UP493 What's Sport Selling? Ridgeon on Ozempic, Ohanian and Athletic Ventures

This is episode three of a four-part series created in collaboration with Redtorch called What's Sport Selling? It's a conversation with John Ridgeon, the chief executive of World Athletics. Previous episodes in the series:UP443 Big Sugar, Big Pharma...Where's the Big Sport Lobby?UP458 Fitness, Toxicity and the Importance of the ASICS MessageJon Ridgeon bioAthletic Career (1980s-1990s)Born: February 14, 1967, Bury St. Edmunds, SuffolkKey Achievement: Silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Rome in 110m hurdlesOlympic Participation: Represented Great Britain at 1988 Seoul Olympics and 1996 Atlanta OlympicsPersonal Best: 13.29 seconds in 110m hurdles (British record holder)Education: Magdalene College, CambridgeBusiness Career (1998-2019)Fast Track Sports Marketing (1998-2012): Founding and managing partner of Fast Track. Broadcasting: TV commentator for BBC and BSkyB Achieve Events: Director where he helped build the mass participation events business until its acquisition in 2015European Sports Championships: Director of the 2018 multi-sport championship eventWorld Athletics Leadership (2019-Present)Appointment: Appointed CEO in December 2018Mandate: Working alongside President Sebastian Coe to modernize and grow athletics globallyThis podcast is sponsored by Redtorch, a global research & creative agency passionately dedicated to making sport more relevant. We help sports rights holders and brands punch above their weight. Born in the Olympic movement, we thrive under pressure – small teams, high stakes, global eyes. We’re trusted and retained by many of the world’s biggest sports because we offer everything you’d want from a specialist agency: unmatched flexibility, the best people and a constant stream of innovative ideas.Visit redtorch.sport to learn how we consistently grow audiences, deliver high-impact creative and turn cultural signals into a winning advantage.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.