Who is Emma Paton? Sky Sports star presenting World Championship final had 'Olympic dream ruined'
Emma Paton is a familiar face on Sky Sports Darts where she has become a huge star
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Emma Paton takes centre stage tonight as Sky Sports' lead darts presenter for the World Championship final, where Luke Littler defends his title against Gian van Veen.
The popular broadcaster has become a firm favourite at Alexandra Palace since stepping into the role in 2020, replacing Dave Clark, who is battling Parkinson's disease.
When Laura Woods departed in 2022, some fans worried about losing a key part of the Dartsmas experience, but Paton quickly won everyone over.
Coverage kicks off at 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Events and Sky Sports Darts, with the players walking on stage around 8.15pm. A record £1million top prize awaits the winner.

Emma Paton replaced the popular Dave Clark as Sky Sports Darts' anchor presenter
|PA
Before she became a television star, Paton was a talented 400m runner competing at national level with dreams of representing Great Britain at the Olympics.
Sadly, years of injuries put paid to those ambitions.
"I fell short of my dreams but that's OK," she told Mirror Sport. "I wanted to go to the Olympics to represent Great Britain. That was the aim but I had years of injuries and it didn't really happen."
She landed a full-time role on Sky Sports News' breakfast show, juggling early starts with training for as long as she could.
Eventually, the injuries forced her to focus entirely on her broadcasting career, which has flourished ever since.

Emma Paton had Olympics dreams before injuries ended her hopes
|PA
During her athletics days, Paton also had a brush with Hollywood.
She landed a cameo role in Fast Girls, the 2012 British film following a Team GB hopeful chasing her dream of becoming a world champion.
Paton played a Ukrainian relay runner and even appeared in the trailer alongside stars including Lily James and Noel Clarke.
"Then I started working at Sky," she explained. "I had a full-time job working on the breakfast show on Sky Sports News, which meant a lot of early starts.
"I managed to fit training around that for a long time. But with injuries, I turned my attention to trying to make it on screen at Sky and have ended up hosting darts. It could be a lot worse!"
Though darts and athletics might seem worlds apart, Paton sees common ground between them.
"Different in many ways but similar in the fact that it's an individual sport," she said. "You're just out there on your own, which wasn't always nice, hence why I don't do it anymore!"
She loves the unique Ally Pally atmosphere, describing it as a mix between a stag do and a major sporting event.
Her favourite fancy dress? The Mona Lisa costumes and a group dressed as chips with one baked bean.

"I always say I've got the best seat in the house in the studio because I can just sit there and watch it all unfold in front of me."









