Dame Katherine Grainger appointed chair of UK Sport

Dame Katherine Grainger will take over from Rod Carr as chairman of UK Sport

Dame Katherine Grainger has been elected chair of UK Sport, taking over from Rod Carr, who stands down after four years in the role.

Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, who won her fifth medal at her fifth Games at Rio 2016, will lead UK Sport for the next four years after spending over 20 years as an international athlete.

As UK Sport chair, Grainger will have the responsibility of leading the organisation through Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 during this time of increased competitive and economic challenges. Indeed, the Scot comes in to the role off the back of Team GB’s most successful ever Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Grainger was an active figure in sports governance during her career, sitting on the British Olympic Association’s Athletes’ Commission, as well as serving as patron for a number of sporting and children’s charities.

She was awarded a Damehood in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2017 for her services to sport and charity and has been shortlisted for World Rowing’s Thomas Keller Medal in recognition of her distinguished international career.

Congratulations to Katherine, and we wish her the best of luck in her new role.