He has been the voice for a staggering 12 Summer Olympic Games, now Australia’s undisputed king of sports calling is taking on a new career and anointing the next Cathy Freeman in the process.
Bruce McAvaney, 71, is showing no signs of slowing down after a long career of calling horse racing, AFL grand finals, the Australian Open tennis, rugby, Test cricket and, of course, the Olympics.
He has just signed a fresh two-year deal with Channel Seven to call athletics, which is experiencing its biggest boom since Cathy Freeman famously won the 400m gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
It comes after McAvaney stunned sport fans by coming out of retirement to call AFL fixtures again at the end of the 2024 season.
It was the first time he had called the sport since 2021 after a career that spanned more than 1000 matches.
It will also be a welcome return for McAvaney, who jumped ship to the ABC for the Paris Olympics after 30 years with Channel 7.
Bruce McAvaney will return to Channel 7 to commentate Australian Athletics for the next two years after a stint with the ABC to call the Olympics
Cathy Freeman is regarded as Australia’s best track talent of all time following her gold medal run in the 400 metres at the Sydney Olympics
McAvaney explained he was lured into calling the athletics meets over the next two years because he believes the country is headed for another golden era.
‘I can’t remember a more exciting time in Australian athletics,’ he said.
‘The performance by our team at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023 was surpassed by what happened in Paris just a few months ago and then backed up by an extraordinary result at the World Juniors in Peru.
‘Our athletes are demanding world attention, and I firmly believe the sport is heading for a golden age.’
The 1950s and 1960s marked Australia’s golden era of athletics, with stars like Betty Cuthbert, Herb Elliott, Shirley Strickland and Ron Clarke achieving international success and inspiring future generations.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics reignited this legacy, highlighted by Cathy Freeman’s iconic 400m gold medal, a moment of national unity and pride.
Freeman was not the only Aussie star in track and field that year, with Tatiana Grigorieva’s silver in pole vault and the emergence of hurdler Jana Pittman showcasing the nation’s athletic talent on home soil.
Today, Australia is entering a new golden age, led by the rise of an outstanding crop of young athletes.
Rising star Gout Gout is tracking to be even better than Cathy Freeman, McAvaney said
Gout Gout has been compared to Jamaican sprinting legend Usain Bolt at the same age
Telaya Blacksmith, Mason McGroder, Sebastian Sultana, and Sam Clifford are already shattering records.
But the competitor McAvaney believes will be bigger than everyone who came before him is Queensland’s Gout Gout.
His record-breaking 200m time of 20.29 seconds aged just 16 has drawn comparisons to Usain Bolt at the same age and McAvaney believes he has just as high a ceiling, maybe higher.
‘Has there been anyone more exciting?’ McAvaney told News Corp.
‘Freeman was but he’s at a more mature stage than Cathy was at 16 in terms of what he is doing.
‘We have never had anyone quite like him and the potential is unique within this country I think.’
The new deal with McAvaney extends a partnership between Athletics Australia and Channel 7 that was forged in 2021 ahead of the Paris Olympics.
‘Since the partnership began in 2021, Australian athletics has come a long way and it’s very exciting to have Seven onboard as a partner once more as we enter a new era for our sport,’ Athletics Australia CEO Simon Hollingsworth said.
‘From Cathy Freeman’s win in Sydney 2000 to Nina Kennedy flying to gold in Paris, Australians have long connected with the sport’s greatest moments, and we are delighted that this deal will ensure that athletics will continue to be shared and enjoyed by all Australians during this golden era.’
