Women in Sport Panel

Join us for a panel discussion in collaboration with Atalantas, Oxford’s Women in Sport Society, to explore the commercial opportunities in sport and the career paths taken by our guest speakers.

This will be a hybrid event, with a Zoom link being sent out if you cannot attend in person. 

Speakers: 

Becky Adlington

Becky Adlington is a British former competitive swimmer and won two gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Becky has founded the learn to swim program ‘SwimStars’, which aims to achieve her mission to see every child in the UK leave primary school able to swim 25 metres, helping over 10,000 children a week learning to swim ‘the Becky Way’ through participation in the program.

Donatella Del Gaudio

"Passionate about sports in all its shades with a strong interest in digital communications & social media, I am currently responsible for Communications and Media Relations at the umbrella organisation of the 50 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Europe (EOC).

We aim to propagate the fundamental principles of Olympism at European level by supporting grassroots activities and through the delivery of elite sporting events such as the European Games, the European Youth Olympic Festival and the Games of the Small States of Europe.

My daily work at the EOC covers various areas, from NOCs' relations to communications and social media, as well as the preparations and organisation of our institutional and sports events."

Valentina Marchei

Valentina Marchei is an Italian retired pair and single figure skater. As a singles skater, she is a five-time Italian national champion. Her highest ISU Championship placements were 4th at the 2013 European Championships and 8th at the 2012 World Championships.

Izzy Wray

Izzy is an Assistant Director in the Sports Business Group after working for Sport England where she was part of their Talent Development team, managing Government investment into sports’ talent development pathways. Since joining the Sports Business Group, Izzy has worked across a broad range of strategic, commercial, financial and governance projects for a variety of clients including clubs, International Federations, major sports leagues, National Associations and the UK Government. Izzy also leads the Group’s work in women’s sport with a particular focus on its commercial potential and is a regular commentator in the media on this topic.