Clare Balding has become synonymous with sport coverage during celebrated career

The veteran sports broadcaster joined BBC radio in 1994 before becoming a familiar face in horse racing coverage.

Clare Balding (John Walton/PA) (PA Archive)

Clare Balding has become one of the most recognisable faces in sports broadcasting, now adding lead presenter of Wimbledon coverage to her long list of professional accomplishments.

The veteran sports presenter has worked on Wimbledon as a reporter, commentator and presenter for BBC radio and television since 1995 and has presented the Today At Wimbledon segment of the tennis coverage since 2015.

The 52-year-old was the favourite to replace Sue Barker when her retirement was announced last summer, particularly after Barker seemingly confirmed the news on stage after receiving an award last November.

From a horse training family, Balding was a keen horsewoman from an early age and during her teens and studies at Cambridge she was an amateur flat jockey.

After graduating from Newnham College she joined BBC radio in 1994 and by the following year had made her TV debut, soon becoming a familiar face in horse racing coverage, including the Grand National.

She has become one of the country’s most high-profile female sports presenters and has worked on every Olympic Games since 1996 and every Paralympics since 2000.

Her presenting credits also extend beyond sport to include major royal events, including Trooping The Colour, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and hosting live coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding.

She has also hosted Radio 4’s Ramblings, BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday, BBC TV’s Countryfile and more.

Broadcasting aside she is an accomplished author with numerous titles under her belt, including her bestselling autobiography My Animals And Other Family and children’s books including The Racehorse Who Learned To Dance and Fall Off, Get Back On, Keep Going.

In July 2020 she became the 30th president of the Rugby Football League, taking over from former Arsenal captain Tony Adams.

She was made an OBE in 2013, the same year she was honoured at the Bafta TV awards in recognition of her on-screen achievements.

In December 2022, she was made a CBE at Buckingham Palace for her services to sport and charity, hailing a new wave of women broadcasters.

She has been married to her radio presenter wife, Alice, since 2015.