Rugby sevens · Olympic Games
Paris 2024 rugby sevens commentary
A 54-second selected passage demonstrating pace, context and live event storytelling.
Olympic · Paralympic · International
The voice that makes the moment clear.
Hans Frauenlob is an Olympian and international multi-sport commentator based in Auckland, New Zealand. He brings detailed preparation, precise explanation and calm live storytelling to Olympic, Paralympic, federation, league and major-event broadcasts across more than 18 sports.
- 5
- Olympic Games as commentator
- 2006
- New Zealand Winter Olympian
- 18+ sports
- Summer, Winter, Olympic and Para sport
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. At the blind football final beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Host-broadcast experience
Major finals
Solo & co-commentary
Remote & on-site delivery
Selected calls
Selected commentary from major international events.
Four short excerpts from Olympic and Paralympic broadcasts, covering very different sports, settings and live commentary situations.
The selected passages remain hosted by the official publishers. Embedded clips play only the chosen range where YouTube permits it; the rugby sevens passage opens on YouTube at the recommended start time.
Curling · Olympic final
USA v Sweden — men’s gold-medal match
The decisive USA shot in the men’s Olympic final — a major moment combining tactical context, pressure and release.
Blind football · Paralympic final
France v Argentina — athlete stories into live play
Storytelling about the athletes, moving naturally into the action during the Paris 2024 Paralympic final beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Diving · Olympic Games
Venue atmosphere into competition action
Atmosphere and information about the Paris 2024 diving venue, leading naturally into the start of the competition action.
Experience
From the field of play to the commentary position.
An Olympian, international broadcaster and former professional-sport executive, with commentary experience across five Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, Pan American events and multiple World Championships.
New Zealand Olympian
Represented New Zealand in men’s curling at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.
PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games
Host-broadcast curling commentary, including the men’s Olympic gold-medal final.
Tokyo Olympic Games
Multi-sport world-feed commentary across baseball, softball, athletics, handball, archery, badminton and tennis.
Beijing Olympic Winter Games
World-feed curling commentary across the Olympic programme, including the mixed doubles gold-medal final, plus commentary for the Beijing closing ceremony.
Santiago Pan American & Parapan American Games
Commentary across baseball, softball and open water swimming at the Pan American Games, and goalball at the Parapan American Games.
Paris Olympic & Paralympic Games
Olympic commentary including diving, followed by Paralympic assignments in blind football, Para badminton, wheelchair tennis and boccia.
Toronto Blue Jays front office
Professional-sport experience gained across six years working in the front office of Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays.
World Curling Championships
Commentary across multiple World Curling Championship events, combining elite technical insight with accessible explanation for international audiences.
Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games
Returned to the Olympic host-broadcast curling team for a fifth Games as commentator.
01CurlingOlympics and World Championships
02Baseball & softballTokyo and Santiago
03AthleticsTokyo Olympic Games
04HandballFast tactical explanation
05ArcheryPrecision under pressure
06BadmintonOlympic and Para formats
07TennisOlympic and wheelchair tennis
08Table tennisSpeed, rhythm and tactical clarity
09FootballMatch flow, context and live storytelling
10DivingTechnique, scoring and timing
11Blind footballAtmosphere and accessibility
12Boccia & goalballPara-sport expertise
13Open water swimmingRace narrative and conditions
14Rugby sevensPace and storytelling
+Ceremonies & multi-sportBeijing closing ceremony and rapid, rigorous preparation
From the booth
On site, on headset, and across very different sports.
A selection of commentary positions from Olympic, Paralympic and international events—from summer ballparks to winter arenas.
Commentary approach
Prepare deeply.
Explain simply.
Let the pictures breathe.
Great world-feed commentary serves two audiences at once: the devoted expert and the first-time viewer. The job is not to prove how much the commentator knows. It is to make the sport feel immediately understandable and worth caring about.
Anticipate
Identify the tactical problem before the key action, so viewers understand what is at stake.
Translate
Turn specialist knowledge into clear language without flattening the complexity of the sport.
Serve the production
Work collaboratively with producers, co-commentators, athletes and venue teams. Bring energy and good humour, while always putting the needs of the production first.
Land the moment
Match the size of the call to the pictures, then leave space for the emotion to register.
About Hans
An Olympian’s eye. A broadcaster’s discipline.
Hans Frauenlob represented New Zealand in curling at Torino 2006 and has built a commentary career spanning five Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan American and Parapan American Games, multiple World Curling Championships and more than 18 sports.
His perspective combines elite competition, six years working in the Toronto Blue Jays front office, detailed multi-sport preparation and the ability to make unfamiliar competition accessible to an international audience.
He brings a team-first working style: thorough preparation, a strong work ethic, good humour and a clear focus on what best serves the production. That sits alongside the technical instincts of an athlete and the ability to make unfamiliar competition accessible to a global audience.
Insights
Writing and conversations about commentary.
Selected articles and interviews on preparation, live commentary and working within major broadcast productions.
Olympic commentary
Off to Cortina: Olympic Curling Commentator Secrets
What it takes to prepare for a Games, serve a world-feed audience and work inside a major broadcast operation.
Read article ↗ Commentary craftAthlete talk, silence and knowing when not to speak
How commentary works alongside pictures, natural sound and the voices of competitors.
View published work ↗ InterviewFrom the Hack: Frauenlob and Fournier
A conversation with a New Zealand Olympian, television commentator and curling writer.
Listen / read ↗Bookings and broadcast enquiries
Experienced commentary for events built for an audience.
Available for on-site and remote assignments with international and national federations, professional and collegiate leagues, multi-sport events, and producers assembling international broadcast crews.
- International and national federation event coverage
- Professional and collegiate league broadcasts
- Olympic, Paralympic and other multi-sport events
- International host-broadcast and production crews
- On-site or remote commentary and analysis