TORONTO – Veteran CBC sportscaster Steve Armitage has pulled out from CBC’s broadcast team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games due to a recent diagnosis of chronic heart failure.
Armitage (pictured), who has covered 15 Olympic Games for the public broadcaster, was scheduled to provide live play-by-play commentary for CBC’s coverage of swimming and diving events from Rio. Elliotte Friedman will assume this role in Armitage’s absence.
“I am not going to Rio for the Games because I have no other choice. If I thought I could ’wing it’ or fake it, I would be there”, Armitage said Wednesday in a statement. “To use a bad pun, I’d be there in a heartbeat, but the doctors suggest strongly that I would be putting myself at risk, so I will, like millions of other Canadians, watch the Games on CBC.”
“On behalf of everyone at CBC Sports, we wish Steve all the best. His thrilling calls are synonymous with our coverage of the Olympic Games and, more importantly, he is a beloved member of the CBC Sports family”, added Greg Stremlaw, CBC Sports executive director and general manager and chef de mission for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of Rio 2016. “While we are disappointed that he will not be part of our broadcast team in Rio, Steve’s health comes first and we are in full support of his decision to remain at home. Steve’s are big shoes to fill, but we have the utmost confidence in Elliotte’s ability to step in to provide our audiences with the world-class coverage for which he and our Olympic Games broadcasts are known.”
