Orla Chennaoui (née Heron)[1] (born 13 November 1978)[2][3] is a Northern Irish television journalist and former all-Ireland triple jump champion.[3] Chennaoui was born in Draperstown, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.[3] After completing a degree in Law and French at Queen's University Belfast, she moved to Edinburgh to take a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Napier University.[3] While in Edinburgh Chennaoui began her journalism career, working in print-journalism at Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News.
Chennaoui moved into broadcast journalism at 2 Ten FM, a local radio station in Reading, Berkshire. A move into regional television news followed, working on the Meridian West news service at ITV Meridian and the ITV News network, based in Southampton. She returned to Scotland with a role at STV and Scotland Today.[4][5]
In 2005, she joined Sky News as Northern Ireland correspondent. In 2010 Chennaoui made a move into sports broadcasting for Sky Sports specialising in cycling; she was also Sky Sports' principal correspondent for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.[4]
In 2019, Chennaoui left Sky to join Eurosport as the lead presenter for the station's coverage of cycling events.[6]
Personal
She is married to Moroccan-born Mourad Chennaoui; they have two children and live in London and Amsterdam.[3][7]
References
- ^ Archer, Kenny (13 June 2020). "Orla Chennaoui on taking the leap from Ballinascreen to television screens". The Irish News. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ Orla Chennaoui [@SportsOrla] (13 November 2019). "Today I get to celebrate another year of living" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d e "Orla goes for Gold". Belfast Telegraph. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Chennaoui named as Sky's Olympic correspondent". Sports Journalists' Association. 24 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Orla Chennaoui". Cycling UK. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Wiggins joins Eurosport team starting with Giro d'Italia coverage". Cycling Weekly. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "7 Questions with… Eurosport's Tour De France presenter Orla Chennaoui: 'Women's cycling doesn't need crumbs off the men's table'". BT TV. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.