Sport Presenters

One of the best unstaged interviews of all time!
Clare Balding

She has done it - perhaps with the help of Bert Le Clos and the Mobot! Originally, I was not fussed either way with her coverage of sporting events mainly involving horses.  However, 2012 has seen somewhat of a turn around! A key anchorwoman for the London 2012 coverage, BBC SPOTY, an array of horse racing programmes and even the Christmas release of her own book! She has come across as a sports presenter who is prepared, full of knowledge and real drive and love for what she is doing! 


Most recently, she hosted a new quiz show called Britain's Brightest and she is soon to start as a DJ on Radio 2 - her career is definitely going from strength to strength! In addition, when watching the Cambridge Oxford Boat Race 2013 I took the opportunity to get my picture taken with her - a dream come true!!
So nice in person too!

Jake Humphrey

Jake most notably has been the face of  Formula 1 racing coverage in the UK allowing the sport to be much more accessible to watch.  Not only that but it  has been  both interesting and thrilling for folk like myself who would normally have switched over!  The rapport and banter he built up with racing legends David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan was always great fun to watch and listen to their interviews with the stars.
The 33 year old started behind the scenes at the BBC moving to children's TV and has shown hard work and dedication to reach the heights he has today in sports presenting.  Notably this year he was a key anchorman on the BBC coverage of London 2012 where you could never fault him in his knowledge of each sport he covered.  From the start of 2013 he will be trying to leave his mark on a new adventure covering premier league football on BT. Not only is his career going strength to strength but his wife, Harriet is expecting their first child in the new year - happy days for the Humphreys!


Garry Herbert

Garry has to produce some of the most passionate and memorable commentaries from the Olympics. He transforms the sport of rowing into such an entertaining and gripping spectacle to watch especially in the final stages! At some moments I find myself more concerned for his health due to his voice fluctuations instead of the excrutiating pain the rowers are putting themselves through!
Garry is an Olympic gold medallist cox from the 1992 coxed pair featuring the Searle brothers and a World rowing champion in the following year. For me, it is often easier to respect the views of a commentator who has experienced such levels in that sport. Not to say that all sportsmen and woman would make a good commentator though! Throughout his sporting career he has shown determination, leadership and inspiration in which he definitely conveys in his voice!
London 2012 is Garry’s fourth Olympics commentating for the BBC in which he often commentates alongside Dan Topoloski.  The pair are a real assest to the mesmerising performances from all the GB rowers-a winning combination in the commentary box!


John McEnroe

My first male inspiration and my first commentator. I swear these just aren't all my fav sportsmen and woman, just happen to all be sporty too! I like him for his comedy value and how he is so bold in just saying what he thinks- you cannot be serious! A regular commentator on Wimbledon BBC coverage each year and on other grand slam tennis in the US often alongside his older brother.
He is often able to get away with his tongue in cheek comments due to being one of the all time greats of tennis. The US player, a former no.1 winning seven grand slam single titles, nine grand slam doubles titles and one mixed double title! In my opinion there are similar characteristics between McEnroe and Murray on court with regards to their display of raw emotion and being unable to control their temper from time to time. On the subject of Murray, one of his greatest rivals was his coach Ivan Lendl along with Bjorn Bjorg and fellow American Jimmy Connors. He still plays today on the ATP tour and recently won the French Open this year for the over 45 legends double competition. From his commentating and continued success on the tour, it clearly shows his complete love for the game.


Denise Lewis 

A surprise package! Relatively fresh to the world of sports punditry she joined the BBC in 2009 primarily covering athletic meets and since larger events such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Her voice is so easy to listen to with her calm and clear tones. She isn't too overpowering with her opinions (which some sports pundits can be *cough* Robbie Savage) but she certainly has a wealth of knowledge in athletics. 
As an athlete, she first competed in a heptathlon in 1989 for her club Birchfield Harriers based in Birmingham. A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events- clearly very physically and mentally demanding. This was evident at the height of her career in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With a bandage at the bottom of her left leg to keep at bay an achilles and calf injury she hobbled her way to an Olympic gold medal showing what she was made of!


London 2012 could be Ennis's year to join Lewis as a Heptathlon Olympic Champ.

Gabby Logan

Definitely has grown on me. At first, I found her personality did not come across very well and quite harsh. In all honesty, this was my immediate misjudgment of listening to a female presenter covering a very male dominated sport which hadn't successfully been achieved before. Complete admiration is due for her determination to reach the heights she has as one of the leading presenters of BBC Sport. She specifically focuses on football which is influenced by her father who was a Welsh internationalist. 

Similar to Barker, she is a sportswoman too where at the peak of her career she reached eighth place in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1990 Olympic Games in Auckland. You could really tell she was a gymnast when she took part in a series of Strictly Come Dancing with her husband Kenny- she was so flexible! I personally love it when sport legends go on these shows! I did feel sorry for her when she got booted off the show so early perhaps due to her natural ability and over keenness as sometimes we do love an underdog- like Kenny. Maybe this was when I saw the competitiveness in her personality which I admire.

Looking at her career she began working at a local radio station in Newcastle and through her television career worked with Sky Sports, ITV and now at the BBC. She has shown the amount of hard work that is required to reach the top in media.



Sue Barker


My number one female sports presenter. A professional sportswoman in her own right winning the 1976 French Open, a Wimbledon and Australian Open semi finalist and winner of an illustrious selection of doubles titles. Below is a vintage video of a young Sue Barker in action at Roland Garros (avec French commentary too oui oui!) 


The quality of video is not the best but you can pick out the main weapon in her game in which her coach commented as being "especially potent": her forehand. Fashion in the woman's game today is so essential in terms of sponsors and advertising a brand and perhaps the style of Barker's pretty and short dress is not too out of date!
What I have known Sue Barker to be is a sports presenter especially covering Wimbledon coverage and the presenter of A Question of Sport. She has a great depth of knowledge about sport and tennis in particular with many sport star colleagues as friends. I admire her presenting style which is often direct and to the point and sometimes includes her own opinion. She also has a light hearted side to her presenting which is very clear on A QoS when joking with team captains such as John Parrott, Ally McCoist, Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell. She always appears calm and in control which is exactly what a good presenter should come across as.


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