Planet Sport: Recent Episodes
Passion for Sport
Planet Sport is a weekly 15-minute radio programme that gives listeners the opportunity to comment on news and stories from the world of sport.
Here we have a special Christmas gift to celebrate the relaunch of Planet Sport in 2024! This pilot show was produced by students at Greenville University, Illinois, hosted by Matt Tiger with Colton Rich joining the discussion. In this episode we sit down and talk to Greenville Associate Head Football Coach and Defensive Coordinator Lamar Bell.
In 1968 USA athlete Madeline Manning-Mimms won the 800 metres Olympic crown at the Mexico City Games. She was just 20. To achieve her goal she had to overcome widespread racism, including from a coach on the USA team. In this interview, recorded with Passion for Sport's Solomon Izang Ashoms at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Madeline talks about her experiences at the Olympics in Mexico City and Munich in 1972 and how she was able to find forgiveness for those who racially abused her.
On this week’s show, we’re asking the question, how do we ensure that BAME Football managers get fair opportunity? The term BAME refers to those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, who for a long time now have not been well represented in English football, and other part of Europe, when being considered for jobs such as manager, all the way up to boardroom positions. As recently as this year there have been as few as six BAME managers working in the top four divisions of English football! So just how big is the issue and what needs to be done to bring more BAME managers into the picture?
On this week’s show we’re asking should male and female professional athletes be paid the same? At a time where women’s sport is growing quickly and coverage is improving all around the world, is this the time to readdress the gender pay gap in elite sport? Liam Flint hosts our panel of UK journalist Russ Bravo and MLS chaplain Andy Searles in the USA.
Many football clubs have their shirts sponsored by betting companies. This week our panel of UK journalist Russ Bravo and USA MLS chaplain Andy Searles discuss the moral and ethical issues around this topic. On the one hand shirt sponsorship brings money to the club but the sponsorship is designed to encourage people to bet with the companies which may lead them into debt and financial problems.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, was bringing VAR into Football a mistake? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, how should pro athletes use social media? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, how do we eradicate racism from sport? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, are pro athletes being equipped for retirement? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, are we taking mental health in sport seriously enougj? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, is having players of faith in your lock room a blessing or a curse? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
What value does a Chaplain bring to a sports team? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, winning at all costs or playing with integrity? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, are the best captains visible or invisible? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, what's the key to success in Football, talent or teamwork? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week's show we ask is diving in football to win a free kick or penalty clever action by the player concerned or blatant cheating? Listen to the thoughts of our expert panel and draw your own conclusions!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should pro athletes exercise moral judgement? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, do Footballers deserve a winter break? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, is walking Football the answer to keeping the older generation active? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should heading be banned in football? Listen to the views of our expert panel!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, what needs to be done to give BAME football managers fair opportunity? Listen to the views of our expert panel and former England youth player Gabriel Ajala!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, are pro athletes being equipped for retirement? Listen to the views of our expert panel and Springbok World Cup winner Bryan Habana!
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, what can sport do to help fight climate change? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, can’t pro athletes have freedom of religion? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, how can World Rugby help tier 2 nations to get better? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, was bringing VAR into Football a mistake? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, is the new Hundred cricket competition, actually needed? Listen to the views of our expert panel on accountability, and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should Footballers do more around social action? Listen to the views of our expert panel on accountability, and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, what makes the perfect sporting role model? Listen to the views of our expert panel on accountability, and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, is money ruining our beautiful game of Football? Listen to the views of our expert panel on accountability, and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should Footballers be sacked in the same way that their managers are? Listen to the views of our expert panel on accountability, and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should Tennis introduce mixed single matches, where women can play against men? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, what makes a sport a sport? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, should Rugby nations re-think their foreign-based selection policy? With the RWC upon us, is it right that some players miss out simply because they opt to play abroad? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show we’re asking the question, is there any power in sporting superstition and ritual? From lucky pants to wearing a cross, many of our top athletes now have their own forms of superstition or ritual, before they enter the field of play! But why? Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own views below.
On this week’s show, we’re asking the question, when should pro athletes retire? It almost seems like a lottery and we’ve seen some athletes bow out perfectly with World Cup wins and Olympic Gold Medals, whilst others seem to outstay their welcome. There also seems to be an issue of lost identity and fear of the unknown in what comes next. Listen to the views of our expert panel and share your own thoughts on Whats App +44 7596 729305.
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should Australian Cricketer, Steve Smith be booed or forgiven for cheating? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, are you a fan of the new European Football rule changes? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, is crazy scheduling 'killing' our Footballers? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should Footballers be fired for refusing to play? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should gambling companies be banned as football shirt sponsors? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, is it offensive to say that women's football should use smaller goals and pitches? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, is loyalty no longer required in sport? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should we ever feel bad for celebrating in sport? Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should male and female athletes be paid the same? This has come into focus most recently at the FIFA Women's World Cup. Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, why is there a lack of respect in football? It now seems to be common place to see player brawls in the tunnel and referees being verbally abused. Our expert panel offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, would a European Super League be good for world football? Or would it ruin competition in European domestic leagues? Journalist Russ Bravo offers up his insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, is winning in sport ever enough? Does it ultimately satisfy us? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, why do we love a sporting comeback? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking, should the number of foreign players in the English Premier League be reduced further? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we look at the rise of interest in Cricket and ask, could the sport he set for world domination? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we look at the ways in which we could start to eradicate racism from world sport. Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we look at how athletes could best use their social media, after recent examples where posting has landed players in a fierce media storm! Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking if it's fair for pro athletes, who have a faith, to pray to win? We discuss whether this matters depending on what your beliefs are and whether this does happen in locker rooms! Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo offer up their insight, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we're asking if we are taking mental health in pro sport seriously enough? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo have their say, plus we want to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Hot Topics series, we focus on Boxing and we're asking if the sport itself is dangerous and morally wrong? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo have their say, plus we hear from former IBO Welterweight World Champion, Chris ‘The Heat’ Van Heerden!
In this first episode of our brand new Hot Topics series, we start by looking at wages in football, and we're asking if the big bucks earned by top players are justified, or if the world has just gone crazy? Our panel of Andy Searles, a chaplain in Major League Soccer and Journalist Russ Bravo have their say, plus we want your thoughts!
This week on Planet Sport we hear from one of the greatest female long-distance runners in history, Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe. During her successful sports career from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, Tegla Loroupe won two World Championship bronze medals in the 10,000m, she holds world records for 25 and 30k, set two marathon world records, and was the first African woman to win the New York Marathon.
She went from a champion of the sport to a champion for peace through a series of humanitarian endeavours.
This week on Planet Sport we speak to three-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion in the triple jump Christian Taylor.
The American track and field star has a personal best of 18.21m, which makes him the second best triple jumper of all time, after Jonathan Edwards who jumped 18.29 metres back in 1995. It’s a record Taylor has been chasing and desperate to beat since his first world title in 2011.
The 28 year old reveals to us why he chose to switch jumping legs and why the triple jumper is the ultimate Olympian.
This time around we speak to South Africa rugby sevens star Siviwe, also known as Shakes Soyizwapi. The Blitzboks have just claimed their first Canada Sevens title in Vancouver beating France 21-12 in the final of the sixth tournament in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The first tournament win for the Springbok Sevens since June last year, when they clinched the Paris Sevens and with it the World Series.
Soyizwapi has been a vital part of the side, and is South Africa’s leading try scorer - currently 4th overall - with 21.
The left arm spinner who retired in 2013 was only the second Zimbabwean cricketer to have played in the IPL and came to be known as the second best spinner in the history of Zimbabwe cricket after the legendary Paul Strang.
An intimidating character on the field, Price overcame the odds as a child - having been born two months prematurely he contracted meningitis when he was a few months old and was given only a one in four chance of survival.
On this week's show we hear from 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya. The South African is seeking to overturn a regulation proposed by the governing body of athletics - the IAAF - to restrict the levels of testosterone in female athletes.
We talk about her success so far as an athlete, her hopes for the future and about the importance of respect.
This week’s Planet Sport comes from Birmingham in the UK and the Muller Indoor Grand Prix, which is regarded as the best one-day indoor athletics event in the world and is the fifth stop on the 2019 IAAF World Indoor Tour.
We’ll be featuring reaction from the athletes, including the joint fastest woman in the world over 100 metres last year - it’s African sprint queen Marie-Josee Ta Lou.
Also fondly known as Inzi, the track and field star ended Uganda's 33-year wait for an athletics world title, winning the inaugural women's 3000 m steeplechase event, at the 2005 World Athletics Champs in Helsinki. She then went on to win the same event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Inzikuru talks to us the significance of her medals and the importance of sporting success for her country.
This week we hear from two Olympic gold medallists - South Africa’s sprint sensation Wayde van Niekerk and Team USA’s Natasha Hastings. Both athletes have suffered recent injury set-backs but are on track for a return in 2019. Many have tipped Wayde van Niekerk to be the next Usain Bolt and set alight the world of athletics with Bolt himself is backing the South African to come good this year as he returns to business. We hear whether Wayde feels the pressure of being compared to the biggest star the sport has seen while Natasha Hastings tells us, there’s more to life than sporting success.
Ruhan Nel has been a part of the Springbok Sevens team since 2014, helping the the Blitzboks to win two World Rugby Sevens series. Last year his impressive form earned him a call-up to the national 15s squad and many believe he has the potential to become a fully-fledged Springbok centre. He talks to Planet Sport's Norman Brierley about his love for the sport, his rise through the ranks and his faith which directs his life on and off the field.
Part two of our feature with former Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga. After a public protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime during a 2003 World Cup match, Olonga felt he had no choice but to go into exile. On this week’s show we hear about the price he paid for his protest, and the story of how he found a safe passage out of Zimbabwe.
Olonga was the first black cricketer to play for his nation and was considered one of the fastest bowlers in international cricket. But is that how he’d like to be remembered?
At the 2003 Cricket World Cup Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga hit the world headlines. During the match with Namibia he and captain Andy Flower wore black armbands to protest as what they saw as "the death of democracy" in Zimababwe, then under the rule of Robert Mugabe. Olonga received threats and was unable to return to Zimbabwe. In the first of our two part interview, Olonga reflects on his introduction to Test cricket and his actions at the 2003 World Cup which were motivated by his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
US shot putter Michelle Carter won the 2016 Olympic title in Rio, beating the two-time defending champion Valerie Adams from New Zealand with a dramatic, final throw. It was the icing on the cake for the now 34-year old athlete after previously winning the 2016 World Indoors title and bronze at the 2015 World Championships. In an interview recorded after she won bronze again at the 2017 World Championships, Michelle talks to us about what it means to be Olympic champion, captaining the US team at the 2017 World Championships and the impact of her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ on her life and sport.
British boxers Joshua Buatsi and Erick Ochieng were born in Ghana and Kenya respectively. Light heavyweight Buatsi won bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio before turning professional the following year since when he is unbeaten in nine bouts. Welterweight Ochieng won 55 of his 65 amateur fights before also turning professional in 2006, with a 16/25 win record. Joshua and Erick talk to us about their careers and the impact that their faith as followers of Jesus Christ has on their lives and sport.
2019 promises a great year of sport. Planet Sport reporters Stuart Weir and Solomon Izang Ashoms preview some of the events they are looking forward to including the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Planet Sport reporters Solomon Izang Ashoms, Norman Brierley and Liam Flint pick their favourite sporting moments from 2018 including the Fifa World Cup, HSBC World Rugby 7s championship and a moment showing that justice from drugs cheats in the world of athletics will prevail.
In the first of two special reviews of the top sporting action in 2018 Planet Sport correspondent Stuart Weir shares some of his sporting highlights from the past year from the world of football and track and field athletics.
At 15, Australian swimmer Dan Smith had the world at his feet. He was already faster than the five-time Olympic champion, Ian Thorpe, had been at the same age and he was destined for a brilliant future. But then, within a couple of years, he’d thrown it all away through drug addiction.
Today, with the help of caring professionals, Dan has turned his life around and is back swimming and living a life clean from drugs. And in this week’s show, he tells us about his remarkable transformation and about his faith in Jesus, which has changed his life.
Over a 15 year career in rugby, second-row forward Dan Leo played for clubs in New Zealand, Australia, England and France. He won the first of his 39 international caps for Samoa in 2005 and went on to represent his country at two World Cups. In the second part of our far-ranging interview, Dan talks about his international career with Samoa and why the players threatened to boycott a match against England in 2015!
