European Champion in 10,000m, only British track & field athlete to appear at five Olympic Games

Still competing today, Jo’s athletic career spans decades and is testament to her resilience and strong determination. She serves as an inspiration to mums everywhere as she juggles family life and training, never letting age or pressure be a barrier to her incredible achievements. From domestic teenage prodigy to becoming the oldest ever European Champion, Jo has won the hearts of the British public and was awarded 3rd in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards 2014.

Jo made her sixth Olympic appearance in Tokyo 2020, at the age of 47, another all-time record for the British track athlete. She remains a keen advocate for healthy family life and launched the Fit For Sport Activity Challenge during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown, to inspire families to get moving. Jo aims to make daily activity fun and improve the UK’s physical and mental health during the pandemic and beyond. She published the highly acclaimed book, ‘This Mum Runs’ in 2016 and often campaigns alongside Public Health England.

She is still regularly in attendance at races up and down the country, as pacemaker, ambassador and participant – she is not done racing yet!

Personal Data

Birth Date: 20/09/1973

Born: Devon, UK

Lives: Devon, UK

Current World Recorder Holder, Olympic Gold Medalist & Renowned Sports Broadcaster

In 2020 Jonathan celebrated his 25^th anniversary of setting the World Record for triple jump (which, unbelievably, he’s held from 1995). As one of the longest World Records ever held in athletics history, BBC Two marked the occasion with a documentary One Giant Leap, which aired August 2020. Jonathan’s Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000 was one of the crowning glories for one of Great Britain’s greatest ever athletes and he was awarded a CBE shortly after.

Now recognised as one of the most accomplished Major Event anchor broadcasters, presenters and corporate hosts, Jonathan has been lead presenter for the globe’s biggest sporting events, including the Olympics, Paralympics, Winter Olympics and all cyclings Grand Tours including of course the Tour de France working for Discovery Eurosport, BBC and Channel 4.

He is a commissioned representative of the International Olympic Committee; as well as leading the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, Jonathan was a main board director of LOCOG the Games’ organisers.

Jonathan is an accomplished, eloquent speaker and particularly enjoys facilitator and hosting roles having managed live global events for brands, federations and international conferences.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 10/05/1966
Born: London, UK
Lives: Newcastle, UK

Triple Olympic medallist, Kelly Sotherton, is one of the most influential and passionate female voices in British Sport.

In 2007, Kelly was a vocal critic of two of her competitors’ performances in the Olympics, but it was a further decade before she was vindicated and awarded two Bronze medals from Beijing, as a result of her rivals’ systematic cheating. Having achieved a further Bronze in Athens, alongside two World Championship medals in Osaka and Valencia to add to Commonwealth Gold, Kelly is now one of Britain’s most decorated and talented track and field athletes – recently being confirmed as one of a unique number of British sports people who are triple track and field Olympic medallists. All of which led to her deserved receipt of an MBE in 2021.

Determined to make a positive change, Kelly’s resolve led her to spearhead the creation of British Athletics’ Athletes Commission. Her advocacy of women’s sport and gender equity resulted in her election in 2015 onto the IAAF Women’s Committee and its Gender Leadership Taskforce and, in 2020, a place in the New Year’s Honours List.

Kelly attended the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as a Team Leader for England Athletics, and has now fully immersed herself in the world of coaching, leading the Men’s 1^st team at Warwickshire Cricket Club, as well as the athlete performance for Wasps Rugby Club, too.

Kelly often shares her forthright views in her opinion pieces for the i newspaper, as well as with stints on 5Live, Talksport and Channel 4, she is one of sport’s most outspoken and entertaining voices, consistently fighting for what she believes in. She’s also, arguably, Arsenal’s most vocal and expressive Gooner on Twitter!

Personal Data

Birth Date: 13/11/1976

Born: Isle of Wight, UK

Lives: Birmingham, UK

Paralympic Gold Medallist / 3 x World Champion Swimmer

Paralympic Gold Medallist / 3 x World Champion Swimmer / The Ability People Managing Director

Soon to be broadcasting in Paris, Liz is one of the biggest and brightest personalities to emerge from the growth of Paralympic sport in the last decade, with a remarkable story. Her resilience, determination and talent won her an Olympic Gold medal in Beijing in 2008, despite personal tragedy. By 2016, Liz had swapped the pool for the broadcasting studio and was heralded as one of the stars of Channel 4’s award-winning coverage. In 2018, she was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 most influential women, and also presented the Invictus Games that very same year.

