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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The Torino air disaster
Thu 9 May 2019
In May 1949, a plane crash killed one of the greatest teams in Italian football history.
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Desiré Wilson - Formula One winner
Thu 2 May 2019
In 1980 the South African racing driver became the only woman to win a Formula One event.
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Paula Radcliffe
Thu 25 Apr 2019
The British runner who set a famous world record at the 2003 London Marathon.
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Ashley Fiolek - Deaf motocross champion
Thu 18 Apr 2019
How a deaf American rider dominated the fast and dangerous sport of women's motocross
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Brian Lara's batting world record
Thu 11 Apr 2019
In April 1994, the great West Indies batsman hit 375 runs against England in Antigua
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The King of Comrades
Thu 4 Apr 2019
How Bruce Fordyce won South Africa's famous Comrades Marathon nine times in the 1980s.
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Marcus Trescothick and mental illness
Thu 28 Mar 2019
The England cricketer who gave up his international career because of depression.
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The man who ran around Australia
Thu 21 Mar 2019
In 1983, Ron Grant became the first person to run 13,383 kilometres of Australian coast.
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Bangladesh's football heroes
Thu 14 Mar 2019
How the national football team helped the country's fight for independence in 1971.
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The birth of skiing
Thu 21 Feb 2019
How the British invented downhill skiing at the start of the 20th Century.
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Why I invented the sports bra
Thu 14 Feb 2019
When Lisa Lindahl couldn't find a comfortable bra to run in, she decided to design one
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South Africa Win The Rugby World Cup
Thu 7 Feb 2019
How sporting victory in 1995 helped unite South Africa after apartheid.
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Paul Pritchard And The Totem Pole
Thu 31 Jan 2019
The British adventurer who was seriously injured on a climb, but returned 18 years later.
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The Gay Games
Thu 24 Jan 2019
The first international sports event for LGBT athletes was held in San Francisco in 1982.
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Diane Crump - Pioneering Female Jockey
Thu 17 Jan 2019
The inspiring story of the first woman to ride in America's top horse race.
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Mark Edmondson And The Biggest Upset In Tennis
Thu 10 Jan 2019
How a former part-time hospital cleaner won the Australian Open in 1976.
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Lopez Lomong - From Lost Boy To The Olympics
Thu 27 Dec 2018
The former Sudanese refugee who carried the flag for the USA at the 2008 Olympics.
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When British Football Went To China
Thu 20 Dec 2018
West Brom became the first professional British football team to visit communist China
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Usain Bolt - The Birth of a Legend
Thu 13 Dec 2018
In 2008, the Jamaican sprinter wowed the world by winning the Olympic 100 and 200 metres
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Ironman's Iron Woman
Thu 6 Dec 2018
Julie Moss wouldn't give up, even when she collapsed just metres from the finish line.
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The Fastest Man In The World Race
Thu 29 Nov 2018
How top sprinters Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson staged a head-to-head race in 1997.
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George Foreman: World Champion at 45
Thu 22 Nov 2018
In 1994, the boxing legend won a second world title after a shock return from retirement
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Mika Hakkinen's F1 Horror Crash
Thu 1 Nov 2018
How the Finnish driver nearly died in an accident at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.
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The Czech Gymnast Who Defied The Soviet Union
Sat 20 Oct 2018
Vera Caslavska protested against the crushing of the Prague Spring at the 1968 Olympics.
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The Black Power Salute
Sat 13 Oct 2018
The story of the iconic protest by black American athletes at the 1968 Olympics.
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The Transplant Games
Sat 6 Oct 2018
How a new sporting event for organ recipients was launched in 1978.
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Harold Abrahams
Sat 29 Sep 2018
The story of the British sprinter of the 1920s immortalised in Chariots Of Fire
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Vijay Amritraj and the Davis Cup
Sat 22 Sep 2018
The tennis star on how India put political principle before sporting success
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Tom Gregory - The 11-Year-Old who Swam the Channel
Sat 15 Sep 2018
How a London schoolboy became the youngest person ever to swim the English Channel.