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Peter Salmon, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Director, North, has today, Wednesday 25 February 2009, announced the appointment of Barbara Slater as the new Director of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport.

Slater is currently Head of Sport Production for Ö÷²¥´óÐã and one of Britain's most experienced producers. She has held senior roles for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã at many of the biggest sports events in the world, including Wimbledon, the Open and Masters Golf, successive Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the Grand National, Ascot and the Derby.

She will take over the reins from Roger Mosey, who has been appointed as Ö÷²¥´óÐã Director of London 2012, to become leader of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport as it takes on the Winter Olympics, the World Cup and the transition of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport to its new home in Media City Salford.

Slater, born in Birmingham, gained two degrees from Birmingham and Oxford, and qualified as a PE teacher at Loughborough. An international gymnast, she competed in the 1976 Olympic Games and boasts 20 International Caps.

She started her career with the Ö÷²¥´óÐã in 1983 as a trainee Assistant Producer and the following year joined the sports department as an Assistant Producer. She is married with three children.

Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport currently has a large sports rights portfolio including the rights to the World Cup up to and including 2014, the Olympic Games in 2012, Premier League highlights, the Football League and Carling Cup, Six Nations Rugby, Wimbledon and the Open Golf.

Barbara Slater said: "I am thrilled to have this opportunity to lead Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport at such an exciting and challenging time, that includes leading the Division to its new home at the heart of Ö÷²¥´óÐã North and also ensuring Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport plays its part in making the 2012 Games the success they deserve to be."

Peter Salmon said: "Barbara was the outstanding candidate for the job at one of the most exciting moments in Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport's long and distinguished development.

"Her passion, commitment and skill as a supreme sports producer clinched the role. She will now lead teams who will play a major role in broadcasting the London 2012 Olympics and who already have an exciting roster of sports rights already in the locker – huge events that are at the heart of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's relationship with its audiences.

"This is also the moment Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport itself enters an exciting phase, at the heart of a new family of services, including Radio 5 Live and Children's, that will move to Salford to become a core part of Ö÷²¥´óÐã North in 2011.

"We are about to start a new decade of digital sports broadcasting across all our platforms. I am confident Barbara and her teams can lead us there successfully."

Ö÷²¥´óÐã Press Office