Outside of the sporting world, Liz holds degrees in Accounting and Business Management. She has co-founded and is MD of The Ability People, the UK’s first and only disability-led recruitment business with a focus on placing talented able-bodied and disabled jobseekers into the right jobs. Most recently Liz has begun consulting production companies on how they too can be more accommodating, pioneering diversity in front of, and behind the camera.

When speaking, Liz’s warm personality and charisma shine through. She demystifies disability, drawing from her own experiences both within sport and within business. Her delivery is exceptionally unique, whether she’s addressing an audience large or small, as she owns the stage and captivates the crowd with her story.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 03/12/1985
Born: Newport, UK
Lives: Newport, UK

6 x World Champion Swimmer, 5 Time Olympian, 8 World Records, Broadcaster & Speaker

By the time he carried the GB flag at the Opening Ceremony of his fifth Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), Mark was already one of the country’s most celebrated athletes. Now, still one of Britain’s best recognised Olympians, Mark remains a figurehead for British Swimming, as well as a champion and vocal advocate on discussions around LGBT+ diversity and inclusion.

Having internalised and avoided the question of his sexuality throughout his career, Mark decided to share his story in 2017, in part to be true to himself and those going through a similar struggle, but also to challenge the casual levels of homophobia and prejudice prevalent in society. This is now a focal part of his corporate offering, as Mark speaks candidly about the impact it had on his swimming career.

After a career which saw Mark win 51 international medals and set 8 world records, Mark moved seamlessly into the studio for the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Having been recognised in 2012 alongside Clare Balding for their coverage of the London Olympics, Mark has been a mainstay on the BBC where his insight, clarity of thought and natural chemistry in front of camera is held in very high regard. The upcoming Paris Olympics will be Mark’s sixth Olympic broadcast as a spearhead of the British BBC team.

Away from the pool, Mark’s dalliance with wearing very little continued with an acclaimed appearance in The Real Full Monty in 2012, having temporally covered up (to much fanfare) during his stint on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Mark teamed up with Strictly’s Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe as part of their FitSteps dancing fitness classes, providing nutritional information and lifestyle advice for subscribers. Since then he’s become a global ambassador for his signature range with Ted Baker, created a swimming line and founded a grassroots swimming academy putting on clinics for aspiring youngsters throughout the country.

Mark is currently developing his candid and highly anticipated book, which is a critical and personal insight into being a gay man in 21^st century sport.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 12/05/1970
Born: Essex, UK
Lives: Cambridge, UK

Award Winning Sports Journalist, Television Presenter, Author, Podcaster, Generally Clever Bloke

Award Winning Sports Journalist, Television Presenter, Author Podcaster and Bloke who knows his stuff (generally)

Ned Boulting is quite simply a tour de force – which is a handy coincidence, because he has also covered every Tour de France since 2003, along with a host of other live sporting events. He is a living, breathing encyclopaedia for cycling; and he is the expert when it comes to the sport’s most brilliant anecdotes. His versatility within sports is second to none and he also commentates the PDC Darts.

While he continues to write books, record podcasts and present primetime terrestrial sport on ITV, he also edits The Road Book – road racing’s inimitable, mammoth almanack (launched 2018) – as well as hosting a series of hugely successful one-man stage tours, including 2021’s Retour de Ned (postponed from 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic).

Production & authorial credits include:

• Dutch Master – A Tribute Dennis Bergkamp (1998)
• Award winning ‘Steven Gerrard – A Year in My Life’ (2006)
• How Cav Won the Green Jersey: Short Dispatches from the 2011 Tour de France (2012)
• How I Won the Yellow Jumper: Dispatches from the Tour de France (2012)
• On the Road Bike: The Search For a Nation’s Cycling Soul (2014)
• 101 Damnations: Dispatches from the 101st Tour de France (2015)
• Boulting’s Velosaurus: A Linguistic Tour de France (2016)
• Heart of Dart-ness (2018)

Personal Data

Birth Date: 11/07/1969
Born: Andover, UK
Lives: Lewisham, UK

Arguably the brightest face of TV racing coverage, Oli joined the ITV Sport team in January 2017 and is now one of the main horse racing presenters, fronting its coverage on the Saturday morning magazine show, The Opening Show. The team won a BAFTA for their coverage of horse racing in 2017. Oli has covered a range of events, including Royal Ascot, The Grand National and The Cheltenham Festival.

Oli has also presented football for ITV, in addition to covering darts, snooker and boxing for the network, establishing himself as one of the up and coming stars of the networks sport team.

