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鈥檒l 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鈥檚 World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football鈥檚 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鈥檝e 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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Vonetta Flowers: The first black Winter Olympic champion
Thu 3 Feb 2022
How the American bobsledder made history at the 2002 games in Utah
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India's Luge pioneer
Thu 27 Jan 2022
Shiva Keshavan took part in one of the most dangerous Winter Olympic sports aged just 16.
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Novak Djokovic: The road to success
Thu 20 Jan 2022
Nikola Pilic, one of the Serbian player's mentors, remembers training him as a teenager.
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Skiing in Afghanistan
Thu 6 Jan 2022
How an international skiing scene developed in the mountains of Bamiyan province in 2011
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Yale women rowers protest
Thu 30 Dec 2021
In 1976, the Yale rowing team stripped naked to demand equal treatment for women's sport.
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Nigeria's Paralympic heroine
Thu 23 Dec 2021
The shot-putter with dwarfism whose gold medal celebration went viral on social media.
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Bangladesh's football heroes
Thu 16 Dec 2021
How the national football team helped the country's fight for independence in 1971.
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The Tibetan football team
Thu 9 Dec 2021
How a group of exiles set up the first Tibetan national team in 2001.
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The football wages revolution
Thu 2 Dec 2021
How England's top players fought for their salary cap to be lifted in 1961.
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Zenyatta
Thu 25 Nov 2021
The superstar American race-horse who was the first mare to win the Breeders' Cup
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The woman who rowed the Atlantic
Thu 18 Nov 2021
Tori Murden McClure built her own boat and became the first woman to row the Atlantic.
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Lebanon's match-fixing scandal
Thu 11 Nov 2021
The investigation that rocked Lebanese football and ruined the country's World Cup hopes.
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Zola Budd
Thu 4 Nov 2021
The South African-born runner remembers her famous collision with US rival Mary Decker.
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The Dumptruck: King of sumo
Thu 28 Oct 2021
How a Hawaiian-born wrestler stormed the traditional world of Japanese sumo in the 1980s
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Jackie Joyner-Kersee - Heptathlon Queen
Thu 21 Oct 2021
In 1988, the American athlete put in one of the greatest performances in Olympic history.
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Born to Run: Mexico's Tarahumara Indians
Thu 14 Oct 2021
The epic race between America's top ultramarathon runner and an ancient Mexican tribe
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Japan's Keirin cycling phenomenon
Thu 7 Oct 2021
How the uniquely Japanese track cycling event made its Olympic debut in 2000.
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Cameroon's Triple Jump Queen
Thu 30 Sep 2021
How motherhood inspired Francoise Mbango to two Olympic gold medals.
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The Queen of Women's Beach Volleyball
Thu 16 Sep 2021
How America鈥檚 Misty May-Treanor won an Olympic gold medal three times.
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The struggle for women's football in Afghanistan
Thu 9 Sep 2021
Former captain Shamila Kohestani on why football in Afghanistan was more than a game
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India's first Paralympic champion
Thu 2 Sep 2021
In 1972, war veteran Murlikant Petkar won India's first Paralympic gold medal.
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Hou Bin wows the world
Thu 19 Aug 2021
The Chinese athlete who lit the Paralympic flame after a stunning feat of strength.
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Kenya's Paralympic Record-Breaker
Thu 12 Aug 2021
How blind runner, Henry Wanyoike, set world records and won Paralympic golds.
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The Golden Couple of the first Tokyo Olympics
Thu 5 Aug 2021
British runners Ann Packer and Robbie Brightwell were stars of the 1964 Olympics
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Zamzam Farah - Somalia's inspiring runner
Thu 29 Jul 2021
The Somali 400-metre runner who was forced to seek asylum after the London 2012 Olympics
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The first Tokyo Olympics
Thu 22 Jul 2021
How a new modern Japan emerged on the world stage at the 1964 Olympic Games
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Stacy Dragila - Queen of the Women's Pole Vault
Thu 15 Jul 2021
The American vaulter who won the first ever Olympic women's competition at Sydney 2000
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France鈥檚 Euro 2000 triumph
Thu 1 Jul 2021
Robert Pires on how the French became European champions in dramatic style
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The Panenka penalty
Thu 24 Jun 2021
How the Czechoslovak midfielder created a daring new style of penalty at Euro 76