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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Dan Jansen
Sat 18 Jan 2014
The American speed-skater who overcame personal tragedy to win Olympic gold
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Katarina Witt
Sat 11 Jan 2014
The glamorous East German skater remembers dancing Carmen at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
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The Best Of Sporting Witness
Sat 21 Jul 2012
A compilation of some of the most memorable stories from the series.
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Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie's 10,000m Final
Sat 21 Jul 2012
Close finish - Gebrselassie beat his rival Paul Tergat of Kenya by less than a second
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Bob Beamon and the 'Leap of the Century'
Sat 14 Jul 2012
The American long-jumper on shattering the world record at the 1968 Mexico Olympics
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Martina Navratilova
Sat 7 Jul 2012
The tennis legend on defecting from Czechoslovakia and then winning Wimbledon in 1978.
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Derek Redmond - Never Give Up
Sat 30 Jun 2012
How the injured runner inspired millions by hobbling to the finish of his Olympic race.
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Flo-Jo - the American Sprinter with Hollywood Style
Sat 23 Jun 2012
Her husband and coach Al Joyner recalls Flo-Jo's four medal wins at Seoul in 1988
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Maradona's 'Hand of God'
Sat 16 Jun 2012
Former England striker Gary Lineker on Maradona's historic goals in the 1986 World Cup.
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Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee: Coronation Derby
Sat 2 Jun 2012
Sporting Witness takes you back to the coronation derby in 1953.
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The Olympics when Greg Louganis hit his head on a diveboard
Sat 26 May 2012
The American diver talks about the 1988 Seoul Olympics and mis-timing his dive
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Lasse Viren
Sat 19 May 2012
In the 1972 Olympics he broke the 10,000 metre world record despite falling in the race.
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Lance Armstrong
Sat 12 May 2012
A close friend describes Lance Armstrong's comeback from cancer to win the Tour De France.
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Natalie du Toit
Sat 5 May 2012
How the swimmer became the first athlete to compete at the Paralympic and Olympic games.
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Tied Test Match
Sat 28 Apr 2012
Former Australian captain, Richie Benaud, recalls the first tie in test-match cricket.
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Michael Johnson
Sat 21 Apr 2012
How the US sprinter, Michael Johnson, shattered the 200m record at the 1996 Olympics.
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Bob Champion wins the National
Sat 14 Apr 2012
How Bob Champion overcame cancer to win the Grand National horse race in 1981.
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Boat Race Mutiny
Sat 7 Apr 2012
The Oxford coach on an unprecedented mutiny by a group of American rowers in 1987.
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Cliff Young - Potato Farmer and Ultrarunner
Sat 31 Mar 2012
How ageing potato farmer Cliff Young, became an Australian running legend.
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The Three Degrees
Fri 23 Mar 2012
Three black players who found fame in the British football league in the 1970s.
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The Death of Ayrton Senna
Fri 16 Mar 2012
Ayrton Senna was one of the best Formula One drivers ever, He died in a crash in 1994
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The Jamaican bobsled team
Fri 9 Mar 2012
In 1988 the Caribbean island fielded a bobsled team at the Winter Olympics.
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Women's Marathon Pioneer
Fri 2 Mar 2012
How Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1967
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Sir Stirling Moss
Fri 24 Feb 2012
In 1955, Sir Stirling Moss faced his biggest motor racing challenge - the Mille Miglia.
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Nancy Kerrigan Attacked
Fri 17 Feb 2012
How an attack on the ice skater Nancy Kerrigan, shocked the USA in 1994.
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Hassiba Boulmerka Defies Death Threats
Fri 10 Feb 2012
How the Algerian runner's success made her a political opponent for extremists
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American Football's "Greatest Game"
Fri 3 Feb 2012
How the "Greatest Game" in American Football turned the sport into a modern phenomenon.
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London's Austerity Olympics
Fri 27 Jan 2012
How the 1948 Olympics helped London emerge from its post-war gloom.
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Zambian football crash
Sat 21 Jan 2012
How Zambia overcame tragedy to reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994.