Peter Graves (born May 16, 1952 in Bennington, Vermont) is an American television sportscaster and

public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

announcer specializing in

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

, lifestyle, and action sports. He is also a former

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for Harvard University.

Early career

Graves was a collegiate skier at Fort Lewis College in

Durango, Colorado Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

, graduating in 1975 with a degree in physical education. He began his broadcast career as news director of KIUP Radio in Durango and a Colorado reporter for KOAT-TV in Albuquerque. He worked from 1976 to 1981 as marketing director for a Norwegian cross-country ski importer, NorTur, Inc. in Minneapolis. His career as a stadium sports announcer began at international cross-country ski races at Telemark Resort in northern Wisconsin in 1977. He went on to become the voice of Nordic skiing at U.S. World Cup events and the international American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race from 1977 to 1985. Graves gained notoriety as the stadium announcer for the

Lumberjack World Championships The Lumberjack World Championships are held annually in Hayward, Wisconsin. The event began in 1960 and is held at the Lumberjack Bowl. There are 21 events for both men and women to compete for over $50,000 in prize money. Contestants come from th ...

Hayward, Wisconsin Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, next to the Namekagon River. The population was 2,318 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sawyer County. The city is surrounded by the Town of Hayward. History Early h ...

, which was televised by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's '' Wide World of Sports''.

Television

In 1980, he was the expert commentator with

Bill Fleming Leslie Fletchard "Bill" Fleming (July 31, 1913 – June 4, 2006) was an American professional baseball pitcher. A right-hander, the native of Rowland Heights, California, stood tall and weighed , and attended Saint Mary's College of California ...

for cross-country skiing, and biathlon at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid. He began as one of ESPN's early skiing commentators in 1981 covering international ski events with Jim Simpson. He worked as an expert commentator for ESPN's ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

'' for the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 Olympic Winter Games ) , nations = 57 , athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women) , events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines) , opening = February 13, 1988 , closing = February 28, 1988 , opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé , cauldron ...

. During the 1990s, he was a regular expert commentator and host for coverage of domestic and international

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

competition on ESPN, OLN,

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

(Canada), and EuroSport (Europe). He is a former VeloNews 'Announcer of the Year' award winner. He was the primary television announcer for the

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

from 1986 to 1990.

Mountain biking

Graves was one of the early stadium announcers for mountain biking beginning with the New England Mountain Bike Championships at

Mount Snow, Vermont Mount Snow (previously known as Mount Pisgah) is a mountain and ski resort in southern Vermont located in the Green Mountains. It is Vermont's southernmost big mountain, and therefore, closest to many Northeast metropolitan areas. In Septemb ...

in 1988. He was one of the announcers for the first UCI World Mountain Championships in 1991 in

. He has been the stadium announcer for nearly every World Mountain Bike Championship from 1991-2007.

Olympics

In addition to working with ABC Sports and ESPN for the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Olympic Winter Games, he worked as a stadium announcer and producer. He worked as the stadium announcer for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for mountain biking. At the

2002 Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

in Salt Lake City, he was an associate producer in the SLOC sport production department. He also served as the stadium announcer for the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympics and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

in Salt Lake City, as well as stadium announcer for cross-country skiing and ski jumping. He was the English-language announcer for all cycling events at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens. At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, he was the host Nordic announcer calling cross country skiing and ski jumping; he followed that up by serving as PA announcer at alpine skiing, jumping and at medals plaza at Sochi 2014. 2016 Graves was among the announce team for road cycling at the Rio Olympic Games and taught announce team work shops. In February 2017, Graves traveled to Pyeongchang, Korea, to serve as lead announcer for the

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a ...

Alpine women's World Cup, a test event prior to the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. In 2018, Graves served as Alpine host announcer at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. In 2019 Graves was part of the announcer team for the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. In 2021, the Vermont native was an announcer for road cycling at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games

Recent career

Graves continues as an active stadium announcer at international mountain bike events and domestic World Cup ski events including the

Alpine Skiing World Cup at

Beaver Creek, Colorado Beaver Creek is an unincorporated community in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. Beaver Creek is located immediately south of the town of Avon and encompasses the Beaver Creek Resort and adjacent business, lodging, golf course, and reside ...

and the American Ski Classic at Vail, Colorado. He has been the finish line announcer for

Grandma's Marathon Grandma's Marathon is an annual road race held each June in Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States. The course runs point-to-point from the city of Two Harbors on Scenic Route 61 and continues along Lake Superior into the city of Duluth. The ...

in Duluth, Minnesota since 1978 and is a member of their Hall of Fame.

References

Voice of Cross-Country Skiing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Peter 1952 births Living people Harvard Crimson coaches People from Bennington, Vermont American sports announcers Public address announcers Cycling announcers Skiing announcers Olympic Games broadcasters