Over a 15 year career in rugby, second-row forward Dan Leo played for clubs in New Zealand, Australia, England and France. He won the first of his 39 international caps for Samoa in 2005 and went on to represent his country at two World Cups. In the first of our two-part, far-ranging interview, Dan talks about his upbringing in New Zealand and the highlights of his club career. He also tells us about his journey to faith as a follower of Jesus Christ and the different that has made to his life on and off the pitch.
American track athlete, Madeline Manning-Mims made history in clinching Gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. As a black athlete, her journey of challenging racial prejudice has left a long-lasting impact even today! She later went on to become a 4-time Olympian, a coach, a gospel singer and a chaplain.
Christabel Nettey is the reigning women's Commonwealth long jump champion. The 27-year-old from Brampton, Ontario brought home the gold medal for Canada at the Games in Gold Coast, Australia in April. Four years earlier Christabel had won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the following year she won the Pan-American Games title in Toronto. But the intervening years have been very difficult for her as she struggled with injury and failed to reach the 2016 Olympic final. She spoke to Planet Sport's Tom Ellis a few days after winning her Commonwealth title in Gold Coast about what winning the title meant to her and how her faith has helped her to keep going despite many adversities.
The 4th edition of the Invictus Games in Sydney last week attracted over 500 competitors from 18 nations competing in eleven medal events. The Games were founded in 2014 by the Duke of Sussex, HRH Prince Harry, and both he and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, were in attendance this year in Sydney. The Games are open to all current or former servicemen and women from the regular and reserve Armed Forces who have been wounded, injured, or suffered illness as a result of war and combat. David Tyndall, a former rugby referee and current church minister in Sydney, was one of the chaplains at the event which ran from 20th-27th October and he tells us about the atmosphere at the Games and some of the competitors he met.
Tu Nu'uali'itia was part of the Western Samoa squad that famously beat Wales 16-13 in the 1991 Rugby World Cup in a game that put Pacific Island rugby on the map. Four years later he was again a member of the team as Samoa reached the World Cup quarter finals for the second successive time, scoring a try against the eventual winners South Africa in their quarter final in Johannesburg. Following on from last week's show when Tu shared his World Cup memories, this week he tells us how he first got into rugby as a young boy growing up in Auckland and how his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ directs his life today.
Pat Lam played in a total of three World Cups for Samoa and today he’s coach at top English Premiership club, Bristol Bears. He tells us about his memories of the 1991 World Cup, how the Bears are adjusting to life in the Premiership and how his faith impacts his coaching role today.
Timo Tagaloa was part of the Western Samoa team that famously beat Wales in the 1991 Rugby World Cup in what is still, 27 years later, one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition. Timo shares his memories of that World Cup and tells us about his journey to faith that came after a period in his life as a young man when he was considering suicide.
This week we’re delving back into our archives to hear from South Africa’s cricket captain, Faf du Plessis. In an interview recorded last year, the world-class Proteas batsman talks about the challenges of being the national captain and shares his thoughts on the players he rates in the international game. And he tells us why his faith is central to his life.
When she was a young woman Ezinne Okparaebo moved from Nigeria to Norway where she developed a love for athletics. She became Norweigian 100 metres champion when she was 18 and since then she has held the national 100 metres title for 13 out of 14 years. She's competed in the last three Summer Olympics and divides her time now between competing and developing Ezinne Athletics, a programme to encourage young girls from different ethnic backgrounds in Norway to get involved in sport. She talks to us about her career, faith and life as a role model promoting sport to young people.
In April this year 25-year-old Lindon Victor became only the second athlete from Grenada to win a Commonwealth Games title. His gold in the decathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia added to fellow Grenadian Kirani James' 400 metres title in 2014. Lindon tells us how he first got into decathlon and what it means to win the Commonwealth title, and also about the impact on his life and sporting career of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Julius Achon went from being a child soldier in Uganda at the age of 11 to world junior 1500 metres champion when he was 18. After losing many family members brutally murdered by rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army Julius set up a foundation to provide education and health care for people in his community in Northern Uganda. In the third and final part of his story, Julius tells us that whatever bad things happen in life there is always hope and shares his experiences of how God has helped him throughout his life and as he now serves his community as a member of parliament.
As an 11-year-old boy Julius was abducted by rebels in the north of his country and forced to become a child soldier. Last time we heard how he escaped and just seven years later became the world junior 1500 metres champion. This week Julius tells us about his experience at two Olympic Games and how he started a project in northern Uganda to provide health care and education, motivated by his personal experiences and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
When he was 11, Julius Achon was taken from his village in Northern Uganda by rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to become a child soldier. He escaped but saw nine of his friends killed. His love for running developed and despite many setbacks and against all the odds in 1994 Julius became World Junior 1500m champion. He went on to represent Uganda at the 1996 & 2000 Olympics. Today he is an MP in the Ugandan government and runs a foundation providing education and healthcare to his home community. In Part 1 of his incredible story, Julius tells us about being captured by the LRA and how his running career took off.
Ruth Hamblin plays for the Adelaide Lightning in Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League, the WNBL. The 24-year-old was born in British Colombia and last year she helped Canada win the F.I.B.A Women’s AmeriCup in Argentina, which was also a qualifying tournament for next month’s Women’s World Cup in Tenerife. Earlier this year Ruth was part of the Canadian team that finished 4th at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Ruth talks to us about her career so far, the impact that her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ has on her sport and life and about her ambitions to represent Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
This week we look ahead to the European Para-Athletics Championships in Berlin from 20-26 August with two inspirational competitors. British army captain, Luke Sinnott, competes in the T63 category 200 metres and long jump after losing both his legs above the knee following an explosion in Afghanistan. Luke shares his story and talks about his love for sailing and athletics. In June British 17-year-old wheelchair racer Kare Adenegan set a new world record for the T34 100 metres. She tells us how it feels to be a world record holder and how her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ impacts her life on and off the track.
We talk to two medallists from South Africa at the recent African Championships in Asaba, Nigeria. Sprinter Akani Simbine won the men's 100 metres title and 400 metres hurdler Wenda Nel picked up the bronze. Akani and Wenda talk about their contrasting seasons and the faith that is central to both their lives.
Ronnie Baker has dominated this season's Diamond League circuit in the 100 metres, winning three out of four races with a sub-ten second time. We hear from the American on his rapid rise to the top level of world sprinting and find out how he views his success this season.
Jamaica's two-time Olympic 100m champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is returning to the track after taking a year out from the sport following the birth of her son, Zyon, last August. We talk to her at last weekend's Anniversary Games in London, part of the Diamond League circuit, to find out how she juggles motherhood with her athletics career and to find out her aims for the season. And we talk to T61 para-athlete, Regas Woods from the United States, about his career in track and field athletics and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
This week we talk to Collins Injera, one of Kenya's star players taking part in this weekend's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in San Francisco. Collins tells us how he first got into the sevens and what he loves most about the sport. And with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics just two years away on the 24th of July we look forward to what the Japanese capital can bring to the Games, 56 years after first hosting the event in 1964.
Next week the top competition for Rugby Sevens takes place in San Francisco. The Rugby World Cup Sevens, featuring the world's top 24 men's international teams and 16 top women's teams, runs from 20-22 July. New Zealand are the defending champions in both the men's and women's events. Last month, South Africa's men's team, the Blitzbokkes, made the best possible preparations by winning the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series after a gruelling 10-event series from December to June. This week we talk to two of the Blitzbokke team, Branco du Preez and Seabelo Senatla, to find out about their careers and their love for this fast-growing sport.
Keenan Horne represented South Africa at hockey in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia earlier in April. Last year he helped South Africa win the Africa Cup of Nations for hockey in Egypt. He talks to us about his love for the sport, his faith and his hopes to compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. And we find out how preparations for the 2020 Games are coming along as we talk to Tokyo 2020 Spokesperson Masa Takaya.
Willy Ambaka has been a mainstay of the Kenya Rugby Sevens side since 2011. During his career he has also played 15s rugby in France and South Africa. At the recent HSBC World Rugby Sevens series event in London he spoke to Planet Sport's Norman Brierley about his career in rugby and the impact on his life of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
South African Charl du Toit is a reigning double World and Paralympic sprint champion. Competing in the T37 class for athletes with cerebral palsy he won gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio in the 100m and 400m and a year later he added the 200m and 400m titles at the IPC World Athletics Championships in London. In April he set a new world record for the T37 100m of 11.35 seconds at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Planet Sport's Tom Ellis caught up with Charl at the Commonwealth Games to find out more about this exceptional athlete and his life, career and faith.
Chioma Ubogagu is a striker at Women's Soccer League side Orlando Pride in the USA. The 25-year-old has also played for Arsenal Ladies in the UK and Houston Dash in the WSL. In 2012 she was part of the United States team that won the Women's Fifa Under-20 World Cup. Chioma talks to us about her career, how she sees the state of women's football worldwide and the importance of her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series rolled into London weekend on the ninth leg of the ten-tournament tour. Planet Sport's Norman Brierley caught up with Gareth Baber, the coach of reigning Olympic champions and current World Series leaders Fiji and Philip Snyman, captain of the South African Blitzboks to find out more about their lives in rugby and on the World Series circuit.
Dyan Buis is the reigning Paralympic T38 400 metres champion. Charl du Toit is a sprinter in the T37 category. In 2016 he won Paralympic gold in the 100m & 400m in Rio. Last month both athletes added to their medal tallies at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Both competing in the T38 100m Dyan won silver and Charl bronze, in a new T37 athlete world record time of 11.35 seconds. Planet Sport's Tom Ellis spoke to Dyan Buis about his life and faith on the day before his 100m race in Gold Coast, and then spoke to both athletes the day after their race to find out what winning their Commonwealth medals meant to them.
Nicole Seekamp and Cayla George are Commonwealth champions. As members of Australia's women's basketball team they helped The Opals win gold at last month's Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Planet Sport's Liam Flint caught up with them at the Games shortly before their semi-final win over New Zealand to find out about their twin passions for basketball and their faith as followers of Jesus Christ.
Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom has played representative football at five levels for England from the Under-16s to the Under-21s. This season he has been playing on loan at Sint-Truidén in the Belgian Pro League. The 22-year-old forward talks about his hopes and dreams and pays tribute to Arsenal Wenger, the Arsenal manager who has left the Emirates after 22 years at the club. We also hear from Ugandan rugby international, Phillip Wokorach, who was part of Uganda's Rugby 7s team at the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Phillip tells us about his love for the sport and the impact on his life and sporting career of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Behind the scenes at many professional sports clubs and major sporting events today you will find chaplains. While coaches provide physical and technical training for the elite sportsmen and women, chaplains complement the holistic approach by providing emotional and spiritual support, not just for the players but for the wider staff at the clubs and events. This week we take an inside look at the role of chaplains as we hear from Charlton Athletic chaplain, Matt Baker, and two of the chaplaincy team at the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, New Zealander Ross Georgiou and Steve Jones from Wales.
United States international footballer Matt Miazga plays in defence for Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch Eredivise. The 22-year-old is on loan from Chelsea, for who he played two Premier League games in April 2016. Miazga tells us how his love for football began as the child of Polish parents in New York before joining the New York Red Bulls Academy and quickly moving up through the ranks. He has now represented the USA at Under-18, Under-20, Under-23 and senior levels, and since 2015 has won 5 senior caps and scoring one goal. He also tells us about the impact of his faith on his sport and life.
South Africa's Akani Simbini caused a shock in the men's 100 metres final at the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia when he defeated the hot favourite, Jamaica's Yohan Blake, to claim the Commonwealth title. Victory was all the more sweet as silver medallist Henricho Bruintjies made it a one-two success for South Africa. Planet Sport's Tom Ellis spoke to Simbini and Bruintjies the day after their medal success at the Games to find out more about their sport and motivation and what their win means for the development of sprinting in South Africa.
Jamaica's Ronald Levy won the 110 metres hurdles at the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. He tells us what it means to be Commonwealth champion and tells us about the influence in his life of his Christian heritage and personal faith. And our reporters at the Games, Tom Ellis and Liam Flint, share their reflections on the 21st edition of the Games which ended on Sunday and consider whether the Commonwealth Games as an event is still relevant today?
