Channel 4 Unveils Rio Paralympics Team

Channel 4 has unveiled its new presenting team for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games featuring the largest number of disabled presenters seen on UK television, reflecting Channel 4’s commitment in 2016 to increase both on and off-screen representation of disabled people across the schedule.

According to the broadcaster, almost two-thirds of the on-screen talent working on Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage will be disabled, including all four of the daytime presenters.

The team bringing the Paralympics to UK audiences will be led by Clare Balding and The Last Leg’s Adam Hills and also includes Formula One presenter Lee McKenzie and former Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards, with additional presenters including Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte, broadcaster Sophie Morgan and former marine commando JJ Chalmers. They will appear alongside presenters from Channel 4’s 2012 coverage including Ade Adepitan and Arthur Williams.

The Last Leg will also be placed at the centre of Channel 4’s prime time schedule throughout the entirety of the Rio Paralympic Games. The entire production of the show will be shipped to Rio for the duration of the Games and filmed live in front of a studio audience at the Olympic Park.

Clare Balding said: “It is a privilege to return to Channel 4 for the Paralympics and build on our Bafta award-winning legacy of the 2012 Games, which helped shift Para sport from the margins to the mainstream – and transform perceptions of disability.”

Last Leg presenter Adam Hills said: “From the day the London 2012 Paralympics ended, I’ve been in training for Rio. I’ve been working on writing better jokes, hosting as many shows as I can, linking to ad breaks as seamlessly as possible. It’s been a long, hard road, of blood, sweat and tears – but now I’m ready to try to set a personal best at Rio.”

Channel 4’s head of TV events and sport, Ed Havard, added: “The Rio Paralympics will be one of the most ambitious live broadcasts in Channel 4’s history. We’re not only delivering the most comprehensive and innovative coverage of the Games ever, but also bringing entertainment to the heart of the coverage by transporting the whole of The Last Leg production to Rio and broadcasting the show live from the Olympic Park. And we’ll be setting another record by bringing together the largest team of disabled on-screen and off-screen talent ever seen on UK television. It promises to be an epic celebration of what will hopefully be a huge haul of medals for our Paralympic stars.”

The coverage will include, both opening and closing ceremonies, nearly 120 hours of live sport on television plus The Last Leg from Rio, and nearly 700 hours of online streaming of sport. Each morning there will be a highlights package of the previous day’s action available on All4.

The Rio Games will also see the unveiling of a new animated LEXI – the on-screen graphic which explains the complex classifications of Paralympic sport. LEXI, created by Paralympic gold medalist Giles Long MBE, was first introduced at the London Paralympics and helped viewers understand how athletes with different types and levels of impairment are separated into groups or classes to ensure they can compete fairly against one another.