Aspire President and sports broadcaster John Inverdale, hosted an evening titled “A sporting life behind the microphone” at Getty Images Gallery in London on Thursday 16^th February. Over 80 of Aspire’s supporters attended the event to hear John’s memories and stories of iconic sporting moments over his 35 year career.

From the complete jubilation of smashing world records to the lows of shattering defeats, John recalled his personal memories of the iconic sporting images hanging on the walls of the gallery. He said: “I picked 50 moments that are a sporting autobiography from my point of view.  However, the point of these photos is not about me but about what these athletes do. We are just the people who hang on to what they do. Their extraordinary feats are what we love. The photos will hopefully give some flavour as to why all of us love sport and engage in it with our emotions and passions.”

John shared details of cherished moments with world-renowned athletes and what it was like to be present at so many incredible sporting events. He even brought a t-shirt from the 1978 Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks fight to prove he was there in New Orleans when Muhammad Ali won the World Championship title.

John also spoke about the devastating events that took place his career such as the Hillsborough Disaster and the bombing of the1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He spoke of the impact that they had on sports and society at that time, and the skill required for him to immediately change from sports broadcaster to live news presenter as the events unravelled.

The exhibition was held at the gallery from Saturday 11^th February to Saturday 18th February and John was at the gallery on Friday 17^th February for a public ‘Meet and Greet’ where he took time out to inspire journalism students from South Bank University about a career in broadcasting.

John said: “I wanted to create this exhibition to raise awareness of the brilliant charitable organisation Aspire, which resonates greatly with the sporting community, be they equestrians, rugby players or boxers.  

“Every eight hours someone is paralysed by a spinal cord injury.  It can happen in a split second.  There is no warning and no time to prepare.  That is why Aspire, the national Spinal Cord Injury Charity exists; to provide practical services and support.  I am proud to have been involved with Aspire since 2001 and honoured to have been the President of Aspire since 2009.  This exhibition is in support of their incredible work.”

Brian Carlin, CEO of Aspire, commented: “Although we only asked John to be President of Aspire until 2012, he has continued to support the charity and has been so generous in giving us his time. It’s been a lot of fun working with him on this exhibition and hearing some of his incredible stories.”