Emma Paton, the popular Sky Sports presenter now fronting coverage of the World Darts Championship, has opened up about her shattered Olympic dreams. The 400m national-level athlete was forced to abandon her athletics career due to persistent injuries.
Paton, who had a cameo role as a Ukrainian relay runner in the 2012 film Fast Girls alongside Lily James and Noel Clarke, had aspirations of representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games. However, years of injuries derailed those plans, leading her to focus on a media career that has since flourished.
Speaking to Mirror Sport, Paton said: 'I fell short of my dreams but that's OK. I wanted to go to the Olympics to represent Great Britain. That was the aim but I had years of injuries and it didn't really happen.' She added that after starting at Sky on the breakfast show, she initially tried to balance training with early morning work shifts before turning her attention to her on-screen role.
Paton now finds herself hosting darts coverage, and she sees parallels between athletics and darts, both being individual sports where competitors are alone in the spotlight. 'You're just out there on your own, which wasn't always nice, hence why I don't do it anymore!' she said.
Paton will present the World Championship final between Luke Littler and Gian van Veen, which airs on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Darts from 7.30pm on Wednesday.
