Over two-thirds of Channel 4 presenters for Tokyo Paralympics 2020 will have a disability

Channel 4 has announced that 70 per cent of the presenting team for The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games taking place from 24 August until 6 September will be disabled.

The presenters, who include wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan, will front the Highlights show from Tokyo. Joining him will be television presenter and disability advocate Sophie Morgan, Strictly Come Dancing star JJ Chalmers and former professional rugby player Ed Jackson.

Experienced pundits bringing sports action will include Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Steve Brown, Liam Malone, Danny Crates and Liz Johnson.

Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe will present The Last Leg daily from London and will be joined by Rosie Jones reporting from Tokyo.

Channel 4’s director of programmes Ian Katz said: “Channel 4 has long played a fundamental role in bringing a global audience to the Paralympic Games and for shifting perceptions of disabled people through our significant investment in coverage and award-winning marketing campaigns for London 2012 and Rio 2016.

“Now we’re finally able to get excited about bringing the long-awaited Tokyo 2020 Paralympics to UK viewers with even more coverage than ever before across multiple platforms, from multiple locations and hosted by a stellar presenting team.”

In the UK, Clare Balding will present live sport finals from Leeds, which take place UK morning time, whilst Arthur Williams and Steph McGovern will head up a daily Paralympics Breakfast Show from the same location while journalist and reporter Lee McKenzie and Radio 1 presenter Vick Hope will report from Japan.

Mr Katz added: “We’re looking forward to bringing the best coverage possible to the British public so we can all get behind ParalympicsGB and celebrate their success in Tokyo.”

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will bring 537 events from 22 sports including wheelchair basketball, cycling, triathlon, rugby and tennis. New to the Paralympic programme for Tokyo 2020 is badminton and taekwondo.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will show 16 live streams on its Paralympics microsite, with more than 1,000 hours of coverage of live sport.

Channel 4 and More 4 will also include live subtitles in coverage and the opening ceremony will have live signing and subtitles.