Denise Lewis’ appointment coincides with extensive editorial activity to mark the milestone, including the re-launch of the Telegraph's online Olympics channel, with a new visual identity.
Denise Lewis will write a regular column for The Daily Telegraph and The Telegraph giving a unique insight into what life is like for a professional athlete preparing for an Olympic Games.
She joins a team of columnists that boasts 27 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals between them including: Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, James Cracknell and Ben Ainslie.
The new Olympics channel will be launched with one year to go on July 27th and will include more than 400 athlete and 200 country profiles, a London City Guide, Team GB page, calendar of events and guides to each of the 26 sports that make up the 2012 Olympics including details of how to play the games, tips on tactics and technique and a glossary of terms used in the sport. No one planning to watch the Olympics should be without it, say the publishers.
On July 27th The Daily Telegraph also produced a special 16 page supplement telling the stories of athletes from all over the world struggling to get to London and the sacrifices they make along the way. These include the wrestling sisters from India who were once ostracised by their village and are now medal hopefuls and the Australian beach volleyball player who is selling space on her body for tattoos in order to finance training.
The big day also featured a live blog from 8am through to 8pm on July 27th, a live webchat with Cultural Olympiad Director Ruth Mackenzie, as well as a live collection of tweets, images and reactions via video from athletes and celebrities as the one year to go celebrations get underway.
In paper The Daily Telegraph will run a wide variety of news articles and features on the London Legacy, an overview and progress report of each Olympic sport, editorial comment from Sir Steve Redgrave and Denise Lewis and a nationwide poll to gauge the excitement and expectations of the public.
Ben Clissitt, Head of Sport, Telegraph Media Group said: “We are delighted to welcome Denise Lewis to the Telegraph. Denise is much loved by the British public for her amazing success in Sydney and she is perfectly placed to give our readers an unparalleled insight into what it takes to succeed at the games and to identify the athletes who will do so.
“At the Telegraph we are committed to providing accessible, quality editorial of the Games, across print, online and mobile. We are delighted to be able to reveal some more of this with a year to go.”
