Ruth Holdaway on Helen Rollason

Ruth Holdaway, the Chief Executive of Women in Sport [2013 to 2019] picks the sports broadcaster Helen Rollason who in 1990 became the first woman to present Grandstand.

Helen Rollason [1956 – 1999] trained as a teacher, but after stints in community and local radio moved to the BBC to report for and later present ‘Newsround'. She kept her hand in with sport and made history in 1990 when she was appointed as the first female presenter of the BBC's flagship sports programme 'Grandstand'. Sport was largely a male-dominated world at the time and there were plenty, both inside and outside, the Corporation who would have happily have seen her fail.

John Caunt who helped Helen write her autobiography joins the discussion, and there are contributions from presenters Clare Balding and James Pearce as well as Helen’s childhood friend, Deb Crook.

Presented by Matthew Paris.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.