Guardian Sport received five top prizes at the prestigious Sports Journalists’ Association’s British Sports Journalism Awards on Monday evening.
The Guardian’s chief sports writer, Barney Ronay, won two prizes, named both columnist of the year and popular culture commentator of the year. Donald McRae also won two awards: as best feature writer and specialist correspondent of the year, both of which he also won in the previous year’s event.
Suzanne Wrack was named best women’s sport journalist for the second time in succession, having won the inaugural prize in the category last year.
Jonathan Liew was recognised with a silver award in the columnist category, having won the title for the previous three years. Tom Jenkins won a bronze award for news picture of the year, and Scott Murray was given a bronze award in the summariser of the year category. Ronay also won a silver award as specialist correspondent for his Olympics writing.
McRae, the Guardian’s sports interviewer and boxing writer, was described by judges as as “unmatched in depth and integrity” and “a superb sports writer at the top of his game”. The judges said “the sensitive interview with Katie Archibald, the moving tribute to Rob Burrow and the angry feature from Saudi Arabia demonstrated the scope of his talents”.
Ronay’s columnist of the year citation said he was “a writer of the highest order …who effortlessly applies consistent excellence across complex and sensitive areas of journalism, aligned with humour to lighten the intensity of the read”. In the popular culture commentator, the judges said he showed “huge originality [and] colour — with a superb eye for detail as well as a great sense of humour’.
Wrack, the judges said, “continues to be a trailblazer for storytelling and reporting in women’s football, covering both on-pitch action and off-pitch issues with a level of insight, energy and consistency that very few can match.”
Billed as “the Oscars of the industry” and held at London’s Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel, the ceremony was hosted by the TalkSport presenters Jim White and Reshmin Chowdhury.
In other notable awards, Kelly Cates of the BBC and Sky Sports was named presenter of the year, beating her colleagues on the new‑look Match of the Day, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman, to the honour. Roy Keane was pundit of the year. The Athletic’s David Ornstein was awarded the John Bromley trophy for sportswriter of the year.
