Sally Richardson: Recipient of SVG Europe’s Outstanding Contribution to European Sports Broadcasting award for overseeing BBC’s Wimbledon coverage

Sally Richardson, BBC Sport’s Executive Producer for Wimbledon and The Boat Race and Lead Director for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will receive the award for Outstanding Contribution to European Sports Broadcasting at SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit in September.

The award is given to an individual who has transformed the creation and distribution of sports content in Europe and will be presented at the Sport Production Summit at De Hallen Studios in Amsterdam on Thursday 12 September.

Previous winners include Manolo Romero, founding chairman of Olympic Broadcasting Services, Barry Johnstone, chairman of EMG UK and founder of CTV, Francis Tellier, founder of HBS, Velitchka Nedialkova, international sports coordinator, and Graham Fry, former managing director of production at IMG.

Paris 2024 was Richardson’s last Olympic Games as BBC Sport’s chief editor, and just weeks before Paris 2024 she was working on her 25th Olympic Games.^th – and final – Wimbledon Championships.

Alessandro Reitano, Chairman of the SVG Europe Advisory Board, said: “Sally has been at the heart of BBC coverage of the biggest and most important sporting events of the past decades.

“Sally’s leadership and commitment to excellence have shaped the UK spectator experience at some of the biggest sporting events of the past decades and set the standard for generations to come in the UK and elsewhere.

“We look forward to learning more about Sally’s career and celebrating her achievements with the rest of the sports production and broadcast community at SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit in Amsterdam next month.”

Richardson began working in the BBC’s regional newsroom in Leeds in 1985. A move in the early 1990s to BBC Sport’s original base in Manchester marked the start of a 33-year tenure in the department, beginning as a production assistant and ending as a director and executive producer.

The wide range of events she has presided over include several Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, many Wimbledon Championships, national and international rugby league tournaments, Six Nations tournaments, golf and rowing.

Richardson has always prided herself on achieving the highest standards in her productions and believes that all productions, regardless of size or budget, must be committed to planning and implemented with fresh creative ideas.

Commenting on the award, she said: “When I started in the industry almost forty years ago, I could never have imagined that it would be such an exciting and challenging career, but one that I am also incredibly proud of. I am very flattered that SVG Europe has bestowed this honour on me. Recognition from people in your own industry is particularly meaningful and I am extremely grateful for that.”

For more information about SVG Europe’s Sport Production Summit 2024 and to register, please visit: svgeurope.org/sport-produktion-summit-2024