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
-
Pakistan's First Women Cricketers
Sun 7 Dec 2014
The two Karachi women who blazed a trail for women's cricket.
-
The Dumptruck - King of Sumo
Sun 30 Nov 2014
How a Hawaiian-born wrestler stormed the traditional world of Japanese Sumo in the 1980s
-
Tegla Loroupe wins NY Marathon
Sun 23 Nov 2014
How Tegla Loroupe became the first African woman to win a major marathon
-
Pele joins the New York Cosmos
Sun 16 Nov 2014
Clive Toye's account of Pele's shock move to a US soccer team in 1975
-
Racing the Stasi
Sun 9 Nov 2014
in 1964, East German cyclist, Dieter Wiedemann, defected for love and the Tour de France
-
The Three Degrees
Sun 2 Nov 2014
How three black players revolutionised English football in the 1970s.
-
The Curse of the Bambino
Sat 18 Oct 2014
How a misfield in the 1986 World Series convinced Boston Red Sox fans they were cursed.
-
British Lions in Apartheid South Africa
Sat 11 Oct 2014
In 1974 the British Lions made a famous and controversial rugby tour of South Africa.
-
India's Hockey Gold
Sat 4 Oct 2014
In 1948 at the 'austerity' Olympics, newly independent India won gold on the hockey pitch
-
Ryder Cup - The War by the Shore
Sat 27 Sep 2014
The bitter clash between the best golfers from the USA and Europe in 1991
-
-
The Auld Enemy: Scotland v England
Sat 13 Sep 2014
How Scotland's footballers triumphed over the English at Wembley in 1967
-
The D'Oliveira Affair
Sat 6 Sep 2014
How the batsman sparked a row leading to the sporting isolation of apartheid South Africa
-
The First Special Olympics
Sat 30 Aug 2014
How the first games for athletes with intellectual disabilities was organised in 1968
-
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
-
The Creation of Ironman
Sat 16 Aug 2014
How the most extreme form of triathlon was invented in Hawaii in 1978
-
Fastnet Yacht Disaster
Sat 9 Aug 2014
In 1979, a freak storm hit a prestigious ocean race in the Irish Sea, killing 18 people.
-
Milkha Singh - The Flying Sikh
Sat 2 Aug 2014
The remarkable life-story of the first Indian runner to win a Commonwealth Games gold.
-
The Boycott Games
Sat 26 Jul 2014
The last time the Commonwealth Games were in Scotland many African nations boycotted them
-
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
-
The Magical Magyars
Sat 12 Jul 2014
How Hungary's footballers hammered mighty England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953.
-
Argentina at World Cup 78
Sat 5 Jul 2014
How Argentina won its first World Cup when hosting the tournament under military rule.
-
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.
-
Andres Escobar
Sat 21 Jun 2014
The Colombian defender murdered after scoring an own goal at the World Cup in 1994
-
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
-
Michael Chang wins the French Open
Sat 7 Jun 2014
The Chinese-American player who won his only major after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
-
Barry McGuigan unites Ireland
Sat 31 May 2014
How the boxer's world championship bid brought together all sides in Northern Ireland.
-
Peru Stadium Riot
Sat 24 May 2014
In May 1964, more than 300 people died at a football game between Peru and Argentina.
-
Red Card for Zidane
Sat 17 May 2014
The referee who sent off the legendary French player in the 2006 World Cup final.
-
North Korea - World Cup Giantkillers!
Sat 10 May 2014
How the footballers of communist North Korea shocked Italy at the 1966 World Cup.