Clare Balding

63
Clare Balding bigraphy, stories - Sportscaster

Clare Balding : biography

29 January 1971 –

Clare Balding OBE (born 29 January 1971), interview on BBC Wales website is a British television presenter, journalist and retired amateur jockey. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4 and the show Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2.

Awards and assessment

Balding was the Royal Television Society’s "Sports Presenter of the Year" in 2003. In the same year, she won the "Racing Journalist of the Year Award" and has followed up with the award for "Racing Broadcaster of the Year".

In December 2012, she was awarded the "Biography/Autobiography of the Year" award of the National Book Awards for My Animals and Other Family.

She also won an achievement award from the UK chapter of the Women in Film and Television in 2012 for her coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Balding was awarded the 2012 Sports Journalists’ Association’s annual British Sports Journalism Award for Sports Broadcaster of the Year (BBC and Channel 4).

In February 2013 she was assessed as being one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4. and also won the award for Sports Presenter at the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards.

Her other awards include those from Attitude Magazine, Red Magazine, Tatler and Horserace Writers Association.

Broadcasting career

She became a trainee with BBC National Radio in 1994, working on 5 Live, Radio 1 (presenting the sport on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show), Radio 2 and Radio 4. In June 1995, she made her debut as a television presenter, introducing highlights of Royal Ascot. The following year she began presenting live, and in December 1997 she became the BBC’s lead horse racing presenter after the retirement of Julian Wilson, and has fronted coverage of the Grand National.

Balding has reported from five Olympic Games, for BBC Radio in Atlanta and for BBC Television in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London. She has presented two Paralympic Games, the Winter Olympics from Turin and Vancouver as well as the Commonwealth Games from Melbourne and Delhi. She is the face of the BBC’s rugby league coverage, having presented Grandstand from a Rugby League Challenge Cup semi-final, and having been so impressed by the vibrancy and physical challenge of the sport she asked to cover further rugby league events.

She also presents the Lord Mayor’s Show as well as other live events for the BBC, such as Trooping the Colour and New Year’s Eve. In March 2010 she presented Channel Four’s coverage of Crufts. Channel 4

She also presents the walking programme Ramblings for BBC Radio 4 (where she also stands-in on the Saturday Live programme), and Wimbledon for 5 Live.

During the 2009 Grand National, Balding commented on winning jockey Liam Treadwell’s teeth and suggested that he could "get them done" with his prize fund. The BBC received 1,477 complaints about the comment, leading to an apology from both the presenter and the BBC.

In 2010, Balding presented a BBC TV series that retraced some of Harold Briercliffe’s British cycle tours. BBC Four She joined Chris Evans as co-host of Channel 4’s Famous and Fearless in January 2011.http://famousandfearless.channel4.com/ That show has since been cancelled because of poor ratings.Ryan Love Digital Spy 21 February 2011.

In August 2011 Balding joined BBC’s Countryfile, temporarily replacing Julia Bradbury while she was on maternity leave, co-hosting the show with Matt Baker. Bradbury returned in February 2012.

From February to March 2012 she presented "Sport and the British" on BBC Radio 4, a thirty-part series looking at the impact of sports on British life.

Balding was a lead presenter on Channel 4’s Paralympics TV coverage. In August 2012 it was reported that Balding would be presenting Channel 4’s racing coverage, while still retaining an option to work for the BBC on non-racing programmes such as rugby league.

In October 2012, she appeared before an All Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Sport, with Katherine Grainger, Hope Powell and Tanni Grey-Thompson. "Women having freedom to play sport leads directly to women having political freedom," said Balding.