Today sports presenter Alex Cullen was bitten by the Olympics bug when he was a teenager, recalling to Wide World of Sports his wide-eyed amazement as he sat in the crowd that roared for Eric 'the Eel' Moussambani at Sydney 2000.
Later, as a journalist, he asked Cathy Freeman to pick apart her famous 400m triumph, that most glorious of home Olympics moments, 10 years on from her iconic gold medal run.
So it's no wonder that Cullen can't hide his excitement after moving into Today's expanded sports presenter role, just 18 months out from the Paris Olympics, to be broadcast by Nine.
READ MORE: 'Young superstar' turns heads in Super Rugby opener
READ MORE: Joey's ominous warning to struggling star
READ MORE: Cummins out of third Test to be with mum
"It's always been a dream of mine to cover the Olympic Games," Cullen said.
"It's the ultimate sporting event and Paris will be what the world needs after a difficult few years. The world will be ready to party and celebrate our best athletes across a few weeks, live and free on Channel Nine."
The Olympics is the jewel in the crown for Nine's increasingly busy sports coverage over the next decade, adding to a line-up that already includes the Australian Open, NRL, Super Rugby, the upcoming 2023 Rugby World Cup, the Ashes in England in June and July this year, as well a men's ODI World Cup in October and November.
Nine's director of morning television, Steve Burling said: "The importance of sport across Nine has led to us shifting focus on our line-up for Today, with Brooke Boney now taking on news and entertainment and Alex Cullen totally focused on sport.
"Alex has a passion for all things sport, so it is a comfortable fit."
Cullen is a Parramatta Eels tragic, having watched the magical team of 1986 win a premiership with Peter Sterling pulling the strings. He was five at the time and has had to watch them beaten on grand final day three times since, in 2001, 2009 and again last season, when they fell to the all-conquering Penrith Panthers.
"I think they can go one better this season," Cullen said.
"It's very hard for an Eels fan, having watched the game in 1986 and then not being able to replicate that feeling, it's very very hard.
"I'm hoping this year we can get there, we can do it. Mitch Moses re-signing is good, that's a big start and I'm just looking forward to dedicating more of my time and more of my focus on Channel Nine's vast array of sport.
"Nine's never had more sport and I can't wait to tell all those great stories to our sports-loving audience."
For Cullen, there's no better event than the Olympics for sports stories that touch all Australians and he captures that sentiment in his recollection of the moment Moussambani became a cult hero before our eyes in Sydney.
"I was in the crowd for Eric the Eel swimming his 100m freestyle heat," Cullen said.
"We had the cheap seats, I was only 19, 20 at the time, with my three siblings and my parents and we had no idea what was happening.
"Two blokes got disqualified and Eric jumps in and the crowd just went silent because there was utter confusion, no one knew what was going on. And then all of a sudden he starts swimming and everyone looked at each other and went, 'We've got to get behind this bloke,' so the crowd just erupted.
"Everyone's cheering him on, he gets to the other end and he does his tumble turn, or his rendition of a tumble turn, and he's swimming back, he's got his goggles around his neck, he's swimming as hard as he can to finish that race and the crowd absolutely went off and brought Eric the Eel home.
"That is my favourite Olympic moment and I can't wait to play my role in bringing moments like that into the lounge rooms of all Australians."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.