Reporters Tom Ellis & Liam Flint at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia visit Southport Bowls Club to experience the related sports of lawn bowls and barefoot bowls and have a lesson from club member, Adriaan. And we catch up with Peace Proscovia, captain of the Ugandan netball team, the She Cranes, to find out about her career, faith and mission to encourage girls in Uganda into the sport.
We're in Gold Coast, Australia as the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games gets underway from 4th-15th April. We hear views about what the Games brings to the Gold Coast and Planet Sport's Tom Ellis and Liam Flint report on the unfolding spectacular event from the beach at Surfers Paradise. And we catch up with Australian Olympic swimmer, Dan Smith, as he tells us his remarkable story about how he rediscovered his love for swimming after living a life of crime fuelled by alcohol and drug addiction.
We talk to one of Africa's top up-and-coming mountain bikers, Zimababwe's Kombo Bere, to find out about his love for the sport, his faith and his hopes for a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. And with the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia getting underway next week we talk to the Head of the Games Organising Committee, Peter Beattie.
In August 2017 United States shot putter Darrell Hill threw a massive personal best of 22 metres 44 at the Van Damme Memorial Diamond League meeting in Brussels, putting him 13th in the all-time list of shot put performers. Planet Sport's Norman Brierley spoke to Darrell after he finished 6th at the recent World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham to find out about his sport, his faith and his hopes for a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
We talk to two world champions at the recent World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Double Olympic triple jump silver medallist, Will Claye from the United States, won the World Indoors title ahead of Brazil's Almir Dos Santos and Nelson Evora from Portugal. He talks about the consistency of his performances over the past six years and the impact that his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ makes on his life and career. And South Africa's 2017 long jump world champion, Luvo Manyonga, tells us how he overcame his troubled teenage years and an 18-month ban to become champion of the world. Finally United States sprint hurdler, Sharika Nelvis, tells us how her faith helps her in life on and off the track.
We report from the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham 1-4 March and hear from three medallists: winner of the men's 60 metres, Christian Coleman from the United States, Sam Kendricks also from the US who won silver in the men's pole vault and Kenya's Bethwell Birgen, bronze medallist in the men's 3000 metres. We also hear from Ghanaian 60 metres sprinter Flings Owusu-Agyapong as she talks honestly about her disappointment in failing to reach the final as she now sets her sights on next month's Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. And we get an insight from Dube Jillo, former marathon runner and now Technical Director for the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, into how Ethiopia is working with young people at grassroots level to produce a new generation of distance runners.
We talk to athletes at last Sunday's Muller Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Glasgow ahead of this week's World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham. We hear from 2012 Olympic 110m metres hurdles champion Aries Merritt from the United States and reigning World and Olympic women's pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi from Greece. And we talk to South African fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, one of only 20 players in the history of Test cricket to take a wicket with his first delivery.
At the next Summer Games in 2020 in Tokyo, four sports will be making their Olympic debuts: karate, surfing, speed climbing and skateboarding. We talk to James Hope-Gill, CEO of Skateboard England to find out how the sport managed to join the elite band of Olympic sports and what fans can expect when they see the sport on their televisions during the Games.
As Ireland and England lead the race for this year's Six Nations Championship after two rounds of matches, we get a Southern Hemisphere perspective from former Samoa scrum-half, Tu Nu'uali'itia in Auckland. Tu shares his thoughts on the unfolding competition and tells us about playing alongside fellow Samoan Tavita Sio during the 1991 Rugby World Cup. In last week's show we featured an interview with Tavita's son Scott, who plays international rugby for Australia. And following the link back to the 1991 World Cup we revisit our interview with Nick Farr-Jones who led Australia to victory in the 1991 World Cup final against England at Twickenham.
26-year-old Scott Sio has a fine rugby heritage. His father, David, played in the 1991 Rugby World Cup for Samoa but Scott is a proud Australian after being born and raised in Sydney. Loosehead prop Scott plays his club rugby for the Brumbies in Super Rugby. In 2013 he made his debut for the Wallabies and since then has played 43 times for Australia including the 2015 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand. Scott talks to us about his rugby career and the importance of his family and faith as a follower of Jesus Christ both on and off the field.
The northern hemisphere's biggest international rugby competition, the Six Nations, gets underway this weekend. Defending champions England will be looking to become the first team to win the title three years running. We talk to two England players, scrum-half Danny Care and full-back Mike Brown (above, second from left) to find out their thoughts on the upcoming Championship. And we present our tribute to Cyrille Regis, the former England, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City and Aston Villa striker and pioneer for black footballers in the UK, who died last month at the age of 59.
Last month the Brazilian footballer and 2007 Fifa World Player of the Year, Kaka, retired from the game after a sparkling career spanning over 17 years. He played 92 times for Brazil helping them to win the 2002 World Cup. He also won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan before joining Spanish giants, Real Madrid. He spent the last three years of his career at MLS side Orlando City. In the second part of our appreciation of Kaka we talk to people who worked with him including Orlando City chaplain Andy Searles and author Liam Flint and we hear from Kaka himself as he reflects on his career and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
In December 2017, the 2007 Fifa World Player of the Year, Kaka, announced his retirement at the age of 35. Over his 17 year career he helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup, won the UEFA Champions League and was a stand-out player for AC Milan and Real Madrid. The last three years of his career were spent with Orlando City in the MLS. In the first of our two-part tribute we talk to people who knew and worked with him including Orlando City chaplain Andy Searles and journalist Stuart Weir. We also hear from Kaka himself as he reflects on his career and the impact that his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ has had on his football and life.
Andrea Montalvo from the United States is a top professional in the fast-growing sport of CrossFit. CrossFit is defined as "constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. CrossFit workouts are based on functional movements which reflect the best aspects of fitness regimes such as gymnastics, weightlifting, running and rowing. Andrea talks to us about her love for the sport and it's impact on her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
We look forward to an exciting year of sport as Planet Sport correspondent Stuart Weir looks ahead to the Fifa World Cup in Russia, the Commonwealth Games in Australia and the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England. We get into the mood for the World Cup as we recall our visit to the Maracanã Stadium in Rio for the 2014 World Cup quarter final between Colombia and Uruguay and we hear from the head of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games organising committee, Peter Beattie.
As the last Planet Sport programme of 2017 we’re looking back over the past year with two of our reporters, Liam Flint and Tom Ellis, to review some of the sporting highlights from the past twelve months. We look back at the English Premier League, the Fifa Under 17s World Cup and the World Athletics Championships and hear from some of the sportsmen and women who made the news, including the USA's world triple jump champion, Christian Taylor.
In the first part of our Review of the Year, Planet Sport Africa correspondent Solomon Ashoms in Johannesburg and former English Premier League football referee Bob Hamer in UK look back on their personal three highlights from 2017. Bob's selections all come from football while Solomon's choice includes athletics, football and American football.
For seven years between 1991 and 1998 Katya Antoniuk was the Belarus cross-country skiing champion. She regularly competed across Europe and won several cross-country skiing marathons. Then, in 1998, she fulfilled a lifetime ambition when she took part in the Winter Olympics, at Nagano in Japan where she finished 42nd among a tough field of competitors in the women’s 15 kilometres. Katya talks about her skiing career and about her journey to faith from a background of atheism to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.
British powerlifter Arthur White won 9 national titles, 6 European titles and 4 world titles over a 30-year career. Last time we heard how he lost his marriage and successful business following an addiction to cocaine before a drugs counsellor introduced him to Jesus Christ. This time Arthur tells us how his new faith transformed his life, how his marriage was restored and how he discovered a new love for his sport.
For three decades Londoner Arthur White was one of the world's top powerlifters. Over his career he won 9 British titles, 6 European titles and 4 world titles, and he won the Open World Championship twice. Away from the sport he ran a successful business and was happily married until, in his own words, his sport became an addiction and he lost everything as he spiralled downwards into a life of drugs and violence. But the story doesn't end there as Arthur's life was transformed following a meeting with a drugs counsellor who introduced him to Jesus Christ. Today Arthur travels the world sharing his story about the transformation that Jesus has made in his life and how his love for his sport grew even more since becoming a follower of Jesus. Part 1 of 2.
This week we catch up with reigning Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta from the USA to find out how she first got into the sport and what she is doing today to encourage and inspire a new generation of young athletes. We also talk to British 100 metres hurdler and 2013 World Championship bronze medallist Tiffany Porter about her sport, ambition and faith.
Two seasons ago Crystal palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni might have thought his career was over. After over 350 appearances for the club he lost his first-team place and endured two years sitting on the bench. But now, at the age of 38, the popular player who has won the club's Player of the Year award four times, has forced his way back into the team and last month helped Palace record their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over reigning champions, Chelsea. Speroni talks to us about his career, the challenges of being a goalkeeper, and about the difference that his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ makes to his life.
At the London Games in 2012 Nijel Amos won Botswana's first ever Olympic medal when he won silver in the 800 metres. In August he came 5th in his event at the World Championships in London. Nijel tells us what it meant to win his country's first Olympic medals and about his faith and hopes for the future. 400 metres runner Baboloki Thebe has his sights set on winning Botswana's second Olympic medal in Tokyo in 2020. At the age of just 20 he is already the African Champion and he came 4th in 400m final at this year's World Championships. He talks to us about his faith, his hopes and dreams and his love for running.
Stanley Kebenei representing the USA came 5th in the 3000m steeplechase at this year's World Athletics Championships in London. Stanley tells us about his love for the sport and about the qualities needed to become a top steeplechaser. Unlike the USA, Ghana has never won a gold medal at the Olympics. Emmanuel Dasor is a 200m and 400m runner who is aiming to break that duck. He talks to us about his hopes and dreams and the faith that directs his life.
In August Kori Carter from the United States was crowned world champion in the women's 400 metres hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in London. She talks to us about her win, how she started on her athletics career and about the impact of her faith on her life and sport. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio the United States won 46 gold medals but, by contrast, the West African nation of Ghana has never won an Olympic gold medal. We talk to Bawah Fuseini, Secretary General of the Ghana Athletics Association to find out what steps the country is taking to turn this situation around.
South African cricketer JP Duminy has represented the Proteas in all three formats of the game since his debut in a One Day International against Sri Lanka in 2004. At the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup the 33-year-old all-rounder became the first South African to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match. Last month he retired from Test cricket after a career spanning 46 matches, following his release mid-way through the tour of England in July. JP talks to us about his career with the Proteas and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
This past week's World Cup qualifiers has seen teams experience the highs of qualification and the despair of missing out. Argentina left it late winning their final Group game against Ecuador to seal their qualification for Russia 2018 and there was joy for Iceland, the nation with a population of just 350,000 who also reached next year's finals. But three teams who many expected to reach the finals - Netherlands, Ghana and the USA - missed out. We discuss some of the big stories in the race to reach the World Cup finals. And in track and field athletics we meet 400m runner Quanera Hayes who won gold as part of the USA's women's 4 x 400m relay team at the World Athletics Championships in London in August.
This week we meet a track and field athlete who is equally comfortable in the 100 and 200 metre sprints and the long jump. Nigerian Blessing Okagbare has been winning national, African and international titles since she was 17. Today, eleven years later, she has an Olympic medal from Beijing in 2008 and is still a major force in world athletics. At the recent World Athletics Championships in London she told us how she first got into the sport, explaining how her strong faith has taught her to be grateful and helped her through the tough challenges as well as the joys that come with the sport.
On the 4th of April 2016 Carlos Brathwaite entered West Indies folklore when he hit four successive sixes in the final over of the World T20 Competition against England in Kolkata to help West Indies win the World T20 crown. The 29-year old from Barbados has played 3 Test Matches for the West Indies and 23 One Day Internationals but it is in the 20-overs format of the game that he has really made his mark, playing for franchises in the Caribbean, India, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In April 2016 he was appointed captain of the WI T20 side. During the recent T20 series against England Brathwaite spoke to us about his career highlights, his strong faith and that final over against England at the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Pierre Spies played 53 times for South Africa in an international career spanning seven years from 2006 to 2013. The powerful forward played mainly as Number Eight or a flanker. Throughout his career he was hit by injuries and in August of this year he announced his retirement from the game at the age of 32 after being released by Montpellier. Pierre talks to us about the highlights of his career, the reasons behind his decision to retire and the direction he receives in his life as a follower of Jesus Christ.
