University of the Pacific alumna Heather Cox ’92 is fresh off her ninth Olympic assignment, broadcasting for NBC at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Her 30-year career in sports broadcasting has taken her to the games in London, Rio, Athens, Beijing, Paris and Italy.

Cox shared her experiences in an episode of Pacific Conversations with Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Scott Biedermann ’05, ’20—a monthly virtual series featuring Pacificans—to talk about her time at the Olympics and how Pacific gave her a solid foundation to build an impressive career.

“It was unlike any other,” Cox said of this year’s games. “I was in a very quaint mountain alpine village. I was covering men's alpine for two weeks and then had two days of ski mountaineering, which is the new sport for this Olympics, and it was incredible.

“I got to work with amazing world-class elite athletes. Doing the Olympics is the pinnacle of my sports career. It's just such a treat and every time I get to do it, I think I'm the luckiest person in the world.”

Although Cox has had an extensive sports reporting career—she also has been an NFL sideline reporter for Thursday Night Football, ESPN College Football and NBA basketball—she said reporting on higher-risk sports at the Olympics can sometimes be unnerving.

“This is a life and death sport, so injury is really stressful and can be really scary. I mean, there are helicopters that evacuate athletes on the side of the Italian Alps.”

Cox was an athlete herself as a student at Pacific, serving as captain of the volleyball team from 1988 to 1991. She led the program to a top five national ranking in each of those seasons and a national runner-up finish in 1990. Cox says her education at Pacific instilled the skills needed to be prepared in her career.

“I'm a huge believer in the importance of team athletics and what it can do. It's not about the success in the sport at the time; it's about the success that it gives you for the rest of your life. It's about learning teamwork, time management, dedication, hard work and the ability to work with others in stressful situations,” Cox said.

“I had so many opportunities afforded to me at Pacific that I don't think I would have had at a bigger university. Having those opportunities athletically and academically built my confidence. I was able to stretch and grow and take all those lessons I learned in my four years at Pacific and apply them to the rest of my life.”

Cox is the recipient of Pacific’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Award and was awarded the Pacific Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.

“Pacific impacted my life in every way possible. I mean, it was the foundation for who I am. I became me in my four years at Pacific and with all the opportunities that Pacific afforded me through academics and athletics. It’s truly the foundation, and it's what I go back to always. I can't imagine who I'd be without Pacific and I'm so grateful.”

Watch the full episode of Pacific Conversations.