Guardian Sport was honoured with a number of awards at the prestigious SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, with Donald McRae winning both specialist correspondent of the year and feature writer of the year, Suzanne Wrack being named women’s sport journalist of the year, and Jonathan Liew again becoming columnist of the year.
McRae was hailed by the judges for his “unflinching and compelling” writing on boxing, and for “interviewing skills, investigative rigour and writing ability [that] cut to the heart of difficult subjects”.
Liew won the columnist of the year title for the third year in a row, and the fourth in six years. “In an outstanding field, Liew’s insight, originality and use of language set him apart. His column on a day at the Test with his father was a particularly stunning piece of writing,” the judges said.
The judges said of Wrack: “Suzanne’s articles provide incredible insight, coupled with her fabulous writing style. She is not afraid to tackle some of the biggest issues facing women’s sport, and her work stimulates conversations and subsequent changes in the sports industry.”
Rob Davies and David Conn of the Guardian and Simon Lock from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism won the silver award in the scoop of the year category for their revelations about the hidden truth behind Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea empire.
David Conn was also handed the silver award for football news reporter of the year, while the Guardian Football Weekly won the silver prize in the podcast category.
The Guardian’s Sean Ingle won two bronze awards, in the news reporter and columnist categories. Guardian contributor James Wallace won the bronze prize in the cricket journalist of the year.
The specialist correspondent award won by McRae has been named after Mike Dickson, the Daily Mail’s long-serving tennis correspondent who died away at the age of 59 while covering the Australian Open earlier this year.
Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright won the pundit of the year prize, while the final award of the night at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel was the Doug Gardner Award for outstanding contribution to sports journalism, which was awarded to Patrick Collins, who wrote for the Mail on Sunday from its launch in 1982 until his retirement in 2014. He was honoured for being “a wonderful raconteur and a legend of the British press pack”.
