Gunnell to give up trackside role
Gunnell retired from a glittering athletics career in 1998
Former Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell is to leave her role as a BBC trackside interviewer and pundit.
The former 400m hurdler intends to stay until her contract runs out at the end of this year.
A BBC statement said: “It has been mutually agreed Sally will no longer do trackside interviews, but she is still working with us on other projects.”
Last week the BBC also announced it had ended its three-year contract with goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel.
Gunnell, who is the only British athlete to have simultaneously held titles at Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth levels, retired from athletics in 1998.
She joined Channel Four to present domestic athletics before switching to the BBC.
Mother-of-three Gunnell has suffered a barrage of criticism over her television interviewing technique, but hit back at her critics over the weekend.
“For the past two years I’ve felt undermined. I felt my role was being diminished and I wasn’t going anywhere,” she told The Mail on Sunday.
“I’m an athlete but I was thrown into a situation where people criticised what I did. Learning on your feet in front of millions is not easy.”
Gunnell is set to be replaced in her trackside role by experienced athletics reporter Phil Jones.