Sporting Witness Podcast
Eye-witness accounts from sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped sport through the eyes of the people who were there.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.
Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.
Episodes to download
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John Aldridge’s touchline temper at USA '94
Sat 1 Jun 2024
In 1994, tempers flared in a football World Cup match between Ireland and Mexico
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Manchester United's record-breaking treble
Sat 25 May 2024
How Manchester United became the first team to win the treble
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The fatal crash of Ayrton Senna
Sat 18 May 2024
In 1994, three time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna died in a crash
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Ghana's 'Baby Jet'
Sat 11 May 2024
Ghanaian Alice Annum tells the story of how she became known as 'Baby Jet'
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The first Venice Cup
Sat 4 May 2024
In 1974, an international female bridge competition was launched in Italy
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Scouting Liverpool's greatest generation
Sat 27 Apr 2024
In 1967, Geoff Twentyman joined Liverpool as a chief scout
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Alex Higgins: The rock star snooker legend
Sat 20 Apr 2024
How Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins brought new audiences to snooker with his playboy lifestyle
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The first transgender pro golfer
Sat 13 Apr 2024
In 2004, Mianne Bagger became the first transgender professional golfer
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The man who swam the Amazon
Sat 6 Apr 2024
In 2007, Martin Strel became the first person to swim the entire length of the Amazon
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Bonus: The Black 14
Fri 5 Apr 2024
The lives of 14 black American footballers are changed forever in a fight against racism
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The plasterer who fought a boxing legend
Sat 30 Mar 2024
Ten thousand people watched the unlikely fight in 1997
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First black cricketer to represent England
Sat 23 Mar 2024
In 1980, Roland Butcher became the first black cricketer to play for the England team
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Rajeev Bagga: Deaflympic badminton champion
Sat 16 Mar 2024
In 2005, badminton champion Rajeev Bagga took his total of Deaflympic gold medals to 14
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F1's only six-wheeled winner
Sat 9 Mar 2024
In 1976, the first person won a Formula One race in a six-wheeled car
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Women's Marathon Agony
Sat 2 Mar 2024
In 1984, Gabriela Andersen-Scheiss completed the Olympic marathon in terrible pain
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International football's biggest ever beating
Sat 24 Feb 2024
How American Samoa were beaten 31-0 by Australia in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers
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Zamalek Stadium Disaster
Sat 17 Feb 2024
One of Africa's worst sporting disasters happened in Cairo in 1974
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Victory for South Africa: The Africa Cup of Nations
Sat 10 Feb 2024
How a football victory in 1996 helped South Africa heal the wounds of apartheid
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Lamine Gueye: Senegalese skiier
Sat 3 Feb 2024
The story of the first black African to compete at the Winter Olympics
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Lin Dan: Badminton's all time superstar
Sat 27 Jan 2024
How badminton player Lin Dan won the Super Grand Slam - all 9 major titles in the sport
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The Elfstedentocht
Sat 20 Jan 2024
How only 69 of the 10,000 skaters finished in one of the world's toughest ice races
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Sven-Goran Eriksson: England's first foreign manager
Sat 13 Jan 2024
In 2000, Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson became manager of England’s men’s football team.
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Vanderlei de Lima and the sabotaged Olympic marathon
Sat 6 Jan 2024
Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima on how his lead in the 2004 Olympic marathon was destroyed
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The man who skied down Everest
Sat 30 Dec 2023
How Japanese alpinist Yuichiro Miura became the first person to ski on Everest in 1970
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Caster Semenya
Sat 23 Dec 2023
In 2009, world champion runner Caster Semenya faced questions about her gender
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Roger Federer's first Men's Wimbledon win
Sat 16 Dec 2023
How Roger Federer won the Wimbledon Men’s title for the first time in 2003
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The birth of the Fifa computer game
Sat 9 Dec 2023
Jan Tian says his devotion to coding the first EA Sports Fifa game nearly broke him
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When West Brom went to China
Sat 2 Dec 2023
In 1978, West Bromwich Albion became British ambassadors in China.
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The creation of chessboxing
Sat 18 Nov 2023
How Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh combined two of his passions – chess and boxing
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Lindsey Jacobellis: Almost
Sat 11 Nov 2023
How snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis lost gold in 2006's Winter Olympics