Front runner - interview with sports presenter Clare Balding

By Fiona Keating on March 8th 2010

Clare Balding is one of the most familiar faces in the world of British sport, having begun making a name for herself as a BBC presenter since 1994. Today, Clare fronts all of the organisation’s live racing coverage, including the Grand National, Royal Ascot and the Derby. She also presented from the frontline of the Beijing, Athens and Sydney olympics.

On 5 Live, Clare is part of the team that presents the Cheltenham Festival and co-presents its Wimbledon tennis coverage, which last year saw her become the first woman to commentate on a live final. Also a regular presenter on Radio 4, she’s the voice of walking series, Ramblings.

This year she’s added yet more strings to her bow: presenting the Vancouver olympic and Paralympic Games, fronting Crufts for More 4, filming a new BBC4 series called Britain by Bike and presenting the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race – conveniently located, she notes, within walking distance from her west London home.

What’s your relationship to Chiswick?

I first moved here seven years ago. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in London. I can’t see a reason for ever moving. We can walk the dog in the park and get to the High Road really easily. You can eat at a different restaurant every day of the month if you wanted to.

What about the neighbourhood keeps you here?

I love all the independently owned shops. For me it’s really fun because all the market traders are really into their racing. They’ve stopped asking me for tips because they’ve realised that’s a disaster, but if I walk down the high-street any given day they say, “Alright Claire!”. We stop and have a chat, and that’s something you just don’t get many places in the world, let alone in London. I feel the same here as I do in my village at home where I grew up; there’s that same sense of friendship.

Before getting into broadcasting you were a leading amateur jockey - do you still participate in sport?

I play golf at Wyke Green, three or four miles from Chiswick, and I play tennis very badly. I go riding when I can, which isn’t very often anymore. Scrabble doesn’t count does it?

For readers who’ve never had a day of racing - what’s your advice on where to go?

Kempton, or Windsor’s great, or Sandown – all easy to get to. Windsor on a Monday evening in summer is really fun. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere and you can get close to the jockeys.

You started presenting racing for the BBC, but now cover everything from Rugby League and darts to Saturday Live and Woman’s Hour. What makes you so versatile?

Sport is good training for other areas because you need to think very quickly. It’s unscripted and you’re combining analysis with interviews, with commentary, with interactivity with your audience. All those things are transferrable. Of all the broadcasting media, radio and television, sport is the one that requires the greatest retention of knowledge and the ability to put that into language that everybody understands.

Do you watch TV?

I watch a lot of television – anything and everything. I love slickly filmed American dramas, and some reality stuff I’m afraid. I use the excuse that I have to keep up because I’m doing weekend breakfast shows on 5 Live and I may need to be in a position to know about them!

What’s your proudest achievement?

During Wimbledon the year before last, I was doing radio on Centre Court. We had no play – it was raining – and the bomb went off at Glasgow Airport, so 5 Live turned into rolling news. I anchored that for four-and-a-half hours. It was extraordinary.

What would be your dream gig?

Funnily enough, the biggest dream for me would be the London olympics and Paralympics – and we’re going to get that in 2012! It’s just so lovely to be involved in something that’s in your home city; that’s magic.

Front runner - interview with sports presenter Clare Balding

Members Comments

Add a Comment