USA track and field athlete Natasha Hastings first came to prominence as a 16 year old when she won the girls' 400m at the World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada. Since then she has progressed into a 400m relay specialist, helping the USA team to win two Olympic and five world titles, most recently at last month's World Athletics Championships in London. Now 31, she talks to us about the joys and challenges of her career over the past 15 years and the strength she draws from her faith as a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
Michelle Carter from the USA won the 2016 Olympic shot put title in dramatic fashion, overcoming New Zealand's Valerie Adams with her final throw to win the gold medal and with it claim a new American record. Michelle talked to us at the recent World Athletics Championships in London where she won the bronze medal about her role as Team Captain to the US team, her passion for her sport and the difference that her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ makes to her life.
This week we talk to the double Olympic and three-times world champion in the men's triple jump, Christian Taylor. Christian won his Olympic titles in 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio). His World Championship triumphs were registered in 2011 in Daegu, 2015 in Beijing and three weeks ago in London. In 2015 he recorded his personal best of 18 metres 21 centimetres at the World Championships in Beijing, just 8 cms behind the world record set by Britain's Jonathan Edwards back in 1995. Christian talks to us about his hopes of one day setting a new world record and his life in athletics career and how that is influenced by his strong faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
We talk to four of the athletes competing at last Sunday's Diamond League athletics meeting in Birmingham - Australia's 100m hurdles World Champion Sally Pearson, another World Champion Mutaz Barshim from Qatar in the high jump along with two athletes from The Bahamas, 400m runner Shaunae Miller-Uibo and hurdler Shane Braithwaite.
This week we hear the second part of our interview Faf du Plessis. The South Africa cricket captain talks about some of the players he admires most in world cricket today and shares why he believes his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ makes him a better husband, father and cricketer. We also meet British 100m hurdler Tiffany Porter at the recent World Athletics Championships in London as she tells us how she first got into the sport and how her faith impacts her life and athletics.
We report from the World Athletics Championships in London and hear from 400m Olympic and now World Champion Wayde van Niekerk on being compared to the great Usain Bolt. Fans at the event tell us what they will miss most about Bolt following his retirement and we talk to South African cricket captain, Faf du Plessis, as he tells us what it means to captain the side and why his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ is the most important aspect to his life.
CrossFit is a new sport that started in the USA in 2000 and since then it has spread rapidly around the world, today established in 175 countries. It combines work outs and fitness regimes with competition. Jacob Heppner from Kansas, USA came 7th in the 2016 CrossFit Games. He tells us about his love for the sport and how he believes it is integral to his life and faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Arnold Origi plays for Lillestrom in the Norwegian League, the Tippeligaen. He has played over 30 times for Kenya, helping the national team rise from their lowly Fifa ranking of 134th in 2012 to their current position of 84th. He tells us how he first got into football as a young boy growing up in Kenya, and about his faith as a committed follower of Jesus Christ. He also talks about his extensive footballing family, including his father and uncle who were both internationals, and his cousin, the Liverpool and Belgium striker, Divock Origi.
We talk to four athletes looking forward to competing in next month's World Athletics Championships in London. South African Wenda Nel talks about her hopes in the 400m hurdles and we hear from British runner Adelle Tracey who'll be competing in the 800 metres. American sprinter Ameer Webb shares his hopes for the 200 metres and fellow American Jenny Simpson looks forward to the 1500 metres.
This week Planet Sport’s Tom Ellis reports from last Sunday’s Anniversary Games in London where many of the world’s top track and athletes were competing as part of their final preparations ahead of next month’s World Athletics Championships which will be held in the same stadium. We hear from world 100 metres hurdles world record holder Kendra Harrison and 2012 Olympic champion in the men’s 400 metres hurdles, Aries Merritt, both from the United States. We also talk to Great Britain’s double Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, Mo Farah, and race walker Tom Bosworth who set a new world record holder in the rarely-competed one mile race walk.
Fanie van der Merwe was the double T37 category 100 metres champion at the Paralympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). He also won the 200 metres in 2008 making him a three-time Paralympic champion. At times during his career he was also the world record holder for the men's T37 100 metres. Fanie retired after winning bronze in the 100m at the Rio Paralympics in 2016. He talks to us about his athletics career, his career highlights and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ that directs his life.
Last month Chris Dry helped the South Africa Rugby 7s team win the World Series. In 2014 he was part of the team that won the Commonwealth Games title, ending the long-running reign of New Zealand's All Blacks. He talks to us about his life in rugby and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. We also hear from South Africa cricketer Mangaliso Mosehle who featured in the recent 3-match T20 series against England, about the faith that directs his life.
This week we feature cricket and football as we talk to South Africa wicket-keeper Mangaliso Mosehle ahead of this week's three-match T20 series against England, and, as Iran become the second nation to qualify for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, listen again to our interview with former Iranian footballer and national Cup winner, David Parinejad.
As a young boy growing up in Indonesia Arthur Irawan dreamed of one day playing football in Europe. In his teens he was spotted by a football scout and joined the Manchester United Youth Academy where he made a good impression. With tight work permit controls Arthur was unable to play competitive football in England so went to Spain before returning to Indonesia where he now plays for Persija Jakarta. He talks to us about his life and career in football. We also talk to Ruhan Nel, from the South Africa Rugby 7s side that recently won the 2016/17 World Series title about his rugby and faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Legendary BBC football commentator John Motson looks back on the English Premier League season and shares his thoughts on title-winners Chelsea, the coaches of the two Manchester teams - Pep Guardiola at Man City and Jose Mourinho at United - and the players that caught his eye during the past campaign. And we talk to Billy Odhiambo, star of the Kenya rugby sevens team, about his life and rugby career.
Last month Neil Powell guided South Africa's Rugby 7s team, the Blitzboks, to success in the HSBC Rugby 7s World Series. After coming second in the ten-tournament series for the past four years it was a sweet success to finally win the title. Just before the final round of the series in London in May, Planet Sport's Norman Brierley spoke to Neil about his life in rugby and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ that directs his life on and off the field.
This week we're at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series finals in London. We hear from a member of the series winning South African side, Sivewe Soyizwapi, and the Impact Player of the London tournament, Dan Norton. We also hear from Kenya's captain, Andrew Amonde, and fans at the event share their enjoyment of the sport.
Most sprinters have retired by their mid-30s but today at the age of 41 Kim Collins is still competing at the highest level. The 2003 World 100m champion from St Kitts and Nevis spoke to reporters before the recent IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha about his advice for young athletes coming into the sport and European Athletics' proposal to wipe out all world records before 2005 due to concerns about the efficacy of doping controls at that time. And former Dutch long distance runner, Jos Hermens, talks about his role today as a coach and manager to many of today's top athletes.
High jumper Erik Kynard from the USA won silver at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In 2016 he added a bronze medal to his collection at the World Indoor Championships in Portland. Erik spoke to Planet Sport's Stuart Weir at last week's IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha about his journey as an elite sportsman from his early days discovering the sport to his memories of his silver medal winning performance at the London Olympics. He also talks about the role of faith in his life.
Julian Bolling is a former Sri Lankan swimming champion. In the 1980s and 90s he won 15 titles in four editions of the South Asian Games. he represented his country in three Summer Olympics. Today Julian is a swimming coach based in Colombo. In this week's programme he tells us about the impact of the devastating tsunami that hit Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004 and how his Rainbow Swimming Academy have been helping people, and especially children, since then to overcome their fear of the sea.
We hear from participants and spectators at last Sunday's London Marathon. We talk to the winners of the men's and women's elite races, Daniel Wanjiru and Mary Keitany from Kenya and pre-race favourite Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia about running the second fastest marathon last September in Berlin and his career highlights including world records and Olympic titles. Two top Kenyan athletes talk about their anger and disappointment following the suspension of last year's London Marathon winner and 2016 Olympic champion, Jemima Sumgong following a doping offence and in the second part of our interview with Julian Bolling the former Sri Lankan swimming champion tells us about his journey to faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Sri Lankan swimmer Julian Bolling won 15 gold medals in 4 editions of the Asian Games between 1984 and 1991. He also represented his country in three Olympic Games. Today he's a swimming coach in Sri Lanka. In the first part of his story he tells us about his sporting family and life as a national swimming champion. We also hear the concluding part of our interview with former Bayern Munich and Ghana defender, Sammy Kuffour, in which he tells us how his faith helped him after the tragic death of his 15-month-old daughter in a swimming pool accident in 2003.
With the new F1 season underway we're joined by former F1 driver Alex Dias Ribeiro to assess how the recently introduced modifications to the cars this season are likely to affect the race for this season's Championship. And in the second part of our interview with Sammy Kuffour, the former Bayern Munich and Ghana defender tells us about his tough upbringing in Kumasi when his mother had to sell the family television set to buy him a pair of football boots.
Last season Manchester United sacked manager Louis van Gaal despite winning the FA Cup when the club finished 5th in the Premier League table and missed out on a lucrative Champions League place. Van Gaal was replaced by Jose Mourinho but this season United are still under pressure and outside the top four places so what, if anything, has changed? Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir investigates. And we talk to former Bayern Munich defender, Sammy Kuffour, who was on the losing side when Manchester United scored two injury time goals to win the 1999 Champions League final.
We look ahead to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia that gets underway in just over a year's time from 4-15 April. We talk to the Chairman of Gold Coast 2018, Peter Beattie, to find out what the event and location have to offer athletes and visitors. One of the top sports on show will be Rugby 7s and we hear from two of the gold medallists from the 2014 Rugby 7s competition in Glasgow, Kyle Brown and Seabelo Senatla from South Africa.
After England win the Six Nations tournament for a second successive year two-times Samoa World Cup player, Tu Nu'uali'itia, in Auckland gives a Southern Hemisphere perspective on the England team and shares his top three players of the competition. And we hear from former Wales fly-half Adrian Davies, about his World Cup experience in 1995 and how his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ has helped him through some of the tough times in his career.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is a double Olympic champion and three-times world champion over 100 metres. She won the Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012 and world titles in 2009, 2011 and 2015. Earlier this month she announced that she will not be defending her title at the World Athletics Championships in London in August as she is expecting a baby with her husband, Jason. Three years ago Planet Sport's Norman Brierley spoke to Shelly-Ann just before an Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Birmingham to find out more about her strong faith as a committed follower of Jesus Christ which is the foundation of her life and sport.
This week we talk to Josh Davies, winner of three Olympic gold medals as part of the USA swimming relay teams at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Davis also won two silver medals in Sydney in 2000 as well as World Championship, Pan American and Pan Pacific titles over a ten-year career. He tells us what's required to become a top swimmer and about the importance of his Christian faith in his swimming career. In football we discuss the decision to introduce sin-bins into the game, where players who receive a yellow card are banned from the field of play for ten minutes. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir tells us why he thinks this is a positive move for the game.
In 2013 Godfrey Khotso Mokoena jumped over a narrow creek full of Nile crocodiles. The 2008 Olympic long jump silver medallist and 2014 Commonwealth triple jump champion from South Africa wanted to show he could overcome his fears and break out of his comfort zone. Mokoena's name means 'crocodile' in his Sesotho culture. We talk to the man nicknamed 'Crocodile' to find out about his life and athletics career and the faith that sustains him. We also hear from Orlando City Soccer Club chaplain, Andy Searles, in the concluding part of our interview with him. Andy tells us about his own journey to faith and why he thinks God is interested in football.
We talk to athletes at the International Indoor Athletic Grand Prix in Birmingham to find out their hope and ambitions for the coming year with the World Athletics Championships taking place in London in August. South Africa's Godfrey Khotso Mokoena tells us about his aims in the long jump this season under his new coach Ivan Pedroso. Kenya's 2016 Olympic 5000m silver medallist Hellen Obiri talks about the new national record she set in Birmingham in the 3000m. Quadruple Olympic champion, Mo Farah, tells us the importance of handing over the baton to a new generation of British runners as he moves into road running later this year and 2012 Olympic 110m hurdles champion and current world record holder, Aries Merritt, tells us about his return to the track after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2013.
Andy Searles is the chaplain at Major League Soccer side, Orlando City, in the United States. The club plays in the Eastern Conference where former Brazil, AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder, Kaka - the 2007 Fifa World Player of the Year, is part of the team. Andy is originally from the UK and supports Ipswich Town FC. He talks about the standard of play in the MLS and outlines his role as chaplain alongside the playing and coaching staff.
