Former Penn Relays announcer and fixture in track and field Bob Hersh has died at 82
Hersh’s voice was a familiar sound at Franklin Field from 2002-09, when he introduced races, including the popular USA vs. the World events.
Former Penn Relays public address announcer Bob Hersh died Wednesday at age 82 in New York.
Hersh’s voice was a familiar sound at Franklin Field from 2002 to 2009, when he introduced races, including the popular USA vs. the World events. But that was far from his only contribution to the Relays.
Hersh worked a variety of roles at the meet going back to the 1960s, from journalist to statistician.
”Many people in the Penn Relays family have known Bob as a colleague and friend, but most fans and athletes will remember the voice from the Relays and many other major meets,” former Relays director Dave Johnson said in a statement.
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Hersh was well-known to the rest of the track world, too. He was the P.A. announcer at six Olympic Games and nine World Track & Field Championships, starting at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.
Away from the microphone, Hersh was also a board member of USA Track & Field and was influential in World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body, becoming vice president in 2007 and senior vice president in 2011 — the highest position ever held by an American in the organization. He campaigned against doping in the sport, and at one point he ran the World Athletics Doping Review Board.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said Hersh’s “advice and guidance was sought by so many people around the world, and his wisdom and no-nonsense approach will be greatly missed.”