Don Riddell

Don Riddell is the London anchor for CNN’s ‘World Sport’ and ‘Living Golf’ programmes and is a part of the London sports production team, which focuses on European sports for CNN’s international audience. He is also a regular sports correspondent on the ‘CNN Today’ European morning programme.

As one of CNN’s key sports correspondents he has reported from the scene of some of the biggest events in the global sporting calendar. Riddell’s versatility means that he has covered events from a wide range of sports at the very highest levels, including the Ryder Cup and the British Open in the golf world, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the UEFA Champions League and the Tour de France. In addition to these, he has anchored studio-based shows on both the Rugby and FIFA World Cups and the Olympics, as well as extensively covering the successful London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

In order to bring the top sports stories to the CNN audience, Riddell has traversed the globe, and has spoken to some of the central figures involved in events as they happen. His coverage has seen him travel to a huge variety of countries across the world, from Argentina to New Zealand and from Hawaii to China, in addition to extensive work in Europe.

He has also talked to many of the leading lights in today’s sporting world, gaining a unique insight into the way that the modern arena is evolving. Working closely with sporting personalities including Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Annika Sorenstam, Lennox Lewis, Valentino Rossi, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova, he has been able to ask questions of the people at the heart of the biggest sports events, giving an insider’s view of sport as it is today. He was also one of the first journalists to spot and profile the talents of the new golfing star Michelle Wie. As well as contemporary figures, he has interviewed a host of great sporting legends, including Pele, Cathy Freeman and Ed Moses, as well as talking to the people behind the events and organisations that are at the centre of today’s major events, such as the current head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter.

Riddell’s work has not been confined solely to television, and he has had a large number of columns printed in broadsheets and magazines across the world. He also posts articles on CNN.com international edition, including summaries of his numerous interviews and features on the stars that he has spoken with. In addition to reporting on sport he also plays an active part, and in recent years has run both the London and New York Marathons.

In 1998 Riddell’s talent was earmarked by key figures in the industry when he was listed as one of the nation’s young achievers by the UK’s Independent Television Commission; this took him to visit Buckingham Palace for a meeting with HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Prior to joining CNN, in 2002, Riddell worked at the London News Network (LNN), where he worked as a sports presenter and reporter for the ‘London Tonight’ programme, and before this he worked on regional British television.

Riddell is British an attended Leeds University where he earned a Bachelors degree with honours in Public Media/Communication and Cultural Studies.