Emma Paton dreamt of being Olympian and had front row seat at London 2012… now she’s hosting £1million darts final
EMMA PATON once dreamed of being a 400m runner at the Olympics before rising to fame with Sky Sports and hosting the World Darts Championship final.
Paton, has become one of the most popular faces on Sky after fronting coverage of the action at Ally Pally in recent year.
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Emma Paton dreamed of becoming an Olympic 400m runner before starting at Sky SportsCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Paton balanced training with British Athletics alongside her work at Sky initiallyCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
She started her career at Sky as a writer before making her way up the ranks in broadcasting.
But before starting out as a reporter she worked with British Athletics and trained as an athlete.
She was even sat front row to watch Team GB cruise to six gold medals at London 2012’s Super Saturday before joining Sky in the same year.
When asked by SunSport what she specialised in, she said: “400 metres. It was more Perri Shakes-Drayton, she was a year or two older than me, so it was that sort of age group.
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“tI was for the [British Olympic Authority] at the time, yeah, Team GB. It was the most incredible internship because I had just finished my Masters in sports journalism and I was offered this internship to work for the BOA from about April that year right through to the end of the Paralympics.
“So, I had a front row seat to Usain Bolt winning the 100 metres. It was incredible.“
Paton said a career in athletics didn’t quite pan out due injuries – before switching her focus to covering sports as a journalist.
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She added: “Ultimately, I wasn’t quick enough, but I had injuries. And yeah, that was the beginning of the end when I had a bad ruptured ligament to my ankle.
“But I was still training for years alongside working at Sky. Then I was working on an early production team, starting at 3am in the morning and it just took its toll really in the end.
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“I thought, let’s put everything into trying to get in front of the camera really.”
The glamorous host said it took her seven years to get her big breakthrough on screen after starting off in an entry-level job.
Paton added: I was firing out just applications and I applied for a job at Sky Sports, which was a sports journalist role, so writing for Skysports.com and the apps.
“Was lucky enough to get a job, go through an interview process and get a job. But that’s where it all started, writing for me.
“And then moved into production in Sky Sports News and then took a long time, but seven years later got a bit of a breakthrough on screen.“
She will be front and centre at Ally Pally on Saturday night as Luke Littler and Gian van Veen contest the first ever £1million final.
Littler will be the favourite to retain his world title after seeing off Ryan Searle 5-1, while Van Vaan overcame veteran Gary Anderson 6-3.
