Sky Sports receives five nominations for 2026 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards
Sky Sports have picked up five nominations at this year’s SJA British Sports Journalism awards with Kaveh Solhekol, Craig Slater, Adam Bate and Megan Wellens all in contention.
It will be the 49th annual staging of the awards, which date back to 1976 when industry legends Hugh McIlvanney and Ian Wooldridge were jointly named the inaugural winners of the SJA Sportswriter of the Year Trophy.
With the digital direction of sports media, the Sports Publisher category brings together organisations regardless of platform, format or distribution model.
There are 10 contenders for the crown, including Sky Sports and The Athletic, the most recent winners of the equivalent category for content, and Telegraph Sport and CNN Sports, both recognised for their digital publishing acumen within the last five years.
Daily Mail, ITV Sport, talkSPORT, The Guardian, Times Sport and TNT Sports complete the shortlist.
For the first time, the feature writer award is split into long-form and short-form sub-categories, while darts, F1 and tennis are among the sports represented in Specialist Correspondent.
SPORTS SUMMARISER
Alex Crook – talkSPORT
Kaveh Solhekol – Sky Sports News
Matt Slater – The Athletic
Phil Buckingham – The Athletic
Phil Hay – The Athletic
Richard Hoiles – ITV Sport
Rob Harris – Sky News
SCOOP
British horse racing to go on strike over betting tax rise – Tom Kershaw, The Times & Sunday Times
Christian Horner’s emotional exit speech – Craig Slater/Sky Sports News
Erling Haaland signs new nine-and-a-half-year Manchester City contract – David Ornstein, The Athletic
Isak Bombshell – Craig Hope, Daily Mail
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans not allowed to attend Aston Villa game in Europa League – Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic
Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track fails – Adam Crafton, The Athletic
Thomas Tuchel’s “Repulsive” Revelation – talkSPORT
Wiegman fury as Earps quits – Kathryn Batte, The Telegraph
FEATURE WRITER – SHORT-FORM
Adam Bate – Sky Sports
Chris Collyer – The Rugby Paper
Rob Maul – The Sun
Seb Stafford-Bloor – The Athletic
Siddharth Thakur – Freelance
SPECIALIST CORRESPONDENT (MIKE DICKSON TROPHY)
Brian Smith – talkSPORT
Chris McKenna – Freelance
Donald McRae – The Guardian
Megan Wellens – Sky Sports
Molly Hudson – The Times & Sunday Times
Riath Al-Samarrai – Daily Mail
Tom Kershaw – The Times & Sunday Times
Tumaini Carayol – The Guardian
SPORTS PUBLISHER
CNN Sports
Daily Mail
ITV Sport
Sky Sports
talkSPORT
Telegraph Sport
The Athletic
The Guardian
Times Sport
TNT Sports
The winners of the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony, taking place at the London Palladium on Monday, April 27, 2026.
