Clare Balding is an award-winning television presenter, who presents on television and radio, and she is the face of the Olympic coverage for the BBC. She was born in Radlett, Hertfordshire, and grew up in Buckinghamshire. She trained as a journalist at City University, London. She began her broadcasting career in 1986 at BRMB in Birmingham
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In 1995 she became a regular presenter of The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 before moving to Channel 4's breakfast show in 1998 to present Breakfast Time. In 1999 she moved to Sky Sports where she presented a variety of programmes including World Cup Highlights and Winter Olympics coverage, plus many live studio shows from the UK and overseas. In 2002 she became a co-presenter on Channel 4's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and went on to present the Games from Vancouver in 2010.
In 2003 Clare presented a series for Sky called The Media Show which looked at her favourite films and television programme, and in 2006 a new programme called Sporting Nation which looked at the history of sport through the eyes of those who have competed or worked within it. In 2008 Clare launched a new show called Top Gear which also featured racing driver Jason Plato. In 2010 Clare took over the role of presenting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from Ross's co-hosts Alex Jones and Greg James.