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KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — A Utah sports announcer was chosen as the English announcer for the bobsled, luge and skeleton events at the Sochi Olympics.
Carl Roepke’s voice is familiar to a lot of athletes who train in Park City. And pronouncing Tooele, Duchesne and Oquirrh from their spellings may have prepared him to announce unfamiliar names and places during the Olympics.
“You don’t know (pronouncing names), so I can try my best. I try not to ever stop when I start with a name, though. That is, I think, most important,” Roepke said.
Roepke keeps trying because he understands that he’s helping athletes represent their dreams.
“We are being hired to be English-speaking Olympic announcers and represent everybody’s Olympic dreams,” he said.
There is a language services person available to him if he has a question, but Roepke still has to get the right emphasis and tone on any one particular syllable.
Although Roepke knows many Utah athletes, and he gets excited when they compete, he has to keep his voice under control when announcing.
He keeps his voice steady and speaks from his belly, allowing him to amplify his voice naturally without yelling into the microphone.
Roepke said that this is a dream job.
“I’m very lucky,” Roepke said about his opportunity.
He feels lucky not only for being chosen, but because he gets to keep participating in a sport he loves.
Roepke used to be a luge racer, and came very close to being an Olympic athlete. But he said he still made it to the Olympics, he’s just doing something else that he loves.
