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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Lucho Herrera - Colombian Tour de France Hero
Sat 18 Mar 2017
How a former gardener from the Colombian mountains won cycling's most famous climb.
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Pakistan Cricket Bus Attack
Sat 4 Mar 2017
In 2009, gunmen attacked a visiting cricket team in Lahore. We hear from two survivors.
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Lionel Rose - Aboriginal Boxing Hero
Sat 25 Feb 2017
The aboriginal fighter who became world bantamweight boxing champion in 1968.
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Nancy Kerrigan Attack
Sat 18 Feb 2017
How an attack on the golden girl of ice-skating horrified America in 1994
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FC St Pauli - Germany's "Pirate" Football Club
Sat 11 Feb 2017
The story of the Hamburg football team adopted by punks and fans from around the world.
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Doug Williams - First Black Quarterback at the Super Bowl
Sat 4 Feb 2017
How the Washington Redskins quarterback made history at the 1988 Super Bowl.
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South Korea's King of Computer Gaming
Sat 28 Jan 2017
How Lim Yo-hwan, also known as Boxer, became one of the biggest names in eSports.
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Jutta Kleinschmidt - Woman Winner of the Paris-Dakar Rally
Sat 21 Jan 2017
The first and only woman to win one of the biggest events in motorsport.
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Abhinav Bindra - India's First Olympic Gold Medalist
Sat 14 Jan 2017
In 2008, an Indian rifle shooter became a national hero when he won the Olympics.
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Lamine Gueye - Senegalese Skier
Sat 7 Jan 2017
The story of the first black African to compete at the Winter Olympics.
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The Toughest Dog-Sled Race in the World
Sat 31 Dec 2016
The story of Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the notorious Iditarod race in Alaska.
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Esther Vergeer
Christmas Eve 2016
The inspiring Dutch wheelchair tennis player who went undefeated for more than a decade.
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Love at the Cold War Olympics
Sat 17 Dec 2016
The Czech discus thrower punished for falling in love with an American at the 1956 games.
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Texas Western - Black Basketball Pioneers
Sat 10 Dec 2016
How an all-black college team broke down the colour barrier in American basketball.
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Women's Rugby Pioneers
Sat 26 Nov 2016
How the English women's rugby team fought for official recognition in the 1990s.
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Mike Tyson
Sat 19 Nov 2016
The troubled life of the youngest heavyweight boxing champion of all time
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Graeme Souness and the Turkish Flag Incident
Sat 12 Nov 2016
How the Scottish manager caused uproar at an Istanbul derby match in 1996.
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The "Phantom Game" in General Pinochet's Chile
Sat 5 Nov 2016
How a football international was played at a stadium being used as a torture centre.
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Jason McCartney - Bali Bomb Survivor
Sat 29 Oct 2016
The Aussie rules footballer who inspired a nation by surviving a terrorist attack
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Blood in the Water
Sat 22 Oct 2016
How tension between Hungary and the USSR turned into a battle at the 1956 Olympics
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The Black Power Salute
Sat 15 Oct 2016
How two African-American athletes protested against racism at the 1968 Olympic Games.
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Meeting Mr Pilates
Sat 8 Oct 2016
In the 1950s, Joseph Pilates taught his fitness method in a New York studio.
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The 'Black 14' Protest Rocks American Football
Sat 1 Oct 2016
How black players at Wyoming University sparked a national debate over racism in 1969
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Lady Swimmers of the 1920s
Sat 24 Sep 2016
How three British women swimmers took the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics by storm.
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Kenya's Paralympic Record-Breaker
Sat 17 Sep 2016
How blind runner, Henry Wanyoike, set world records that stand to this day
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India's First Paralympic Hero
Sat 10 Sep 2016
In 1972, war veteran Murlikant Petkar won India's first Paralympic gold medal
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Rwanda at the Paralympics
Sat 3 Sep 2016
In 2012, Rwanda's sitting volleyball team became their country's first Paralympians.
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Willy T Ribbs
Sat 27 Aug 2016
In 1991, an African-American driver raced the Indianapolis 500 for the first time
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Eric Liddell
Sat 20 Aug 2016
The story of the Scottish runner immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire.