale in Paris

PARIS — The closing ceremony of an Olympic Games always packs an emotional punch for longtime CBC broadcaster Scott Russell.

The Paris finale at the Stade de France on Sunday will be no exception.

It's the 17th and final Olympics for Russell, who will retire next month after nearly 40 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"I get very emotional about the Olympics and to me, with good reason," Russell said. "I hope that my passion has been reflected to Canadians and that they understand that I really believe in the Olympics and believe that they're important in the history of the country.

"I hope that people will remember me for that, that I believed in the importance of the Olympics."

Russell, who announced his retirement plans in June, served as host of the CBC afternoon show "Bell Paris Prime" over the last fortnight. His final broadcast will come next month when he caps coverage of the Paris Paralympics on Sept. 8.

"It's time for some new challenges and time to spend a little bit more time with family," Russell said in a recent interview.

Russell joined CBC Charlottetown in 1985 as a reporter and covered his first Olympics three years later in Seoul. A top storyline from those Games was Ben Johnson's win in the 100-metre final and subsequent positive test for the banned substance stanozolol.

As the news was breaking, Russell recalled getting a phone call in the wee hours from the Reuters wire service in London to ask for his thoughts on the Canadian sprinter.

Thinking the interview was to discuss the gold medal, Russell weighed in on the standout performance and its impact on the country. The reporter was quick to interrupt with news of the positive test.

"My jaw dropped," he said. "I suddenly realized that they knew about that in the West before we knew about it in Seoul because we were asleep. It was totally unexpected and it started the whole process of the Dubin inquiry in Canada and really the whole gnashing of teeth about what to do about doping in sport.

"It was a national inquiry and that brought to light that the Olympics has so many twists and turns and so many things can happen."

There have been countless Olympic highlights for Russell over the years.

A couple of standouts, he said, were calling Beckie Scott's cross-country race in 2002 at Salt Lake City — a bronze-medal performance that was upgraded to gold two years later — and Kyle Shewfelt's gymnastics gold in 2004 at Athens.

Paris, meanwhile, was a welcome return to on-site coverage for Russell. He worked the last two Games — Tokyo in 2021 and Beijing in 2022 — remotely from Toronto due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I really missed being on the ground for the Games to witness what was happening," he said.

As a whole, the CBC has trimmed its total on-site crew by almost half since the last non-pandemic Summer Games in 2016 at Rio. Specific numbers weren't provided, but CBC Sports chief Chris Wilson said technology has allowed that to happen.

"We learned a lot through the pandemic that there are some roles that can be done at home that eight years ago we never would have thought could have been done at home," he said in an interview before the Games.

"But we still have to have people there to make sure that the athlete stories are told. We have to be at every event that we can be at where there's a Canadian participating especially."

Not including Radio-Canada, only basketball, aquatics and athletics have been called on-site in France, a CBC spokesperson said via email. All other competitions have been called remotely from studios in Toronto or Montreal.

It's unclear who will replace Russell at future editions of the Games and if the old-school sports journalist/anchor will remain a key position. The next edition of the Olympics — the 2026 Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy — is only a year and a half away.

Russell, meanwhile, plans to stay busy during his retirement.

He has accepted a ceremonial position as a chancellor at Nipissing University. Russell is also an honorary board member of the Paralympic Foundation of Canada and is an advisory board member for the International Centre for Olympic Studies at Western University.

Russell has hosted seven Olympic Games for the CBC and also led network coverage at six Pan Am Games and six Commonwealth Games. The 66-year-old was also a host and rinkside reporter on Hockey Night in Canada for 14 years.

"I have a tremendous reverence for Olympic athletes and the Olympic movement in general," Russell said. "I really do think it's one of the great hopes of the world. It continues to bring people together against the odds."

At previous closing ceremonies — just before the Olympic flame is extinguished — the feelings traditionally build up within Russell.

During that brief moment, he said he gets so overwhelmed that he loses the ability to speak.

"There's a lot of emotion there because of what I've witnessed and how much I feel for the Games," he said. "So that's going to be there."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press