Stop talking please Paula!

[NigelHarmansNewWife]

Goodness me - watching the Beeb's coverage of the athletics. Commentators are Paula Radcliffe and Steve Cram. Will someone please let Paula know it's not Just a Minute and she can pause for breath?! Endless gabbling.

Can someone pass Laura Keeny the memo please. Goodness me cycling is soooo boring.

I like Rebecca. She made Claire Balding laugh when she admitted retirement was great and she could drink alcohol and eat carbs!
She seems very down to earth.
I admit I haven't watched a great deal of it though to be fair.

I actually googled some old video footage of Paula speaking yesterday, as I was sure she didn't used to speak like that! Turns out she did, pretty much.

I've just been watching Denise Lewis speak. My goodness, she is incredibly beautiful, isn't she? I know that more importantly she's an incredibly accomplished athlete, but blimey I couldn't stop looking at her face and her skin.

Denise Lewis must have a picture in the attic, when they showed her winning gold in 2000 and then cut back to the studio, she looked like she'd hardly aged in 24 years.

Yes, I was thinking this when watching last night!
Not as bad as Laura Kenney though. Goodness me. Not a natural presenter at all. Just because someone is an expert in their field doesn't mean they are automatically a good presenter.

Agree re Rebecca Adlington. She comes across so natural and warm. Loved the trio of her Mark Foster and Clare Balding.

Yes Paula is awful and so is all the personal interest story/ journey guff.

Can you not just give me the sport FFS.

and so is all the personal interest story/ journey

I like knowing a little about the competitors' journeys.

Jess Ennis and Denise Lewis are both great. Laura Kenny's voice is annoying but at least she's enthusiastic.

Liking Mark Chapman too, though unsure of the Isa (sp?), co presenter in the highlights programme. Is she something to do with sport usually?

I've been a fan of Laura Kenny for a long time but I agree she's not got the most natural presenting style. However, she's new to presenting and sporting events don't come any bigger than the Olympics so it's something of a baptism of fire. She's extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her sport and she seems to have a really warm personality so I think she'll grow into the role given the chance.

I know, DH and I said exactly the same thing earlier!

Oddly enough, what Paula is doing is performing a speech pattern called 'running on'. Not being sexist but this is often practiced by young ladies where endless sentences are strung together with no sense of any upcoming conclusion.

Laura sounds like Stacey Dooley.

@Gingerisgoodforyou Isa is a cricketer.

I'm really enjoying Bianca Cook's comments on the taekwondo. Not a sport I know the first thing about but she is very articulate and enthusiastic and I think she's a great advert for her sport.
That said, she is mainly being interviewed which I think is probably easier than doing a solo piece to camera which is where I think Laura Kenny has struggled most.
I think it's great to see how many women are part of the BBC presenting/commentary team though which is a big change from the past.

Boanca Cook is great. I do miss the dulcet tones of Lutalo Mohammed though.

Far too much talk over actual sport. Claire Balding witters on and on about nothing much and Beth Tweddle awful. Rebecca, Mark Foster, Michael Johnson, Jess Ennis and Denise all excellent.

I’m going to disagree because I like Paula and all the other commentators. It’s refreshing to see and hear women who are smart, talented, knowledgeable and elegant, rather than the orange, duck-faced influencers and Love Islanders we are exposed to all the time.

I've been enjoying Tonia Crouch on the diving, with her lovely janner accent.

Can't stand Chappers and Isa, if you watch carefully you can see when the producer tells him in his ear to sit up and look interested. They have no chemistry and he seems bored a lot of the time.

Really wish th athletics commentary booth was more secluded, th screaming from the crowd drowns out MJ. One night someone was screaming in such a distressed way I thought the stadium was under attack!

I like Greg Rutherford and Jaz Sawyers - they are both very knowledgeable as well (but not runners, so probably couldn't replace Paula).

I am unimpressed with Paula's views about the Dutch rapist (as well as the fact she's a tax exile) and don't find her a particularly good commentator. Mara Yamauchi was very good on the race walks when she did it (not sure if she did it this year, I guess she may have been cancelled) and is a very good runner so maybe she could do it if she's ever forgiven for stating facts.

I've watched on Eurosport this year - the coverage has generally been excellent. I did miss Mark Foster and Becky Adlington (along with Andy Jamieson and Adrian Moorhouse) on the swimming though!

I loved Rebecca Adlington and Mark Foster. Denise is great. Laura and Chris are good to watch. Paula I like as a runner but jeez she is hard work to listen to. She sounds weirdly calm and controlled and a bit patronising.

This thread is depressing. Women bashing women for talking too much.

Not a women bashing women thread at all. I started the thread because the delivery of one female commentator was irritating. The others I have enjoyed hearing from and I'm delighted there are so many women presenting and commentating. Becky Adlington, for example, is brilliant at it - a natural.

Yes but look at the rest of the posts, they’re criticising women who are experts in their field for having annoying voices etc. It’s what female athletes have to contend with from men, I’d expect better from other women.

Women are allowed to express views on other women. Are we all supposed to pretend we love someone when we don’t? You’re being ridiculous.

Why are the male commentators not taking a bashing then? It’s the same rubbish I hear about women commentating on men’s football; their voices are annoying, they talk too much, their accent is silly, their laugh is annoying etc etc. You don’t hear the same criticism aimed at male commentators. It’s subtle sexism and I am happy to be labelled as ridiculous for having that view.