Supporting the Sportswomen of the Year

For 25 years thenewspaper has championed women in sport, celebrating their achievements with an annual awards ceremony. However... it's hardly in the public eye.

For 25 years the Sunday Times newspaper has championed women in sport, celebrating their achievements with an annual awards ceremony.

However, held on the 13th floor at News International HQ on Thursday night, in what was admittedly a room with a view - the Tower of London, the glistening Thames and the sparkling Shard were all on show - it's hardly in the public eye.

Inside a meeting room, which had been transformed into an awards space with the help of some neatly lined chairs, were some of the most inspirational and hard working people in sport - who just happened to be women.

The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, and minister for women and equalities Maria Miller MP, lifetime achiever Baroness Sue Campbell chairman of UK Sport, and plenty of Olympians and Paralympians fresh from Great Britain's greatest summer of sport, were all there.

Showing their commitment to their sport, some award winners - including heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis who picked up the Sportswoman of the Year title - appeared via pre-recorded video link to accept their prize due to relentless training schedules.

It was a remarkably different event to the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Award, which sadly didn't include one single female nominee for the title prize in 2011. Despite Rebecca Adlington, Chrissie Wellington, Keri-Anne Payne, Sarah Stevenson and Kath Grainger each winning world titles in 2011. Yet, the BBC's bash is given infinitely more column inches and attention.

From Olympic Taekwondo star Jade Jones, who puts a strong female face to a very male dominated sport, to Sarah Storey, born without a functioning left hand, who switched from swimming to cycling in 2005 and now boasts 11 Olympic gold medals. And Claire Lomas who, despite being paralysed from the chest down, walked the London Marathon route in 16 days, raising over £200k for charity. These women and their fellow legacy makers deserve an altogether bigger stage.

I felt lucky to witness their achievements recognised in person at a night where there was more than one standing ovation.

I only wish more people could see it too. The people that matter the most, the young women and children who spend their spare time watching reality TV shows because they're more talked about in the playground than sport.

A lot of the sports stars that came on stage to collect awards mentioned how they are now touring the country, visiting schools and showing off their gold medals in the hope of inspiring the next generation of athletes. But let's not leave it all down to them; they have after all put in enough hard work this summer.

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