Interview with Clare Balding ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4

27 August 2024

We sat down with Clare Balding to discuss the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4

How does it feel to be returning to Channel 4 to host the Paris 2024 Paralympics coverage?   
I get so excited about the Paralympics. This is the seventh Games I’ve been to and worked on and out of all the events I do, I think the Paralympics has the greatest power to change the world at large, it’s about more than just what’s happening on the field of play. But also, since the first Games I went to in 2000, the level and depth of talent has increased so much.   

You’ll be coming to the Games off the back of a very busy summer of covering different sporting events. Is it fun to round the summer off with the Paralympics?   
For me, the peak of the summer of sport is the Paralympic Games. It all rises to this. It will be a wonderful feeling to be in Paris, not that far away and in our time zone, to give all those athletes who competed so well in Tokyo a chance to do it in front of big crowds and to celebrate with their friends and family. Every athlete has a team around them that has got up early in the morning, taken them to training, encouraged them, lifted them when they’re down, let them take the glory when they’ve won and I think the loveliest thing about sport is being able to share that and I would love, particularly for the young athletes who’ve never been to a Paralympics with a crowd, who weren’t in London or Rio, to give them the chance to experience that feeling. 

This will be your fourth Paralympic Games on Channel 4. What are your standout moments from the Games you’ve covered? London must be up there? 
London 2012 was transformational because it was the first time the Paralympics was genuinely parallel to the Olympics, which is what it’s meant to be.

Tickets sold out, the village and the access for the athletes was all thought about and planned so well, and that’s where I think the Paralympics has this bigger power. It makes people do things, not just say things, it actually changes the way people build buildings, it changes transport systems, it changes what you do with pavements. It changes what you do with signposts in terms of brail or sound signals, it makes people think openly about what access truly means and what the barriers are and how we remove them so people can do anything they want.  

London was extraordinary. I remember being in the park with Ade Adepitan doing a feature for Channel 4 called ‘Ask Ade’. All the kids came around him and asked him questions and we were both anticipating questions about disability but there was none of that, they all wanted to talk about sport, who’s the fastest runner or the best swimmer…? Sport was what they were seeing and it was a really important reminder that we can sometimes prioritise those elements we think are the most obvious but for younger viewers, they’re going ‘I just want to watch sport.’ 

The other thing I find wonderful, and this is a trust built up over 24 years, many athletes have known me a long time. I first interviewed Sarah Storey when she was about 16 or 17, Jody Cundy, same thing. They know me, I’ve seen them grow up and I’ve met their families and children and I know and understand their lives, and that really helps. In Paris I’m going to be in the athletes’ village and at ParalympicsGB House and a lot of those family members are comfortable to come and hang out and watch the races with me. I’m very honoured to be a part of the gang. 

Channel 4 is broadcasting more hours of live sport with more ways to watch than ever before. How important is the Channel to the profile of the Paralympics?
Not only was London 2012 a pivotal moment in terms of the event, it also changed the way we thought about the Paralympics and the way we watched it because Channel 4 suddenly came in with this new energy and a new focus which was solely on the Paralympics. The campaigns, the bravery, the honesty and the humour – which is where The Last Leg came in and has grown ever since – it was a complete breath of fresh air that made people sit up and pay attention. 

Viewing habits have changed dramatically in recent years and more people are wanting to watch on a phone, on a tablet or on a computer and that’s why it’s so exciting this year to have a partnership with YouTube. It’s going to have an enormous reach and that’s what really matters – getting the Paralympics out there, telling the stories properly and giving athletes the time to show their personalities and character as well as their sporting ability. It’s our job to tell people why they should be tuning in. 

This year, you’re going to be hosting a couple
of shows and one will be alongside Rose Ayling-Ellis, are you looking forward to working with her?   
I’m really looking forward to working with Rose. I was so moved and impressed by what she did on Strictly Come Dancing. It’s going to be so interesting because a deaf presenter hasn’t worked on a live sports programme before.  

It will be a real team effort.  A lot of live presenting is reliant on talk-back, so we’re finding different ways of doing things like that and it’s so important to take on that challenge and take new steps. When Paralympic athletes like Jonnie Peacock, Ellie Simmonds, Jodie Cundy or Lauren Steadman have appeared on Strictly, the first question has been ‘well how?’ and now, with Rose, you might say ‘how is a deaf presenter going to work on a live programme?’ We’re going to show you. We’re not going to tell you how, we’re going to show you. 

You just mentioned Ellie Simmonds. This is her first Paralympics not competing, but she is going to be part of our presenting team. How important is it to bring through those expert voices? 
Ellie Simmonds is the perfect example of someone I’ve known since she was very young. Her first Paralympics was in Beijing when she was 13 and she was one of the images of those Games. That’s an amazing responsibility to take on and live up to, but she has been a wonderful swimmer and an incredible team member. Everyone on the team loves her, she’s a really generous, giving person and her insight and empathy and deep knowledge of what it’s like to compete will be so valuable. I think she’s got a really good journalistic instinct and she asks all the right questions, she wants to be good at this and like anything she’s ever done in her life, she’s seeking advice and she wants to improve. That’s typical of a sporting mindset so it will be a joy to work with her and to watch her develop. 

Are there certain events you look forward to more than others?  
I always look forward to the swimming and the cycling and the athletics as well, but I love the equestrian events. I have known a lot of that team and watched them progress over the years. I love that ability of the horse to bring out the best in a human and the relationship which is so dependent on trust and is built over decades. No one can just hop on a horse for the first time and make it look good. I’m also really thrilled about having everyone who has contributed so much to the athletes’ careers being able to share these moments and us being allowed to be a part of that is very special.

We can’t forget you’re going to be in Paris! Have you been before? What’s your favourite thing to do?   
When I was 18 or 19, I lived in Paris for a bit and I walked it a lot, so I know the city quite well, but I haven’t spent a concentrated amount of time there in years. I’m very happy to be back in one of the most beautiful capital cities in the world.  

I’m really looking forward to seeing how they use the city to showcase the sport. The equestrian events are taking place in Versailles, I mean, come on! You can’t get a grander setting for dressage. The blind football will be outside the Eiffel Tower, which will be iconic. It’s going to be the most glorious celebration and, for France, it’s their first time hosting a Paralympics and that’s really important. In the countries I’ve been to for the Paralympics, it really focuses their minds on celebrating their own Paralympic athletes but also on their transport systems, their pavements, how to adapt these ancient cities. It’s thrilling, it’s emotionally uplifting and I always come out of a Paralympic Games thinking ‘those were the great sporting moments, but these are the challenges that still exist. How do we open doors? How do we make passages smooth? How do we remove barriers?’ And that is the power of the Paralympics.  

In your downtime from hosting duties, what do you hope you’ll be able to get up to? Anything to tick off the bucket list?   
I love walking and just to be able to walk along the Seine and across those wonderful bridges. I remember going to a particularly lovely creperie as a teenager and having a savoury crepe for the first time and that’s what I want. I want it made in a van with cheese, mushrooms, onions and spinach, that will be so yummy. 

How is your French? Please will you give us your best phrase?
Bonjour, je m’appelle Clare Balding. Je suis – this is where I go wrong, what is the French for presenter? – je suis présentateur les Jeux Paralympiques. My French is disappointingly poor considering I studied and lived in Paris for three months and I did a course during lockdown in spoken French to try and be more confident but, still, I’m absolutely rubbish. I can understand a lot, but I can’t say a great deal. I’ve let myself down. 

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