Gérard Holtz (born 8 December 1946 in Paris) is a French sports journalist.
Early life and education
Holtz grew up in the Belleville district of Paris. At age eight, he survived a serious accident and subsequently contracted tuberculosis, spending time in a sanatorium in Corrèze until age ten. A doctor diagnosed him with rickets and predicted he would never be able to participate in sports again, which Holtz later said motivated him to prove otherwise. He earned a DESS in public law and studied at the French Press Institute before graduating from the Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) in Paris in 1972.
Television career
Holtz joined the ORTF in 1972 as a news reporter, a role he held for ten years. From 1976 to 1982, he presented the daily news. In 1982, he moved to Antenne 2 as a sports reporter. He presented Stade 2 from 1985 to 1992 and became well known for his post-race interviews at the Tour de France (from 1985) and his commentary on the Dakar Rally (from 1994). He retired from covering the Tour de France after the 2016 edition; during the final stage, race leader Chris Froome presented him with an autographed yellow jersey.
In 1999, he hosted Les cinglés de la télé on France 2, a game show about television culture. He co-hosted the Téléthon in 1991, 1998, 2002, and 2003. He presented the Journal de 13 heures on France 2 from September 2000 to July 2001. From 2005 to 2008, he again hosted Stade 2 on Sundays, continuing until after the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also hosted coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics for France Télévisions.
Personal life
Holtz was married to Marie-Françoise Buart from 1979 to 2006, with whom he has two sons, Julien (born 1979) and Antoine (born 1987). On 19 April 2013, he married Muriel Mayette, the administrator of the Comédie-Française.
Honours
Holtz was named Knight of the National Order of Merit by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 23 November 2010.
