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 Auld Enemy: Scotland v England
Sat 13 Sep 2014
How Scotland's footballers triumphed over the English at Wembley in 1967
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The D'Oliveira Affair
Sat 6 Sep 2014
How the batsman sparked a row leading to the sporting isolation of apartheid South Africa
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The First Special Olympics
Sat 30 Aug 2014
How the first games for athletes with intellectual disabilities was organised in 1968
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The Grateful Dead Makes Lithuanian Basketball Bronze Possible
Sat 23 Aug 2014
Funded partly by the US rock band the new independent nation beat the former Soviet Union
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The Creation of Ironman
Sat 16 Aug 2014
How the most extreme form of triathlon was invented in Hawaii in 1978
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Fastnet Yacht Disaster
Sat 9 Aug 2014
In 1979, a freak storm hit a prestigious ocean race in the Irish Sea, killing 18 people.
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Milkha Singh - The Flying Sikh
Sat 2 Aug 2014
The remarkable life-story of the first Indian runner to win a Commonwealth Games gold.
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The Boycott Games
Sat 26 Jul 2014
The last time the Commonwealth Games were in Scotland many African nations boycotted them
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Eddy Merckx: The Fall of 'The Cannibal'
Sat 19 Jul 2014
In 1975, the great Tour de France rider lost the race after being punched by a spectator
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The Magical Magyars
Sat 12 Jul 2014
How Hungary's footballers hammered mighty England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953.
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Argentina at World Cup 78
Sat 5 Jul 2014
How Argentina won its first World Cup when hosting the tournament under military rule.
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South Korea wow the World Cup
Sat 28 Jun 2014
How South Korea beat some of the top teams in Europe in 2002 thanks to home support.
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Andres Escobar
Sat 21 Jun 2014
The Colombian defender murdered after scoring an own goal at the World Cup in 1994
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The Maracanazo: Brazil v Uruguay 1950
Sat 14 Jun 2014
How Brazil was traumatised by losing the World Cup the last time it was played there
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Michael Chang wins the French Open
Sat 7 Jun 2014
The Chinese-American player who won his only major after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
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Barry McGuigan unites Ireland
Sat 31 May 2014
How the boxer's world championship bid brought together all sides in Northern Ireland.
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Peru Stadium Riot
Sat 24 May 2014
In May 1964, more than 300 people died at a football game between Peru and Argentina.
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Red Card for Zidane
Sat 17 May 2014
The referee who sent off the legendary French player in the 2006 World Cup final.
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North Korea - World Cup Giantkillers!
Sat 10 May 2014
How the footballers of communist North Korea shocked Italy at the 1966 World Cup.
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The Indomitable Lions: Cameroon at the World Cup
Sat 3 May 2014
How Cameroon shocked Argentina at the 1990 World Cup and put African football on the map.
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Brandi Chastain: It's Not About the Bra
Sat 26 Apr 2014
The American footballer who won the World Cup, then tore off her shirt to reveal her bra.
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Kathrine Switzer, women's marathon pioneer
Sat 19 Apr 2014
The American athlete who broke the gender barrier at the Boston Marathon
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Algeria's Revolutionary Football Team
Sat 12 Apr 2014
Algerian players secretly left their French clubs to form their own national team in 1958
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The Miracle of Bern
Sat 5 Apr 2014
The unlikely 1954 World Cup victory which restored West German pride after WW2
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Born to Run - Mexico's Tarahumara Indians
Sat 29 Mar 2014
The epic race between America's top ultramarathon runner and an ancient Mexican tribe.
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Joe Gaetjens - The Footballer Who Disappeared
Sat 22 Mar 2014
He scored a goal for the US and upon his return to Haiti was taken by the secret police
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Handcyclist Alex Zanardi
Sat 15 Mar 2014
The racing driver who suffered a horrific crash, but then became a successful Paralympian
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Silken Laumann - Unsinkable!
Sat 8 Mar 2014
The Canadian rower who defied a horrific injury to win an Olympic medal in 1992
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Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston World Heavyweight Championships 1964
Sat 1 Mar 2014
How the young Muhammad Ali became boxing world champion after two controversial fights.
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Torvill and Dean
Sat 22 Feb 2014
In 1984, the British skaters charmed the world with their performance of Ravel's Bolero