The 1984 Olympic silver medallist will be in charge of all strategic and commercial decisions in the publishing group

Former Olympic silver medallist Wendy Sly is to join the Great Run Company as managing director of the Great Run Publishing team.

Sly has a prodigious background in publishing having held roles as circulation director of Reader’s Digest and as part of the launch team of Sport magazine, and will be responsible for the strategic and operational performance of the Great Run Company s publishing interests, with control over both editorial and commercial decisions.

The news means Sly will oversee the running of Athletics Weekly – having been bought by the Great Run Company earlier this year – as well as the recently launched Running Monthly, athleticsweekly.com and the Great Run suite of six event specific magazines.

Sly was awarded an MBE in 2014 for her services to sport thirty years after winning a 3000m silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the race famous for Zola Budd and Mary Decker’s controversial collision.

Since hanging up her spikes, Sly has spent two decades working in the publishing sector and also acts as a non-executive director of England Athletics and team manager for international events.

Commencing work on November 2, Wendy will report to Great Run Company CEO Mark Hollinshead, who said: Wendy s passion for the sport is matched by her knowledge and expertise in the publishing sector and she is ideally placed to drive this important area of our business forward.”

Wendy said: Since I was a young athlete, Athletics Weekly has been a part of my running life – a source of information and news from the sport I love. It is wonderful to now be able to lead AW and the Great Run Publishing group into the future.”

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