The Sports Journalists’ Association held the awards on 2 December, recognising journalists, athletes, and people from across the sports industry. The event took place in-person in London following a virtual event last year.
Penny is the Director of Sport at the British Paralympic Association and has been the Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB since 2014. In recognition of an amazing Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo this year, she won the Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award alongside TeamGBs Chef de Mission, Mark England.
Previous winners of the award have included fellow alumni such as University Chancellor Lord Coe, and Sir Clive Woodward.
Other Loughborough-linked athletes who won at this year’s awards included Adam Peaty, who picked up the Sportsman of the Year award, and former Loughborough College student Ellie Simmonds, who won The Spirit of Sport Award.
Penny is a Lay Member of University Council. She graduated from Loughborough in 1988 with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and was also awarded an Honorary Degree in 2017 in recognition of her achievements in the sports industry. In January 2022 she will be inducted into the Loughborough Sport Hall of Fame.