Tanni Grey-Thompson receives lifetime achievement award

WNST trustee honoured by the BBC

WNST trustee, Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson was honoured at the recent BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony, with the receipt of its “Lifetime Achievement” award.

Tanni joins a pantheon of the world’s sporting greats who have been honoured with this accolade.  Previous recipients include international superstars such as Billie-Jean King, Pele, Martina Navratilova and the late Seve Ballesteros, as well as home-grown icons David Beckham, Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Steve Redgrave.  All have transcended their individual sport and changed the landscape far beyond the field of play.

Tanni’s achievements during her athletic career are the” stuff of legend” – across five Paralympic games she won an extraordinary 11 gold medals, 4 silvers and a bronze.  Add to this, 13 World Championship medals, including 6 golds.  Then consider the 30 world records over a wide range of distances.  And top all of this off with 6 victories in the London Marathon between 1992 and 2002.

Since retiring from competitive athletics, Tanni has broken new ground as a pioneering crossbench member of the House of Lords, making landmark interventions on a host of issues; whilst also holding a number of senior appointments across the world of sport and elsewhere, including as chair of UKActive, chair of the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport, a board member of Transport for London and a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme.

At the Wembley National Stadium Trust, we are proud to have Tanni as one of our board of trustees – her insight into the ways in which sport can make profound and positive changes in people’s lives, is invaluable.

We send our warmest congratulations to Tanni, as a friend and colleague, on the recognition of her achievements that the BBC has bestowed upon her and look forward to continuing our association for years to come.