Veteran Quebec sports broadcaster Richard Garneau died on Sunday at the age of 82 at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital. Garneau underwent cardiac surgery, in January, and complications arose from the procedure.
Garneau is well known for over sixty years of sports broadcasting on Radio-Canada, including 23 years as a commentator with ‘La soirée du hockey’.
Garneau, who was born in Quebec City, began his career in November 1953 at CHRC-Radio in Quebec City before he moved to CFCM-TV, Montreal. He joined the broadcast team at Radio-Canada in 1957 and remained there for the next 33 years.
Garneau covered more Olympic Games than any other journalist in the world. In total, Garneau reported from 23 games throughout the course of his career, and only missed the Atlanta games in 1996.
He was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2024, awarded the Order of Quebec in 2024, the French merit prize in 1994 and was entered in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999. His work in sports broadcasting earned five Gemeaux Awards.
In recent years, Garneau’s name was associated with important international competition like the Tour de France and the Quebec and Montreal Grand Prix. Garneau published five books, including an autobiography published in two parts.
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