This week we're joined by former Samoa rugby player Tu Nu'uali'itia in Auckland to discuss the first round of matches in the Northern hemisphere's top international competition, the Six Nations. Tu also pays tribute to former South African captain and scrum half Joost Van Der Westhuizen who lost his battle with Motor Neurone Disease at the weekend. Tu recalls playing opposite Joost in the 1995 Rugby World Cup quarter final in the year the Springboks went on to win the title. We also hear more from Paralympian, Anne Wafula Strike. In 2004 Anne became the first woman to represent Kenya in wheelchair racing at the Paralympic Games. Last week she told us about her sporting journey and memories of competing at the Paralympics. This time she tells us about the faith that is the foundation of her life.
In 2004 in Athens Anne Wafula Strike became the first woman to represent Kenya in wheelchair racing at the Paralympic Games. Born a healthy child in Kenya, Anne contracted polio at the age of two. She suffered discrimination and abuse in her village as people claimed her condition was a curse from God. Later, after moving to England and getting married, she discovered the sport of wheelchair racing whilst watching the 2002 Commonwealth Games on television. She was hooked, and two years later, brimming with pride, she lined up at the start line with her fellow competitors in the women's T53 400 metres at the Paralympic Games in Athens. Anne shares her story, of battling against the odds, equipped with determination and her strong faith, to achieve her dreams. Today Anne is a Board member of UK Athletics and is a active campaigner for disability issues.
Phil Davies from South Wales threw away a potential international career due to his violence on, and off, the pitch. He played for Bath, Aberavon and Bridgend but his ill-discipline often resulted in him being sent-off. After his marriage and business collapsed he noticed the change in the lives of his two friends, brothers Clive and Chris Jones, who had also been hard players in Welsh rugby. Intrigued by their new faith Phil explored it for himself, eventually also becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. The dramatic change in his life led him to start Sporting Marvels, an organisation bringing hope and transformation to young people in the Rhondda Valley. In this week's show Phil tells his remarkable story.
For seven years between 1991 and 1998 Katya Antoniuk was the Belarus women's cross-country skiing champion. Born and raised in Russia she chose to represent Belarus after going to university there and then settling in the East European country. In 1998 she competed in the Winter Olympics in Nagano. Katya talks about her life and success in cross-country skiing and about her journey to faith from an atheistic background to becoming a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
Adriano Medeiros is the reigning Classic Formula Ford 1600 motor racing champion. He is a also a committed follower of Jesus Christ. He talks to us about his journey to faith which started when he saw two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi and another former F1 driver Alex Dias Ribeiro reading the Bible. And we meet former Iranian professional footballer David Parinejad. We find out about his winning penalty to give his team Esteghlal Ahvaz the national Hazfi Cup in 1991 and he tells us about his own journey to faith in Jesus Christ in Iran.
2016 Classic Formula Ford 1600 champion Adriano Medeiros shares his thoughts on the 2016 Formula One season with Nico Rosberg's maiden Championship title and subsequent retirement from the sport. And he looks forward to the race for the 2017 Championship, assessing the drivers likely to push for the title and the introduction of new rules governing wider tyres and aerodynamics designed to bring a more level playing field to the sport.
We look forward to another sparkling year of sport in 2017 as two of our reporters, Stuart Weir and Solomon Ashoms, pick three events they are especially looking forward to over the coming year. And we hear from 2008 Olympic 100 metres hurdles champion, Dawn Harper Nelson.
How do English Premier League football clubs celebrate Christmas? AFC Bournemouth chaplain Andy Rimmer tells us how the club is supporting the community at this festive time of year. Olympic 200m champion in 2004 and 2008, Veronica Campbell-Brown, tells us how she is spending this Christmas and former Premier League football referee Bob Hamer recalls a dramatic Boxing day fixture.
At the 2016 Olympics in Rio the Refugee Olympic Team highlighted the plight of refugees around the world whilst providing a team through which elite sportsmen and women who are refugees themselves could compete on the highest stage. Planet Sport reporters Norman Brierley and Tom Ellis recall their time at the Rio Games meeting former women's marathon world record holder and Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team, Tegla Loroupe from Kenya and Mariama Bah, a refugee from The Gambia living in Brazil who was supporting the team.
Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir reveals his three top sporting highlights of 2016 and we hear from Leicester City midfielder Andy King, women's 100 metres hurdles world record holder Kendra Harrison and nine-times Olympic champion and sprint sensation, Usain Bolt.
In the week that Germany's Nico Rosberg won his first Formula One title we talk to former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro about the legacy of his Brazilian compatriot and three-times F1 champion Ayrton Senna 22 years after his death in San Marino. And we talk to former Brazilian professional footballer Johnson Tadeu, founder and facilitator of the Brazil Sports Coalition which helps people to discover faith through sport.
We conclude our interview with former Fifa, Premier League and Football League referee, Bob Hamer. This week he tells us about the charity he founded after seeing extreme poverty beside the runway at Mumbai airport on his way back from officiating at a World Cup qualifier in New Zealand and he tells us what is involved being a match observer, the role he plays in football today assessing referees and match officials.
During his 50 years in football, Bob Hamer has been a Football League and Premier League referee and a Fifa Match Official. More recently he has been a match observer for the Football League, assessing the performance of the referees and their assistants. In the first part of our two-part interview Bob tells us why he became a referee in his early 20s and about some of the top players he refereed during his career including Ian Rush, Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne. He also tells us how a trip to New Zealand to officiate for Fifa at a World Cup qualifier had a profound impact on him that resulted in him starting a charity to help disadvantaged people in the developing world.
We talk to former South African international footballer Sdu Mthethwa about her pastoral work today as a mentor to athletes and as cricket makes a bid to enter the Olympics we hear from Australian cricketer Simon Katich and discuss the implications for the Olympics to add cricket to the bouquet of sports featured.
Estonian athlete and 1500 metres national record holder Tiidrek Nurme continues his story about his life, running and faith, from being jailed at the age of just 15 for criminal activities to rediscovering his love for running and becoming a double Olympian. He talks about his experience in 2008 in Beijing when he competed in the 1500m and this year's Olympics in Rio where he ran in marathon.
We talk to Estonia's national 1500m champion Tiidrek Nurme who overcame a life of crime as a teenager that saw him imprisoned at the age of just 15 to become a double Olympian. In 2008 he competed in the 1500m in Beijing and earlier this year he represented Estonia in the marathon at the Games in Rio. He tells us about his early life and how his life changed gradually but clearly for the better after he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
Stuart Weir reports on the recent 'Sport in the Service of Humanity' conference hosted by the Vatican and we hear from one of the many sportspeople who attended, the former Juventus and Italy midfielder, Alessandro Del Piero. And in the light of recent high-profile misdemeanors involving top rugby players former Auckland and Samoa scrum-half, Tu Nu'uali'itia shares his thoughts on the responsibility that goes with being a high profile player and whether it is fair to expect top players and internationals to also be role models?
Carina Horn holds the South African record for the women's 100 metres in a time of 11.06 seconds. The 27-year-old talks to us about her athletics career and the centrality of her Christian faith. And former world recorder in the women's marathon, Kenya's Tegla Loroupe, tells us about her Peace Foundation, set up in 2003 to bring warring communities in Kenya together and help orphans and refugees achieve their potential. This past summer in Rio she was the Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team.
Carl Dambman is a former Greco-Roman wrestler who represented the United States at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Since retiring from the sport for the past 30 years he has been a chaplain to athletes at the Summer and Winter Olympics. He talks to us about his work as chaplain and why he sees it as such an important role. And we find out about Fusion Community Festivals that take place around the world during major sporting events. We spoke to spokesman Marty Woods at a festival on Copacabana Beach during the recent Olympic Games in Rio to find out more.
We talk to Ghanaian-born British boxer Joshua Buatsi, two days after he won bronze in the light-heavyweight division at the recent Olympic Games in Rio. He tells us about the sacrifices he's made over the past four years to achieve his Olympic goal and the role that his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ plays in his life. And in football we discuss the unfolding English Premier League table and ask if England captain Wayne Rooney has a future at Manchester United?
In the second and final part of our interview with Arthur White the British four-times world power-lifting champion tells us about the difference his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ has made to his life. After losing his wife, house and business to an addiction to cocaine he sought help and was able to kick the habit, eventually being reconciled to his wife and discovering an even deeper love for the sport of power-lifting. And Arthur gives his advice to young people taking part in sport, that the main thing is to have fun and enjoy it.
Twenty years ago Englishman Arthur White was a power lifting champion. During his career he held 9 British titles, 6 European titles and 4 World titles. He was also a successful businessman with houses, cars and a loving family. But he lost it all through a drug addiction to cocaine. He ended up as a nightclub bouncer and an illegal debt collector who used violence to get people to pay the money they owed.
Twenty years on and everything has changed. Arthur is no longer violent and he’s reconciled to his wife and family.
In the first of his two-part story this week on Planet Sport he tells us about his love for power lifting and how he’s turned himself around from a life of drug addition, fear and paranoia.
Jarryd Wallace is a hot favourite for a medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio. The 26-year-old from the USA competes in the T44 category for athletes with a lower limb disability in the 100m, 200m and 400m. In 2013 he won two gold medals and broke three world records at the IPC Athletics World Championships and in Rio he is looking for his first Olympic title. Jarryd spoke to Planet Sport reporter Norman Brierley at the Anniversary Games in London in July about his life, career and hopes for the Paralympic Games.
Dan Smith won his first gold medal for swimming in school competition at the age of 5. In his early teens he was compared to the great Australian swimmer, Ian Thorpe, after breaking several of his age records. The world was at his feet but in his late teens he turned his back on sport and took to a life of excessive drinking, drug abuse and crime and ended up living on the streets. In this interview recorded at the recent Olympic Games in Rio, Dan told reporter Tom Ellis how he turned his life around and rediscovered his love of swimming to compete at the Olympic Games.
As the 2016 Games comes to and end and Rio hands over the Olympic baton to Tokyo we investigate the legacy that has been left for the Brazilian city. Planet Sport reporters Tom Ellis and Andy Bloss talk to residents of Curicica, a suburb of Rio, where homes were demolished to make way for the new Bus Rapid Transport route providing a fast transport system across the city. We hear from the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, who believes the cost of the Games provides great value and ongoing benefits for the people of Rio. And Tom Ellis looks back on the sporting action from the 2016 Olympics and shares his personal highlights.
Olympic 400m champion and new world record holder Wayde van Niekerk talks to us about the secret of his success. Former 400m world record holder Michael Johnson shares his thoughts on the doping controversy afflicting Olympic sport and we hear from Tegla Loroupe, former women's marathon world record holder from Kenya about her role as leader of the Olympic Refugee Team in Rio.
With the Games in Rio well underway we talk to visitors outside Olympic Park and hear from our correspondent Tom Ellis in Rio about the atmosphere and highlights from the first week's events. And we talk to double Olympic 400m hurdles champion, Felix Sanchez from the Dominican Republic about his Olympic triumphs and the faith that is the foundation of his life.
As the 2016 Summer Olympics get underway in Rio we find out about life in the Games Village from Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir who is in Rio this time to serve the Togo delegation as their Olympic attache. We also talk to two of the athletes competing in Rio: British rower Richard Chambers and South Africa's 400 metres hurdler, Wenda Nel.
We're at the Anniversary Games in London and meet the new women's 100m hurdles world record holder, Kendra Harrison. Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce talk about their hopes of retaining their Olympic titles in Rio and we hear from a Brazilian journalist about how the Host City is preparing for the Games against a background of security issues, the threat of the Zika virus and questions over the Games venues. And we complete our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we look back on the 2012 Olympics in London.
This week's show has a distinct Olympics theme with the 2016 Games in Rio just two weeks away. We visit Ipanema Beach in Rio to find out about a popular sport played there which is now growing popularity elsewhere, called footvolley. Our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era continues as we reach the 2008 Games in Beijing and we meet the only athlete to beat the great Carl Lewis in an Olympic final, Joe DeLoach from the USA, who won the 200 metres in Seoul in 1988.
What's gone wrong with Zimbabwe cricket? Fortunes have plummeted since the glory days of the late 1990s when Zimbabwe beat South Africa and India on their way to finishing fifth in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. This year Zimbabwe have lost to Afghanistan in the Twenty20 World Cup and 3-0 in a ODI series at home to India. So what's gone wrong? We hear from the Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, Tavengwa Mkhulani, and talk to journalist Steve Vickers in Harare. And with the Olympic Games in Rio just three weeks our series looking at the history of the modern Olympic era reaches the 2004 Games in Athens.
