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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Parkour
Thu 16 Apr 2020
How French teenagers invented a sport by running, jumping and vaulting around their town.
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Why I designed the prosthetic running leg
Thu 9 Apr 2020
The inventor of the Cheetah Foot on the accident that led him to revolutionise para-sport
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The perfect bull-ride
Thu 2 Apr 2020
In 1991, Wade Leslie became the first and only cowboy to achieve the maximum rodeo score.
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Ironman's Ironwoman
Thu 26 Mar 2020
Julie Moss put Ironman on the map by crawling to the finish of the World Championship.
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The remarkable life of Eva Szekely
Thu 12 Mar 2020
The remarkable life of Hungarian Olympic swimmer and Holocaust survivor, Eva Szekely
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Colin McRae: Rally legend
Thu 5 Mar 2020
How the Scottish driver became the youngest ever rally World Champion in 1995
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Kenya's first Winter Olympian
Thu 20 Feb 2020
In 1998, a farmer called Philip Boit competed in the gruelling cross-country ski event.
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Nancy Greene: The 'Tiger' of women's skiing
Thu 13 Feb 2020
How the Canadian became a national hero after winning Olympic gold in 1968
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Knocking down Mike Tyson
Thu 6 Feb 2020
In 1990, outsider James "Buster" Douglas defeated one of boxing's greatest champions.
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Rocky Bleier: The legendary comeback
Thu 30 Jan 2020
How a wounded Vietnam war veteran became an NFL Super Bowl champion.
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Stanley Matthews' Soweto team
Thu 23 Jan 2020
How an English soccer legend ran a team of black players in apartheid-era South Africa
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P.T. Usha - India's 'queen of track and field'
Thu 16 Jan 2020
How the fastest woman in India came agonisingly close to Olympic glory in 1984
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Togo bus attack
Thu 9 Jan 2020
In 2010, Angolan rebels opened fire on the team buses of the Togolese football team.
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Wrexham's FA Cup giant-killing
Thu 2 Jan 2020
In January 1992, the small Welsh club beat reigning English champions Arsenal.
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The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s first female football reporter
Boxing Day 2019
In 1969, Mary Raine became the first woman to report on football for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.
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The shot heard around the world
Thu 19 Dec 2019
How a wonder goal took the US to the football World Cup for the first time in decades
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Arunima Sinha - Indian Mountain Climber
Thu 12 Dec 2019
The incredible story of the first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest
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The Cold War's strangest sport
Thu 5 Dec 2019
How international Morse code competitions became popular behind the Iron Curtain.
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Nigeria's 'Superfalcons' wow the Women's World Cup
Thu 28 Nov 2019
How the Nigerian team put women's football on the map in Africa in 1999
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The Blind Cricket World Cup
Thu 21 Nov 2019
In 1998, India hosted the first international tournament for blind cricketers.
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Magic Johnson and HIV
Thu 14 Nov 2019
In November 1991 the basketball legend stunned America by announcing he was HIV positive.
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The death of Robert Enke
Thu 7 Nov 2019
The German goalkeeper who killed himself in November 2009, shocking the football world.
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New York Marathon women's protest
Thu 31 Oct 2019
How six women runners staged a sit-down to demand equality for female athletes in 1972.
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Chester Williams - South Africa's black rugby hero
Thu 24 Oct 2019
The story of the only black player in the Springboks' World Cup winning team in 1995.
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The policeman who won the Rugby World Cup
Thu 17 Oct 2019
How a London-born policeman ended up featuring in an all-conquering New Zealand team.
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Muhammad Ali: The 'Last Hurrah'
Thu 10 Oct 2019
In 1980 the boxing legend came out of retirement for a last shot at a world title aged 38
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India's long jump queen
Thu 3 Oct 2019
How Anju Bobby George won India's first ever World Athletics Championship medal in 2003.
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Western Samoa stun Wales
Thu 26 Sep 2019
In 1991, the team from the South Pacific shocked Wales in the Rugby World Cup.
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Eamonn Coghlan and the four-minute mile at forty
Thu 12 Sep 2019
How the Irish runner came out of retirement to achieve a milestone for older runners.
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The pole-vaulter who insulted the Soviet Union
Thu 5 Sep 2019
In 1980, Poland's Władysław Kozakiewicz won Olympic gold, then insulted the Moscow crowd