Mary Byrne officially started her new role today. 

The American will be responsible for leading the Olympic Channel’s overall editorial strategy, including the editorial planning and implementation for the platform’s digital, social media and news divisions. 

She will be based out of the company’s headquarters in Madrid and will report to Mark Parkman, general manager of the Olympic Channel. 

Most recently, she served as senior deputy editor for ESPN Digital & Print Media where she was responsible for the editorial operations for their digital and print daily coverage in addition to overseeing cross-platform collaboration and integration.

Before that, Byrne's work as USA Today included oversight of their sports pop culture site "For The Win".

Previously, she served as deputy sports editor at The Associated Press for six years where she helped with the organisation’s implementation across social media.

Byrne’s experience includes leading the on-site coverage of six different Olympic Games for multiple media outlets including as USA Today’s Olympics editor. 

She has also held positions with the Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Waterbury Republican-American and Oceanside Blade-Citizen.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mary to the Olympic Channel team," said Parkman. 

"Mary’s wealth of experience, combined with her keen eye for storytelling and love of the Olympic Movement, will be a tremendous asset as we expand our footprint and diversify the reach of our robust content offerings across multiple platforms."