Bob Beattie

Robert Prime Beattie (January 24, 1933 – April 1, 2018) was an American skiing coach, skiing promoter and commentator for ABC Sports and ESPN. He was head coach of the U.S. Ski Team from 1961 to 1969 and co-founded the Alpine Skiing World Cup in 1966. His work as a ski-racing commentator for ABC included four Winter Olympic Games, from 1976 through 1988. Early life Beattie was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 24, 1933, to Robert Archibald Beattie (1904–1975), a sales manager for a roofing company, and Katherine Simpson (née Prime; 1906–1995), a homemaker. He had a younger brother, John M. He graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1950. He attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he participated in several sports, including football, tennis, cross country, and skiing. After graduating in 1955 with a degree in education, he remained at Middlebury as an assistant coach. Coaching career In 1956, Beattie was named acting coach of the school's ski team after coach Bobo Sheehan left to coach the alpine skiers on the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team. In 1957, Beattie became the head skiing coach for the University of Colorado in Boulder, and during his tenure the team won the NCAA national titles in 1959 and 1960. In 1961, the U.S. Ski Association named Beattie the U.S. Ski Team's head alpine coach. He continued to work concurrently for the university until 1965. During his coaching years, Beattie was known as a demanding coach, driving his athletes hard. At the 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria, the Beattie-coached U.S. team won two medals, both in the men's slalom: a silver earned by Billy Kidd and a bronze by Jimmie Heuga. They were the country's first-ever Olympic medals in men's skiing. During the 1968 Winter Olympics in France, the U.S. Ski Team won no medals, and Beattie was criticized for his tough coaching style. He stepped down as the U.S. Ski Team's coach in April 1969.