As reigning Olympic 400 metres champion Sanya Richards-Ross announces her retirement we pay tribute to her remarkable career. Journalist Stuart Weir provides some insights from his meetings with her over the years and we hear from Sanya herself as she recalls her Olympic triumph in 2012 in London and reflects on the faith which has sustained her through success and disappointment. And we continue our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we look back on some of the highlights of the 2000 Games in Sydney.
With the Olympic Games just a month away we talk to three athletes aiming to win medals in Rio - Kenyan long-distance runners Vivian Cheruiyot and Mercy Cherono and South Africa's Commonwealth Games women's javelin champion, Sunette Viljoen. And we continue our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we come to the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
This week we meet two Olympic champions about their plans and hopes for the Games this summer in Rio. Kenya's 1500m world champion, Asbel Kiprop, won gold in Beijing in 2008 while Christian Taylor from the United States is the reigning world and Olympic triple jump champion. And we continue our series journeying through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we come to the 1992 Games in Barcelona and hear from winner of the women's 400m hurdles, Sally Gunnell.
British 400m runner Christine Ohuruogu won the 2008 Olympic title in Beijing. Four years later in London she won silver. Add to that two world titles, the 2006 Commonwealth title and numerous relay medals and it all adds up to a very impressive career. This year Christine is looking forward to adding to her Olympic tally when she competes in the Summer Games in Rio. We talk to her about her career, hopes for the Games in Rio and her faith. And we continue our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we look back on the highlights and drama of the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Following the death of sporting icon and former world heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, last week, athletes at last weekend's Diamond League Athletics meeting in Birmingham pay their tributes. We hear from Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford, Christian Taylor and Asbel Kiprop. And Olympic 400 metres champion Kirani James from Grenada tells us about his hopes for defending his title this summer in Rio.
We look back at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, boycotted by 65 nations following the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. We hear from Great Britain 50 km race walker Ian Richards. He tells us why he decided to compete when many other athletes chose to stay away and he recalls his race experience on a hot day in Moscow. He also talks about the support he received from his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ after the sudden death of his wife.
We're joined by professional racing driver instructor and Formula Ford racing champion, Adriano Medeiros, to discuss the unfolding drama in this season's Formula 1 Championship. We review 18-year-old driver Max Verstappen's brilliant win at the Spanish Grand Prix and consider whether Ferrari or Red Bull can overcome the dominance of Mercedes. And with the Olympic Games in Rio now just ten weeks away our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era reaches the 1976 Games in Montreal.
Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir joins us to look back on a remarkable English Premier League season as Leicester City win the title by a margin of ten points. Stuart also selects two strikers who have made an impression on him this season, Manchester City's 19-year-old Nigerian Kelechi Iheanacho and Sunderland's veteran 33-year-old former England international, Jermain Defoe. And as our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era continues as we reach the 1972 Games in Munich and hear about from silver medallist in the women's 4-by-400 metres relay, Madeline Manning-Mimms.
Our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era reaches 1968 when the host city was Mexico City. We hear from two Olympic champions at those Games. First, American high jumper, Dick Fosbury whose new style of jumping with the Fosbury Flop helped him to the gold medal and went on to revolutionise the sport. And we hear from the winner of the women's 800 metres, Madeline Manning Mimms, who had to overcome racial prejudice from her fellow Americans before becoming the first American black woman to win Olympic gold in track and field athletics.
As Juventus win the Serie A title for the 32nd time in their history we hear from one of the former players, central defender, Nicola Legrottaglie, who played for the club between 2003 and 2011. He talks about his first international match for Italy against Turkey in 2002 and his journey to faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. And we continue our series exploring the history of the modern Olympic Games as we come to the 1964 Games in Tokyo and hear from Australian swimmer, Dawn Fraser, who won her third successive Olympic title there.
This week we meet three of the athletes who took part in last Sunday's London Marathon. Tatyana McFadden from the USA won the women's wheelchair race for the fourth successive year. She talks about the challenges she has faced and overcome to become the world's leading female wheelchair racer. South African Ernst Van Dyk came fourth in the men's wheelchair event. He tells us why, as a ten-times Boston marathon winner, why he finds the London course challenging and the difference that his faith makes to his life. Wilson Kipsang from Kenya came 5th in the elite men's race and he also talks about the role of faith in his life. And we continue our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we reach the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
With the FA Cup semi-finals coming up this weekend we talk to a past FA Cup winner, Cyril Regis, who helped Coventry City win the trophy in 1987. He talks about his experience of racism in football and why his faith as follower of Jesus Christ is more important than his FA Cup winners' medal. Our series on the history of the modern Olympic era reaches 1956 when the Games were held in Melbourne. We talk to two of the athletes from those Games, Irish sprinter Maeve Kyle and British high jumper, Dorothy Tyler.
In 2008 Nick Willis won silver in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Two years earlier he won the Commonwealth title in Melbourne and last month he picked up bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, USA. Earlier this year he announced through his Facebook pages that with the help of his wife, family and friends he'd beaten an addiction to pornography that had gripped him until 2 years ago. In an interview recorded in 2011 he talks to us about his career and faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. And continuing our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era we look back on the 1952 Games in Helsinki.
Our journey through the Olympics of the modern era brings us to the 1948 Games in London. Organised just three years after the end of the Second World War it became known as the Austerity Games due to the economic climate and post-war rationing. A record number of 59 nations took part but not Germany or Russia. Many athletes were housed in military barracks rather than a comfortable Olympic Village. British rower Michael Lapage, who later became a Christian missionary, recalls his experience at the Games when he won silver in the men's Eights and we hear again from Dorothy Tyler who won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's high jump, adding to the medal she won 12 years earlier in Berlin.
We continue our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we come to the 1936 Games in Berlin. These were the Games where Hitler wanted to show the supremacy of white athletes but a humble black American called Jesse Owens stole the show with four gold medals. And we talk to Dorothy Tyler who won silver in the women's high jump at the 1936 Games. In an interview recorded in 2011 when she was 91 she recalls the Opening Ceremony, her silver medal winning performance and her meeting with Jesse Owens.
We hear from four athletes who competed in last weekend's World Indoor Athletics Championships in Portland, USA as they talk about their sport and faith as committed followers of Jesus Christ. They are gold medallists Trayvon Bromell (USA) in the men's 60 metres and Michelle Carter (USA) in the women's shot put along with New Zealand's Nick Willis who won bronze in the men's 1500 metres and another 1500 metres runner, Kenya's Bethwel Birgen. And we continue our series looking back at the history of the modern era of the Olympic Games as we come to the 1932 Games that were held in Los Angeles.
Ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio we visit a project in the city that uses futsal to offer hope and a safe environment to young people living in what can sometimes be violent communities. We hear from South Africa's 400 metres World Champion Wayde van Niekerk who last week completed a remarkable treble of running the 100 metres in under 10 seconds, the 200m in under 20 seconds and the 400m in under 44 seconds. And we continue our series on the Games of the modern Olympic era as we revisit the 1928 Games in Amsterdam.
This week we talk to one of the new track and field athletics sprint sensations, Trayvon Bromell. Last year the 20-year-old ran 100 metres in 9.84 seconds in the heats of the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships making him the 10th fastest man in history. Two months later he won bronze behind Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin at the World Championships in Beijing. In an interview recorded last month in Glasgow he talks to us about his meteoric rise, his family, his training, his hopes for the Olympics in Rio and the bedrock of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. We also continue our series through the Games of the modern Olympic movement as we reach the 1924 Games in Paris.
We're back at the Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Glasgow on 20 February to talk to athletes preparing for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio. We hear from World 200m champion Dafne Schippers from the Netherlands and London 2012 bronze medallist in the men's 800m Timothy Kitum from Kenya. We also talk to Germany's 2012 Paralympic champion in the men's F44 long jump, Markus Rehm, who's set his sights on competing in the Olympics in Rio as well as the Paralympics. And we go back in time almost 100 years to find out about the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.
This week we're at the International Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Glasgow. We hear from Kenya's 2004 Olympic 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist Paul Kipsiele Koech on the drugs-testing crisis in Kenyan athletics and allegations of corruption that could see Kenya banned from the Rio Olympics. We also hear from South African sprinter Carina Horn on her Olympic hopes and USA hurdler Kevin Craddock about his ambitions for Rio and the importance of his faith. And we continue our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we find out about the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
We conclude our interview with British athlete Stephanie Cook who won gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the women's modern pentathlon. She tells us about the final three of the five disciplines in which she competed in one day and her joy at crossing the line first in the final event, the 3 kilometre run, be crowned champion. And continuing our series exploring the Games of the modern Olympic era we come to the 1908 Games in London and find out about the race that never was in the final of the men's 400 metres.
Olympic champion Stephanie Cook continues her story about how she won the women's modern pentathlon at the 2000 Games in Sydney. We find out how cheating in sport is nothing new as we go back to the 1904 Olympics in St Louis and we conclude our tour around the Olympic Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro as Christiane Paquelet, Cultural Director of the Brazil Olympic Committee, tells us about the unique Rio 2016 3-dimensional logo.
Sydney 2000 gold medallist in the women's modern pentathlon, Stephanie Cook, tells us how she got into the sport and her journey to faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. We find out about Olympic memorabilia as we continue our tour around the Olympic Exhibition in Rio and we hear about the unknown young boy who held the Dutch rowing team to victory at the 1900 Games in Paris.
Double world champion and double Olympic silver medallist rower Debbie Flood talks about some of the key aspects of her life in elite sport from faith to diet and drugs testing. And we continue our tour around the Olympic Exhibition in Rio with Christiane Paquelet, Cultural Director of the Brazil Olympic Committee, this time coming to the medals and mascots.
Debbie Flood is a two times World Champion and double Olympic silver medallist. As part of Great Britain's women's quadruple sculls team she won the 2006 & 2010 World Championships and Olympic silver in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008). She talks to us about her training and the sacrifices she had to make to reach the top. And we continue our tour around the Olympic Exhibition when it visited 2016 host city Rio de Janeiro and discover how table tennis played a part in bringing together two superpowers, China and the USA, in the 1970s.
We continue our tour of the Olympic Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian city prepares to host the Summer Olympics in August. This week we discover the variety and creativity of the different Olympic torches and see items belonging to the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. And we meet former Newcastle and Chelsea midfielder Gavin Peacock as he tells us how he first got into football and his journey to faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
The busy Christmas and New Year fixtures in the English Premier League often define the league positions at the end of the season. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir assesses which teams will be happiest with their performances over the holiday period. 2016 is an Olympic year with the Summer Games taking place in Rio de Janeiro in August. Adrian Barnard takes us on a tour of the Olympic Exhibition when he visited Rio two years ago in the company of Christiane Paquelet, Cultural Director of the Brazil Olympic Committee.
We are joined by our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir and former Football League referee Bob Hamer who share their hopes for sport in 2016 as we look forward to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the culmination of an exciting 2015/16 English Premier League season.
In the second part of our 2015 Review of the Year we hear from three World Champion athletes who won titles at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing in August - 100 metres women's champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 400 metres women's champion Allyson Felix and triple jump champion Christian Taylor. And we hear from players and staff at newly-promoted EPL side, AFC Bournemouth.
We look back at some of the stories we covered in 2015. We hear from Australian Open tennis champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, Watford FC's Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo and USA 400 metres runner Manteo Mitchell - who at the 2012 Olympics continued running in the 4 x 400m relay despite breaking his leg. And we hear how Australian cricket began to recover after the tragic death of Philip Hughes.
Two greats of World Rugby, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, retired from the international game after helping New Zealand win the Rugby World Cup in October. Former Western Samoa scrum half, Tu Nu'uali'tia in Auckland, assesses their successes and contributions to the game. And Zambia football striker, Jacob Mulenga, tells us how his faith helped him when he was faced with two potentially career-threatening injuries.
Former Western Samoa scrum-half Tu Nu'uali'itia pays tribute to New Zealand rugby star, Jonah Lomu, who died recently at the age of 40 as he remembers playing against him in a Test match in 1996. We also applaud the IAAF's male and female Athletes of the Year, Ashton Eaton and Genzebe Dibaba and look back on the Formula 1 season just ended with 2013 Classic Formula Ford champion, Adriano Medeiros.
