Lydia Murphy-Stephans (born October 19, 1960) is an American speed skater, television producer, sports media pioneer, and CEO of SportsBubble.[1][2][3] She competed in the women's 1000 metres at the 1984 Winter Olympics.[4] Following a short international career in speed skating, Murphy-Stephans worked for several television networks, including ABC Sports,[5] and has gone on to win multiple Emmy Awards.[6] She was the first woman to run a national sporting network in the United States.[7]
Biography
Murphy-Stephans was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1960.[2] She was inspired to take up speed skating, after watching the 1972 Winter Olympics on the television.[8] In 1976, Murphy-Stephans won the junior National Short Track Championship title.[8] Six years later, she won the senior National Short Track Championship title and the North American Short Track Championship in the following year.[8] In 1982, she graduated from National Louis University, and three years later, earned a master's degree at Northwestern University.[2]
Between 1980 and 1984, Murphy-Stephans won four medals, one silver and three bronze, at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.[9] At the 1985 Winter Universiade, she also won two silver medals.[2] At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Murphy-Stephans competed in the women's 1000 metres event, finishing in 13th place.[10] Following the Olympics, Murphy-Stephans served as the national short track coach at the US Olympic Education Center.[8] In 1994, she was inducted into the National Speedskating Hall of Fame.[8]
In 1986, Murphy-Stephans began working at ABC Sports,[2] where she later became the first female vice-president of the organisation.[2][11] While at ABC, she was in charge of their show Wide World of Sports.[12] By the end of the 1990s, Murphy-Stephans had moved to the television network Oxygen, in the role of President and Executive Producer.[2] Three years later, she moved on to the MSG Network as their Executive Vice-president.[2] In 2006, Murphy-Stephans had left MSG to form her own company, Peace Tree Media.[2][13]
In 2022, Murphy-Stephans founded SportsBubble, an internet-based company that provides software, marketing and services.[1] With the launch of SportsBubble, Murphy-Stephans released the company's first product, the WatchSports app.[14]
