BBC Sport Paris 2024 lead director Sally Richardson to receive SVG Europe’s Outstanding Contribution Award
Sally Richardson, BBC Sport executive producer – Wimbledon and The Boat Race and lead director – Olympic Games Paris 2024, will receive the Outstanding Contribution to European Sports Broadcasting award at SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit in September.
The Award, which is given to an individual who has changed the nature of sports content creation and distribution within Europe, will be presented at the Sport Production Summit at De Hallen Studios in Amsterdam on Thursday 12 September.
Previous recipients of the Award include Olympic Broadcasting Services founding chief executive Manolo Romero, EMG UK chair and CTV founder Barry Johnstone, HBS founder Francis Tellier, international sport coordinator Velitchka Nedialkova and Graham Fry, former IMG production managing director.
Paris 2024 was Richardson’s final Olympic Games as lead director for BBC Sport, and a few weeks prior to Paris 2024 she worked on her 25th – and final – Wimbledon Championships.
SVG Europe Advisory Board chair Alessandro Reitano said: “Sally has been at the heart of the BBC’s coverage of the biggest and most important sporting events of the past few decades.
“Sally’s leadership and commitment to excellence have shaped how viewers in the UK have experienced some of the biggest sporting events of the past few decades and set the standard in the UK and beyond for generations to come.
“We’re looking forward to hearing more about Sally’s career and celebrating her achievements with the rest of the sports production and broadcasting community at SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit event in Amsterdam next month.”
Richardson began working for the BBC in 1985 as a facilities clerk at the regional newsroom in Leeds. A move in the early 1990s to BBC Sport’s original Manchester base marked the start of a 33-year stint in the department which she began as a Production Assistant and finished as a Director and Executive Producer.
Among the wide range of events over which she has presided are multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games, many Wimbledon Championships, domestic and international rugby league, Six Nations, golf and rowing.
Richardson has always prided herself on driving productions to reach the highest standards and strongly believes in bringing dedicated planning and fresh creative thought to all productions, regardless of scale or budget.
Commenting on the award, she said: “Never did I imagine when starting out in the industry almost forty years ago that it would be such an exciting and challenging career yet one of which I’m immensely proud. I am hugely flattered that it is to be honoured by SVG Europe. Recognition from those within your own industry is especially meaningful and for that I’m extremely grateful.”
To find out more about SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit 2024 and to register go to: svgeurope.org/sport-production-summit-2024