Former US footballer Aaron Tredway tells us more about his career in three African nations. He also talks about his coaching career in Africa and Asia and how as joint owner of the Cleveland City Stars he led the club to championship title success in 2008.
We mark the achievements of 2015 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and discuss whether 18-year-old rookie Max Verstappen has the potential to be as good as Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher. And in world football former goalkeeper and now football coach Aaron Tredway from the US tells us about his career in three African countries.
Football fans will always judge the referee and this week we are joined by Bob Hamer, a Football League Match Observer to find out about his very detailed role in assessing the performance of the referee and his assistants. And following the recent IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha we hear from the USA's Richard Browne, the new T44 world champion and new world record holder in both the 100 and 200 metre events.
Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir is in Doha to talk to Sheikha Asma Al Thani, Director of Marketing and Communications for the recent IPC Athletics World Championships and a member of the Qatari Olympic Committee. We find out about Qatar's commitment to sport as the country gears up to host several high profile sports events in the coming years and hear what fans coming to Qatar can expect at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
We look ahead to Saturday's Rugby World Cup final between Australia and the current holders New Zealand at Twickenham with Tu Nu'uali'itia who played in two World Cups in the 1990s for Western Samoa. Tu tells us about the atmosphere and expectation in New Zealand ahead of Saturday's game and shares his thoughts on two players to watch in the final. He also looks forward to the 2019 World Cup in Japan. And the former Bath, Aberavon and Bridgend forward Phil Davies tells us how his anger and love for a fight disappeared when he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
As the Rugby World Cup reaches the semi-finals this weekend, former New Zealand winger Inga Tuigamala tells us about his career highlights and faith and another former international, Samoa's Tu Nu'uali'itia shares his thoughts on the fifth core value as outlined by the Rugby Football Union, discipline.
As the Rugby World Cup reaches the quarter-final stage this weekend we continue our discussion on the five core values of the sport, this week we come to Enjoyment. Former Western Samoa scrum-half Tu Nu'ulai'itia, who played in two World Cups in the 1990s, shares his experiences of enjoyment in the game. And we hear from Clive Jones, a rugby coach and former club player from Treorchy in South Wales, whose quest to find meaning and purpose in life led him from following Eastern mysticism to following Jesus Christ.
We take a look back on the recent African Games in Congo-Brazzaville to hear from Nigeria’s table tennis star Funke Oshanaike and Zimbabwe’s medal-hope in the decathlon, Keegan Cooke. And with the Rugby World Cup now well underway we talk about one of the sports five's core values, respect. We hear from fans and the former Samoan scrum half Tu Nu’uali’itia who played in two World Cups shares his thoughts.
We hear from fans at the Rugby World Cup match between Nambia and New Zealand to find out their thoughts on the tournament so far and discover how far some have travelled. We discuss the five core values of the game - teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship - and hear from fans about which they think is the most important. Two-times World Cup player with Western Samoa, Tu Nu'ulai'itia, shares his thoughts on teamwork and sportsmanship.
Six former players recall their World Cup memories. We hear from three winners, New Zealand's Michael Jones (1987), Nick Farr-Jones from Australia (1991) and England's Jason Robinson (2003). We also hear from England full-back and losing finalist in 1991 Jonathan Webb, Western Samoa 1995 quarter-finalist Tu Nu'uali'itia and South Africa's fly-half Jannie de Beer who kicked a world record five dropped goals against England in 1999.
We go behind the scenes at English Premier League new boys AFC Bournemouth to find out about the club's meteoric rise after almost going out of business just seven years ago and meet four people with very different roles at the club: from the players attacking midfielder Marc Pugh, Club Secretary Neil Vacher, Player Liaison Officer Pete Barry and Club Chaplain Andy Rimmer.
In this week's show six top athletes talk about the impact of their faith on their sport and lives. Four of them were recently crowned world champions at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing - Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the women's 100m, US triple jumper Christian Taylor and the winners of the men's and women's 400m, South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk and the USA's Allyson Felix. We also hear from bronze medallist in the men's 110m hurdles Aries Merritt and South Africa's Wenda Nel who reached the final of the women's 400m hurdles.
In the second and final part of our interview with Dan Leo the 32-year old second row rugby forward tells us about his experience at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups with Samoa and why he and his national colleagues threatened to boycott an international game against England in November 2014. He also talks more about the impact of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ on his life and rugby career.
With the Rugby World Cup just three weeks away we talk to two-times World Cup player, the Samoa second row forward, Dan Leo, who retired from international rugby in May. In Part One of The Dan Leo Story he tells us how he got into the sport and the highlights of his club career which took him from New Zealand to Australia, England and France. He also talks honestly about the challenges of matching his involvement in a high-pressure contact sport with his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
We look forward to the World Athletics Championships that start in Beijing on Saturday and run til 30th August. Planet Sport reporter Norman Brierley talks to four athletes hoping to be among the medals in Beijing: US shot put hope Michelle Carter, South Africa's long jump duo Godfrey Mokoena and Zarck Visser and Kenya's 800m Olympic champion and world record holder, David Rudisha.
As the new English Premier League season kicked off on Saturday we're joined by our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir to review the weekend's action. We consider the season ahead for the teams aiming to win the title and the three new teams battling to stay in the top tier of English football. And we look forward to the All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo next month as we revisit a night at the swimming at the last edition of the Games four years ago in Maputo, Mozambique.
The new English Premier League season kicks off on Saturday and we’re joined by our Chief Football Correspondent, Stuart Weir, to discuss the prospects of last year’s top teams including reigning champions Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. We also consider the challenges facing the three new teams – Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford – as they aim to avoid relegation after one season. Wednesday 5th August marked one year out from the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro so to celebrate that Planet Sport reporters Tom Ellis and Andy Bloss take us to one of Rio’s most iconic landmarks, the statue of Christ the Redeemer.
We're at the Anniversary Games Diamond League meeting in London, to meet athletes preparing for next month's World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Usain Bolt talks about the challenge of racing against athletes who have previously been banned as drugs cheats. We also hear from two of the USA's Olympic champions Sanya Richards-Ross (400m) and Aries Merritt (110 m hurdles) and two of this year's form athletes likely to be challenging for medals in Beijing, Wayde van Neikerk (400m, South Africa) and Mercy Cherono (5,000m, Kenya).
Michael Jones scored the first try in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. He also scored the first try in the final as he helped New Zealand beat France 29-9 to be crowned the first Rugby World Champions. A powerful flanker and number eight forward he played 55 times for the All Blacks and was one of the most feared players of his time. In 2000 Rugby World magazine named him the third best All Black of the 20th century and in 2003 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. He talks about the influences on his incredible career, the highlights and constant battle against injuries, his strong faith as a follower of Jesus Christ and his conviction not to play on a Sunday.
We look back on two weeks of captivating tennis at the Wimbledon Championships and talk to the finalists in the men's and women's singles events - Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza. And we visit a project in Rio de Janeiro that is using football to help children escape from lives of sexual exploitation, drugs and crime.
We continue our conversation with Brazilian racing driver Adriano Medeiros as the 2013 Classic Formula Ford 1600 champion tells about the Jesus Saves team he drives for, his aim to take part in endurance racing and why he thinks Lewis Hamilton will win this year's Formula 1 Championship.
Racing driver Adriano Medeiros was inspired to get into motor sport by his fellow Brazilians and F1 drivers, Alex Dias Ribeiro and Emerson Fittipaldi. In 2013 he won the Classic Formula Ford title in the UK driving for the Jesus Saves team. He has also driven in exhibitions for clients including Pure McLaren Experience and Top Gear Live show. In the first of a two-part interview he talks to Planet Sport's Norman Brierley about his twin passions of racing and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Jaime Fillol played in the 1960s and 70s reaching two Grand Slam doubles finals and representing Chile in the David Cup. After retiring he became one of the founder members of the ATP, serving as president from 1979-80. In the week before the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship the 69-year-old talks to Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir about the highlights of his career, his work with the ATP and the differences in the game between the time he played and today.
We talk to four athletes at the recent Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, Kenya's javelin thrower Julius Yego after recording the furthest distance since 2006, 800m runners Eunice Jepkoech Sum and Nijel Amos and Kenya's 5000m runner, Thomas Longosiwa. And following Sepp Blatter's resignation as president of FIFA we ask fans of 'the beautiful game' what they would change if they were FIFA president?
We're at the Diamond League athletics meeting in Birmingham to talk to two reigning Olympic champions, Allyson Felix, who won gold at London 2012 in the 200m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays and triple jump gold medallist Christian Taylor. We also catch up with Australia's Commonwealth discus champion, Dani Samuels, and Commonwealth 400m silver medallist Wayde van Niekerk from South Africa as they share their hopes for the World Championships in Beijing this August.
In the week that Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce equals the fastest time by a woman for the 100 metres this year, we revisit our interview recorded with the double Olympic champion last year in which she talks about the faith that underpins her life and the ambitions she still holds on the track.
We look back on another captivating season in the English Premier League. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir assesses the achievements of the top four clubs and nominates three players who have impressed him this year. We congratulate Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford on their promotion to the Premier League next season and talk to Watford's Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo.
We're at Wembley at the launch of FIFA's new anti-racism and discrimination system being implemented at 2018 World Cup qualifiers and at the World Cup itself. We hear from Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder, Yaya Toure, and other speakers at the event. And we talk to former Aston Villa midfielder, Lee Hendrie, about Villa's chances in next week's FA Cup final against Arsenal.
We join the promotion party at Watford FC as the club celebrates achieving Premier League football next season. We hear from joyous fans and from the Hornets' former Brazilian international goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes. And we report from the Great City Games in Manchester and hear from top athletes Jessica Ennis-Hill, Felix Sanchez and Richard Browne.
We talk to the winners of the men's and women's elite races, Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya and Ethiopia's Tegist Tufa and two winners in the wheelchair races, USA's Joshua George and Tatyana McFadden. And we hear from Paula Radcliffe who was taking part in her last competitive race on the same track where in 2003 she set the world record for the women's marathon which still stands to this day.
Why do there seem to be so many controversial refereeing decisions in football? In the English Premier League this season hardly a week goes by without some key decision being made which affects the result of the game. We are joined by our Chief Football Correspondent, Stuart Weir, and Referees' Assessor and former top referee, Bob Hamer, to discuss the challenges and pressures facing top flight referees.
Chelsea have a ten point lead going into the final six rounds of matches in the English Premier League. Can anyone catch them? We also review the FA Cup semi-finals which saw Arsenal and Aston Villa triumph to reach the final on 30th May. Lewis Hamilton has made an emphatic start to his bid for successive Formula 1 Championships with three wins from the first four races. There's still plenty of racing still to come but can Ferrari catch the faster Mercedes?
Timo Tagaloa played in Western Samoa's historic 16-13 Rugby World Cup win against Wales in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. He scored two tries against Argentina in the same competition and later in his career represented the All Blacks at the Hong Kong Sevens. He tells us about the highlights of his career and how he recovered from a time in his life when he thought he had no purpose to the point he considered taking his own life.
We meet Great Britain kayaker, Angela Hannah, as she tells us about her love for the sport, her career highlights and the faith that directs her life.
We look back on a captivating Cricket World Cup following Australia's 7-wicket win over New Zealand in Sunday's final. And in football we explore why Radamel Falcao is struggling at Manchester United and hear from the Colombian international about how his faith helps him cope with pressure.
Chris Jones was a player from the valleys of South Wales who hated losing. A former Wales Under-15 and Under-19 squad player he would do anything to win, even if that meant stretching the laws of the game. He was sent off regularly and eventually banned for life. Then he was allowed back but injured another player badly and was banned for life again. Sitting in prison after being involved in a fight at a jazz festival he cried out to God and his life changed. Today he coaches school children in South Wales in the game that he loves. Adrian Barnard talked to Chris Jones to find out what was behind the dramatic change in his life.
In cricket the spirit in which the game should be played is highly valued. This week we hear how one cricketer playing for Dorset in the English Minor Counties League upset the authorities at Lords when he was accused of breaking the spirit of the game, despite keeping within the laws of the game. That player is Andrew Wingfield Digby and he went on to become respected church leader in England.
We review this week's Sixth Round matches in the FA Cup and former Tamil Nadu state cricketer Paul Moses shares some of his career highlights and talks about his journey to faith and resultant work running an orphanage with his wife in Chennai.
