Jeanette Kwakye

Why organisations work with Jeanette Kwakye

• A working national broadcaster, not a former athlete trading on past results. Buyers get a host who runs live BBC Sport and ITV current affairs every week, with the on-stage instincts that come with it.
• Rare credibility on women in sport and media. She broke a 24-year drought as a British woman in the Olympic 100m final, then became the first Black female UK presenter to front a terrestrial boxing production.
• Hosting and moderation experience with Google, Nike, BMW, the IOC and World Athletics, which translates into clean panel craft for senior leadership audiences.
• Direct, unsentimental on the transition from elite sport to a second career. Useful for talent, learning and DEI conversations that have grown tired of the standard sportsperson keynote.

Biography highlights

• Sixth place in the 100m final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the first British woman in that final since 1984.
• Silver medallist over 60m at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, equalling the British record of 7.08.
• BBC athletics trackside reporter; host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast; co-host of BBC Radio 5 Live Weekend Breakfast.
• Co-host of The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV1.
• First Black female UK TV presenter to lead a boxing production on a terrestrial channel, on Channel 5.
• Appointed MBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to sport and sports broadcasting.
• Loughborough University graduate in Politics and Economics; author of the children’s book Femi the Fox.

Biography

A British woman had not reached an Olympic 100m final for twenty-four years when Jeanette Kwakye ran 11.14 in Beijing in 2008 and finished sixth. The earlier rounds, not the final, are the part that matters. She trained at Loughborough, came through British championships in both the 100m and 200m, and took silver over 60m at the World Indoors that same year, equalling the British record of 7.08.

The second career has the same shape. After retiring in 2014 she went through an NCTJ qualification, started in local BBC radio, and built outwards. She is now a BBC athletics trackside reporter, hosts the Football Daily podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, co-hosts Weekend Breakfast on the same station, and co-presents The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV1. In 2020, she became the first Black female presenter on a terrestrial UK boxing production.

Her hosting and moderation portfolio outside broadcast covers Google, Nike, BMW, the International Olympic Committee and World Athletics. Senior audiences hire her because she runs a room cleanly, pushes panellists, and brings a working journalist’s instinct to questions of representation and performance rather than a retired-athlete reflection.

She was appointed MBE in 2021 for services to sport and sports broadcasting. She is also the author of the children’s book Femi the Fox.

Key speaking topics

• Representation in sport and media
• Women in broadcasting and elite sport
• High-performance mindset
• Career transition from elite sport
• Olympic preparation and selection
• Sports broadcasting and journalism
• Resilience after injury

Ideal for

• Conference and summit organisers needing a host or moderator with senior on-stage credibility
• DEI, talent and people leaders running events on representation and women’s progression
• Sports industry, federation and rights-holder events
• Internal kick-offs and leadership offsites looking for an Olympic-finalist perspective on performance under pressure

Audience outcomes

• A clearer picture of what representation actually changes inside elite environments, told from inside two of them
• A working definition of high performance that survives contact with injury, deselection and reinvention
• Practical ground for talent and DEI leaders considering how the pipeline into senior visible roles really moves
• A panel or fireside that lands cleanly, with a host who keeps senior speakers honest