Sports personality and Olympic medalist Steve Cram will be taking the podium as the guest speaker at next year’s Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards.

Mr Cram is one of Britain’s most successful athletes, winning six gold medals at Commonwealth, European and World Championships and a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics.

A three-times world record holder, he was part of a trio of British middle-distance runners who dominated the track throughout the 1980s, running alongside Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe.

In 1983 he won BBC Sports Personality of the year and was awarded an MBE three years later.

Now the BBC’s chief athletics commentator, he has co-presented the last three Summer Olympics and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live.

Birmingham Law Society’s annual awards ceremony takes place at the ICC on March 20 2014.

Martin Allsopp, president of Birmingham Law Society, said: “We are thrilled that Steve will be joining us on the night to entertain the crowd and congratulate all of the winners.

“Steve has had an incredible career both on and off the track and we’re looking forward to hearing stories about life as a professional athlete and tales from behind the scenes at last year’s Olympics. Our thanks go to Mandeep Rajput from the Yorkshire & Clydesdale Bank for helping us to secure Steve as the speaker.”

Joining Mr Cram on stage as guest compere for the night will be ITV weather presenter Emma Jesson.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the event, which celebrates the achievements of both individuals and firms from the region’s legal sector over the past 12 months.