Oli hosts corporate events and has spoken at various high-profile functions. He played on the professional poker circuit for two years and has played both cricket and football to a high standard in South Africa and Australia respectively. He is highly sought after as a brand advocate and is a patron of the Ebony Horse Club a position he says “is his most rewarding yet”. This role led him to producing the documentary “Riding A Dream” in 2019 that aired on ITV and was seen by a combined audience of 2.6 million people. The film has received global recognition and has been shortlisted at a number of global film festivals.

At the age of 15, Oli secured the coveted breakfast show slot at his school’s local radio station. Though he didn’t beat Chris Moyles in the ratings war, it was an early education into the broadcasting world. At 16, he secured his first role as a live radio reporter at various sporting events which led him to cover the Land Rover G4 Challenge and the British Touring Car Championships.

Oli is now an integral part of Race Share, a leading horse ownership syndicate business that have identified some of the best emerging livestock of today, Oli can be seen featuring in bespoke content for their social channels, fulfilling his ambassadorial role at race meets across the country.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 28/04/1987

Born: Glastonbury, UK

Lives: London, UK

World Renowned Mountain Climber/ History Maker/ Inspirational Speaker

Raised in a climate and a culture where women and girls are not encouraged or permitted to pursue sports activities, Raha strives to be different. Her fearless approach challenges the perception of Saudi women every day.

With no infrastructure, training or equipment in place for Saudi women, Raha tackled one of nature’s most difficult and dangerous challenges – climbing Everest – to prove that anyone is capable of achieving greatness, all with a smile on her face.

Since climbing Everest, Raha’s gone from strength to strength developing her speaking skills and talking on both a corporate and international stage with remarkable articulateness and charisma.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 25/01/1986

Born: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Lives: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Olympic Gold Medallist in 400m Hurdles

Sally is the only woman in history to have ever concurrently held all four major championship Gold medals at the same time – Olympic, World, Commonwealth, and European & World Record. Despite winning her Olympic Gold medal over a quarter of a century ago, Sally remains one of the most recognised, respected, and loved females in British sport.

She is an authentic spokesperson for health and wellbeing, her unwavering motivation, dedication and self-belief that ensured her on-track success now inspires audiences everywhere. Approachable and down-to-earth, she not only tells her own incredible story, but she works with businesses to maximise the potential of their workforce – a formidable example of work/life balance.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 29/07/1966
Born: Chigwell, UK
Lives: West Sussex, UK

The Voice of Football & Cycling

Simon has established himself as one of the country’s finest and most diverse sports commentators. After joining the BBC in 1990, Simon is now predominantly known as one of the top tier commentators on Match of the Day, having also appearing frequently on BBC Five Live, and for BT Sport as lead commentator for the European Football Show on Sunday nights. Simon’s voice is synonymous with football, having commentated on every World Cup since France ’98 and European Championship since Euro 2000.

After making the transition from radio to television, Simon was made lead cycling commentator for the BBC; his performances at the Olympics and Paralympics for Channel 4 at Rio 2016 received huge acclaim. He’s covered over 22 iterations of The Tour, adding Speed Skating at the Winter Olympics alongside Baseball World Series, World Title Fights and F1; Simon’s vast portfolio and expertise positions him as a unique voice and figure across multiple formats.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 14/05/1969
Born: Brighton, UK
Lives: Sussex, UK

Broadcaster, Motivational Speaker & 2 x Olympic Silver Medallist in Javelin

Steve is the first British male to have set a world record in a throwing event, and went on to set multiple British, Olympic and World records. He is the only British track and field competitor to win medals at three different Olympic Games, whilst also equalling the record of four successive European gold medals. In a career that saw Steve feature in the World’s top 10 every year between 1989 and 2004, he regularly excited the world with his closely fought, and much publicised, contests with Jan Zelezny.

Having taken the mantle from Paul Dickenson as BBC Sport’s lead field commentator, Steve has broadcast to millions during every succedent World, European and Olympic games since Beijing across radio and TV. Steve is now firmly established as one of the most important and influential commentators in the BBC Sport team having called some of the greatest moments in British history over the last decade, including Jess Ennis and Greg Rutherford’s wins.

Steve’s affable and laid-back nature makes him a fantastic ambassador for sport and an excellent role model for all ages. Steve is a sought-after speaker and business coach having set up business BackleyBlack with fellow former athlete Roger Black, which aims to translate Olympic experience into workplace performance.

Personal Data

Birth Date: 12/02/1969
Born: Sidcup, UK
Lives: Kent, UK