Amazing Sport Stories: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team

Unbelievable stories from the world of sport. From minor-league underdogs to Olympic heroes. Listen for inspiring tales of courage, drama, myths and legends.

World Service,53 episodes

Episodes

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Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team: Ep 1
One basketballer’s journey from the USSR to the NBA - and a Grateful Dead concert
19 May 2025,39 mins
Trailer: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team
Basketball, the Cold War, and rock band The Grateful Dead collide in this true story
12 May 2025,3 mins
Claressa Shields: Battles beyond boxing
How a girl from one of America's most deprived cities became a boxing legend
23 Sep 2024,12 mins
Tackles and tailenders
Rudie van Vuuren, the Namibian doctor who played at both the cricket and rugby World Cups
16 Sep 2024,15 mins
Just win the day
Basketball player Sebastien Bellin credits sport with helping him survive a bomb attack
09 Sep 2024,17 mins
The Legend of Takhti: Ep 3
Following Takhti’s death, Tehran is on edge. From its depths, a legend is born
02 Sep 2024,34 mins
The Legend of Takhti: Ep 2
Gholamreza Takhti is dead. His death sends rumours spiralling through society
26 Aug 2024,43 mins
The Legend of Takhti: Ep 1
Gholamreza Takhti, Iran's most loved wrestler, tackles the world of fame and politics
19 Aug 2024,39 mins
Trailer: The Legend of Takhti
Exploring Iranian wrestling legend Gholamreza Takhti’s journey of life, death and legacy
12 Aug 2024,2 mins
The Olympic defectors
A single glance changes an Iraqi weightlifter's life forever
05 Aug 2024,16 mins
Breaking the Olympics
Breakdancing's journey from the streets of New York to the Olympic stage
29 Jul 2024,14 mins
The business of losing
What's it like to play for a team whose only job is to lose? Meet the Washington Generals
22 Jul 2024,17 mins
Around the world in 200 marathons
Nick Butter spent nearly two years running a marathon in every country in the world
15 Jul 2024,15 mins
Wimbledon: 'New balls, please'
How working as ball boys at Wimbledon in the 1960s changed two young men's lives
08 Jul 2024,15 mins
Copper Bullets: Ep 4
One year after the crash, Zambia awaits the Africa Cup of Nations final
01 Jul 2024,35 mins
Copper Bullets: Ep 3
Can the newly formed Zambian football team honour the legacy of the KK11?
24 Jun 2024,36 mins
Copper Bullets: Ep 2
Relatives of Zambia’s fallen footballers cope with their loss as a new team is formed
17 Jun 2024,36 mins
Copper Bullets: Ep 1
The stars of Zambia's 1993 football team die in a plane crash. A dream is shattered
10 Jun 2024,35 mins
Trailer: Copper Bullets
A nation’s dreams were shattered when Zambia's football team was killed in a plane crash
03 Jun 2024,2 mins
The woman in black
Lea Campos took on one of football's most powerful men for the right to referee
27 May 2024,12 mins
Fixing the Crazy Gang
A young woman finds herself at the heart of one of English football's most infamous teams
20 May 2024,16 mins
Poker's new deal
How a card game went from smoky back rooms to the global sporting mainstream
13 May 2024,14 mins
Chasing Mountains: Ep 4
We have a winner – or so we think. Questions are being asked
06 May 2024,43 mins
Chasing Mountains: Ep 3
The mountaineers are climbing the final peaks, and three of them are neck-and-neck
29 Apr 2024,45 mins
Chasing Mountains: Ep 2
Then there were five. Two super-fast new challengers are powering up the peaks
22 Apr 2024,46 mins
Chasing Mountains: Ep 1
A near-death experience motivates a mountaineer to scale the world’s highest peaks
15 Apr 2024,43 mins
Trailer: Chasing Mountains
The female climbers vying to make history
08 Apr 2024,3 mins
Ghost story
A runner defies the athletics authorities who tried to take him off the track
01 Apr 2024,16 mins
Evaristo: Brazil’s unsung hero
A Barcelona legend who holds a goalscoring record not even Pele matched
25 Mar 2024,15 mins
Leon Edwards: Saved by sport
How a UFC champion escaped a violent gang life to win MMA's biggest prize
18 Mar 2024,13 mins