By Steven Downes
Owen Gibson is the new head of sport at The Guardian and Observer.
Previously the newspaper’s chief sports correspondent, Gibson announced his promotion on social media on Monday morning, the first day in his new job.
He succeeds Ian Prior, who has moved to become digital editor after 17 years on the sports desk.
Gibson began his career at trade title Media Week, joining The Guardian in 2001 as its new media editor, and later media correspondent. After a spell as the paper’s sports news correspondent, from 2010 to 2012 he was Olympics editor.
Last year, Gibson gained some notoriety when his reporting on the regime in Azerbaijan, which had spent millions in order to host the first European Games in Baku, saw him banned from the country.
This week, he told sportsjournalists.co.uk: “Very much looking forward to taking over a supremely talented team and maintaining Guardian Sport’s hard-won reputation across web and print.
“I’m hoping to still write occasionally in time, but arrangements for my replacement will be made in due course.”
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