‘Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds’ was among the British entries to be recognised on the night at the AIPS Sport Media Awards gala; producer Ian Brackley collected the third-place trophy at the ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland; “it was great to mix with different cultures and storytellers,” Ian tells the SJA website…
The makers of the documentary ‘Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds’ are celebrating their podium finish at the AIPS Sport Media Awards.
Ian Brackley, Development and Executive Producer for Warner Bros. Discovery, was in Lausanne, Switzerland, to represent the team after the film was named as a Top 3 finisher in the Video Documentary category.
The gala evening was held at the Olympic Museum as part of the AIPS Congress.
The 90-minute documentary, which was released in June 2025, tells the story of Daley’s extraordinary diving career via archive footage and new reflections from the five-time Olympic medalist.
The L’Equipe-produced film “Crash – Peloton Under Pressure” by Fabien Douillard won the category for France, with “My Father, HSV and the Nazis” (Marie Lasserre, Katrin Hafemann for NDR Fernsehen/ARD Mediathek) taking the runners-up spot for Germany.
For the 2025 edition of the free-to-enter Awards, nearly 2,000 submissions representing 130 nationalities were received. There were 88 entries from the U.K. longlisted, with 32 going through to the shortlists.
Also picking up a trophy on the night was Adam Leventhal (The Athletic) who, along with Abi Paterson, took third in the Audio category.
The Awards are lucrative as well as prestigious, with prizes of US $5,000 (1st), $3,000 (2nd) and $2,000 (3rd) on offer for those who finish in the main category podium places.
We caught up with Ian to find out more about the recognition…
Hi Ian, well done from all of us at the SJA! It was a very strong Documentary podium this year – what’s your reaction to taking bronze, and why was it great to see ‘1.6 Seconds’ recognised here?
First of all, congratulations to Marie Lasserre, Katrin Hafemann of Germany and Fabien Douillard of France for picking up the silver and gold awards – extremely well-deserved.
We’re immensely proud to see ‘Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds’ gain recognition amongst entries from all over the world at these awards.
At Warner Bros. Discovery, we pride ourselves on storytelling and believe Tom’s truly inspiring journey deserved to be told.
It’s an important, personal, and emotional documentary that bravely uncovers the battles in his life, from his first Olympics at 14 years old at Beijing 2008, all the way to his fifth Olympics and last dive at Paris 2024.
It was great that the judges awarded us bronze, especially amongst such strong competition in the category.
Tell us a little about your role in the making of the doc, and what that entails?
I was the Development and Executive Producer for Warner Bros. Discovery on this project, so I worked hard on pushing through for commission internally and through our co-production partners at the Olympic Channel.
I then worked closely on the creative with director Vaughan Sivell and producers Western Edge Pictures, from conception to completion.
Tom Daley himself was incredible to work with, a fantastic, genuinely lovely human being.
One of the highlights of the project was the key filming day in our innovative curve studio at Stockley Park, where Tom emotionally poured out his heart as personal archives from his life (including some he had never seen) were played to him on the giant screen.
@tomdaley What does it take to chase greatness? Just 1.6 seconds. 🎥 Streaming 1 June on @discoveryplusuk ♬ original sound – Tom Daley
What would be your message to fellow Brits looking at the AIPS Sport Media Awards and wondering if they should enter next time?
I would recommend it!
There were so many passionate journalists at the event. It was great to mix with different cultures and storytellers from across the globe and see a varied and deep slate of stories, articles and photography rewarded from across our industry.
‘Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds’ is available to stream now on HBO MAX.
Further reading…
Young Photographers shine with Top 5 finishes at AIPS Sport Media Awards
AIPS Sport Media Awards news index (AIPS Media)
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