Sporting chance

It's not a woman. 

The BBC has appointed Alex Kay-Jelski as Director of Sport to succeed Barbara Salter. 

Alex, 40, (University College School, Hampstead and Edinburgh University, Spurs fan) has said his ambition was to be a sports journalist from the age of 16/17: "I went to Edinburgh Uni where I did French and Spanish, but I can’t remember anything I read there. I spent my whole time doing the student newspaper, trekking up to the sports field on Saturday mornings – while everybody else had hangovers – in the freezing cold of Scotland to watch a third-team hockey game or whatever I was given by the sports editor at the time."

He joined the Mail as a graduate trainee straight from Edinburgh. Just over seven years later, he was their Sports Editor - apparently the first 'out' gay to hold that post at a national newspaper. "I was more aware of my age than my sexuality going into the job. I was quite young doing that, and I was more conscious of that in terms of, you know, am I going to be experienced enough?"

He'd been in the top job for a year when The Times came calling. In late 2018, Alex and his partner became parents to identical twin-boys, announced in the columns of his paper. In 2019 he joined US-based digital venture The Athletic as Editor for the UK and Europe, and began recruiting top football team of writers, all of whom have some equity. In January 2022, the New York Times paid around $550m for The Athletic - Alex stayed in post.