We talk to former Tamil Nadu state cricketer Paul Moses who was praised for his batting as an 18-year old by the great Indian Test batsman, Sunil Gavaskar. And we continue our report from the recent International Indoor Athletics meeting in Birmingham as we hear from former World 100 metres champion, Kim Collins, still competing in elite races at the age of 38.
We talk to athletes at the International Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Birmingham on 21 Feb including new World Record holder for the men's two miles, Mo Farah, Kenya's Paul Koech, 60m hurdles winner Kevin Craddock and US 400m runner Manteo Mitchell as he continues his return to elite competition after suffering a broken leg at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
We meet Ramadhan Vyombo, a swimming international from Kenya who competed for his country over 20 years. We find out about his career and his life now as a coach training a new generation of young swimmers in Kenya and Tanzania. And with the Cricket World Cup now underway former South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock recalls his personal World Cup highlights.
We talk to former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago opening batsmen, Suruj Ragoonath, about his playing career, playing alongside Brian Lara and the difference his faith has made to his life.
We hear from the singles finalists at the Australian Open including the two winners, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams and with the Cricket World Cup just around the corner our panel of experts discusses whether a batsman should 'walk' when he knows he's out.
We consider the difference that faith makes in the world of professional sport. Cricketer Henry Olonga tells us how his protest against the government of Zimbabwe at the 2003 World Cup was motivated by his faith and Standard Liege and Cameroon midfielder Eyong Enoh tells us how his faith helps him cope with the pressure of being an elite footballer.
Following the tragic death of Australia cricketer Phillip Hughes in November we hear from former Zimbabwe player, Ray Price, and our cricket correspondent in Melbourne, Clayton Bjelan, on the power of sport to bring hope and healing. And staying with cricket we continue The Henry Olonga Story as the former Zimbabwe fast bowler recalls a Man-of-the-Match winning performance against England in 2000.
The draw for the 4th Round of the FA Cup saw minnows Cambridge United drawn at home to Manchester United. Cambridge director and former player Graham Daniels looks forward to this mouth-watering tie on 23rd January. And we continue The Henry Olonga Story as the former Zimbabwe fast bowler recalls taking a wicket with his third ball in Test cricket.
We ask whether there are too many football competitions as players leave clubs in January for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Asian Cup in Australia? And with the Cricket World Cup just five weeks away we hear the first part of an extended interview with former Zimbabwe fast bowler, Henry Olonga.
For our first show of 2015 we preview two major events ahead this year, the World Cups of Cricket and Rugby. We are joined by two former elite players who have both played in their sports' World Cups, the Zimbabwe slow bowler Ray Price and Western Samoa scrum half Tu Nu'uali'itia.
We look back on some of the 2014 highlights from football and rugby union including the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and Rugby Championship.
While many fans enjoy a holiday at Christmas it's a very different picture for players. We discuss the busy fixture list in the English Premier League and as whether the EPL needs a winter break? Former Western Samoa rugby international Tu Nu'uali'itia tells us what Christmas means for him and we begin our review of 2014 with the World Cup in Brazil as we recall Matchday at the Maracana when Colombia faced Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
They say patience is a virtue but is there a role for patience in today’s highly-competitive world of football? West Ham and Newcastle stuck with their managers in poor spells and are now seeing the rewards. Now fans at Arsenal want manager Arsene Wenger to go after a disappointing start to the season. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir gives his perspective and Zambia’s international striker Jacob Mulenga who plays his football today in Turkey talks about patience from a player's perspective.
We talk to Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni who has won the club's Player of the Year award a record four times about the art of his trade and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. And former Brazilian Formula 1 driver Alex Ribeiro talks about his new book called "What It Takes".
We are joined by former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro in Brazil to review an enthralling season in Formula 1 and assess Lewis Hamilton's second Drivers Championship title. And in athletics we talk to this season's Diamond League champion in the women's 400 metres hurdles, Kaliese Spencer from Jamaica.
In tennis we hear from Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer after the ATP World Tour Finals in London and we assess the progress of teams ahead of next years Rugby World Cup as the southern and northern sides play a series of Test matches in Europe.
South African marathon runner Hendrick Ramaala talks about his continuing career at the age of 42 and why he's mentoring a new generation of athletes and we talk to this year's Diamond League champion in the women's 100 metres hurdles, Dawn Harper-Nelson.
Ray Price played 22 Tests and 102 One-Day Internationals in a career spanning thirteen years. As a slow left-arm bowler he had best Test figures of 6-73 against the West Indies in Tests and took five wickets in an innings on five occasions. He retired in 2011 after becoming only the second Zimbabwean to play in the Indian Premier League. He talks about his cricket career and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.
We report from South Africa following the tragic deaths of former World 800m champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi in a car crash on Friday and Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa who was shot in an apparent attempted robbery on Sunday. We delve into the archives for our interview with Mulaudzi at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. And we consider whether we should expect all footballers to be role models.
Tu Nu'ulai'itia recalls the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa when he scored a try for Western Samoa in the quarter finals against the Springboks, the hosts and eventual winners. And we hear from former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones about Australia's memorable Bledisloe Cup victory in New Zealand in 1986.
One year ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup our rugby correspondent and former Samoa international Tu Nu'uali'itia shares his career highlights including playing in the 1991 World Cup when Samoa memorably beat Wales in Cardiff.
We talk to Springbok winger Cornal Hendricks, one of the stars of South Africa's Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s winning team and part of last Saturday's Rugby Championship side that beat New Zealand. And following the death of 1936 Olympic silver medallist Dorothy Tyler we go back into the archives to hear an interview in which she talks about her Olympic memories.
We review New Zealand's third successive title in the Rugby Championship and ask if they are on course to retain their World Cup crown in 2015? And Lazio and Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onazi talks about his narrow escape from a bomb blast in Jos and his speedy return from a World Cup injury.
Former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro from Brazil considers the battle at the top of the F1 Championship and the emergence this year of Australia's Daniel Ricciardo. And we meet the captain of Uganda's boxing team at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Rogers Semitala.
As Manchester United's new loan signing Radamel Falcao makes his debut in the 4-0 win against QPR we revisit our interview with him last year to find out more about the man who is one of the world's most prolific goal scorers. And we meet Uganda's light heavyweight boxing champion, Solomon Geko Kozaala, at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
We meet triple Paralympic champion, Fanie Van Der Merwe, from South Africa. He won gold in the T37 class for athletes with cerebral palsy in both the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Games in Beijing and retained his 100m title four years later in London, setting a new world record. He talks about those career milestones and the faith that is integral to his life.
Colombian international Radamel Falcao has joined Manchester United on a one-year loan deal. He talks to us about coping with pressure and his faith. And we hear from T42 sprinter Regas Woods on the impact of his faith on his career in disability sport.
We talk to three athletes at Sunday's IAAF Diamond League in Birmingham: Kenya's Olympic 800m champion and world record holder David Rudisha, 2011 world high jump champion Jesse Williams from the US and Grenada's Olympic 400m champion, Kirani James.
As the English Premier League gets under way for another season we review the opening encounters and consider the likely title contenders. And we hear from two of South Africa's medallists at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Seabelo Senatla from the triumphant Rugby 7s team and long jump silver medallist, Zarck Visser.
We continue our interview with South African swimming legend, Penny Heyns, as she talks about her outstanding career and personal faith.
Steve Vickers talks to South African swimming legend Penny Heyns, Olympic champion and frequent world record breaker during her incredible career. Part 1 of 2.
We talk to competitors at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow including Australia's Michael Shelley, winner of the men's marathon and South African athletes Rocco van Rooyen in the javelin and triple jumper Khotso Mokoena.
Stuart Weir talks in depth to double Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion, Felix Sanchez, from the Dominican Republic. Felix talks about his two Olympic titles, his 43-race unbeaten run and the faith that sustains him.
We're at the Diamond League track and field athletics event to hear from men's 800 metres world record holder David Rudisha along with world champion 3000 metres steeplechaser Milcah Chemos and Olympic 200 metres champion, Allyson Felix. And in Brazil we find out how the sport of futsal is offering hope to children caught up in lives of violence and crime.
We look back on a great 2014 World Cup and compare the show Brazil has put on as hosts with the previous two editions in Germany and South Africa. And we find out how football is helping young people in Rio de Janeiro caught up in violence and crime.
We talk to US World Cup captain Clint Dempsey about his career and faith and find out about the Rio beach sport of Foot Volley.
In this week's show from Rio de Janeiro we meet Brazil fans at a Fan Site, find out about the role of chaplains in the Cameroon team and hear from Costa Rica's 2002 World Cup captain, Reynaldo Parks.
We talk to former professional player in Iran, David Parinejad, about the passion Iranians have for football and meet fans on Copacabana Beach in Brazil to support their teams in the World Cup.
We hear from athletes competing at last Thursday's IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome including Brianna Rollins, Will Clay and Dawn Harper-Nelson and we talk to Colombia striker Falcao who will now miss the World Cup through injury.
The show comes from Rio de Janeiro as Planet Sport prepares for the World Cup. We visit the Maracana Stadium with local historian Bruno Lucena to find out about the history of this iconic sporting venue.
British football commentator John Motson shares his thoughts on the players to watch at this year's World Cup and our Chief Football Correspondent, Stuart Weir, tells us which players he thinks have the most to gain, and to lose, in Brazil. And we continue our interview with Radamel Falcao as the AS Monaco and Colombia striker talks about his first international match and his hat-trick against Chelsea in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup.
We're at the Great City Games in Manchester to talk to athletes Tiffany Porter, Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang and the AS Monaco and Colombia striker, Falcao, tells how how his career in football began.
Former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro from Brazil reviews Lewis Hamilton's win in the Spanish Grand Prix and shares his personal memories of three-times world champion Ayrton Senna who died twenty years ago this month.
Part Two of the Tu Nu'uali'itia Story as the former Auckland and Western Samoa rugby player talks more about his rugby career and two Rugby World Cups and his Christian faith.
We talk to former Auckland and Western Samoa scrum half Tu Nu'uali'itia who played in the 1991 and 1995 Rugby World Cups about his life, career highlights and faith.
We discuss the next step for Manchester United after sacking manager David Moyes and look forward to this weekend's fixtures in the Barclay's Premier League as the main contenders in title race approach the finishing line. And we talk to Liverpool and England legend, Michael Owen.
We hear from the winners of the elite races at Sunday's London Marathon and women's elite winner Edna Kiplagat talks about her Foundation to support orphaned children in Kenya. In football we discuss respect and pressure in the race to the Premier League title and hear how AC Milan and Brazil midfielder Kaka copes with pressure.
We follow this year's Street Child World Cup in Brazil which aims to raise awareness of the needs of the world's street children and talk to the group's co-founder and CEO, John Wroe.
Former Liverpool and England legend John Barnes shares his thoughts on why England will struggle at the 2014 World Cup finals and the importance of national introducing young players to the international scene. Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir assesses Barnes' views.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the reigning world and Olympic 100m champion, world 200m champion and world indoor 60m champion. She has won both the Olympic and world 100m titles twice. In an exclusive interview the 27-year-old Jamaican talks to us about the faith that drives and directs her life on and off the track.
We discuss the reasons behind the dramatic improvement in Australian Test cricket and Jamaica's world and Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce talks about her faith.
We talk to two athletes at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Sopot, Canada's 1500m bronze medallist Nicole Sifuentes and Zambian 60m finalist, Gerald Phiri. And we preview the upcoming Formula One season with former F1 driver, Alex Ribeiro, from Brazil.
We review the latest action in the English Premier League and talk to two athletes ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland - GBR's 400m runner Margaret Adeoye and Kenya's 3000m steeplechase world silver medallist, Lydia Chepkurui.
We discuss the unfolding Six Nations rugby championship and talk to Paralympic silver medallist and men's T44 100 metres world record holder Richard Browne.
We talk to three athletes competing at the Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in Birmingham ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland from 7-9 March - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Augustine Choge and Kim Collins.
Katya Antoniuk was the Belarus cross-country champion for seven years between 1991 and 1998 and she competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. She talks about her career and her remarkable journey to faith.
As the 22nd Winter Olympics get underway in Sochi, Russia we talk to double Olympian in the bob skeleton, Adam Pengilly, to find out about the man and his sport.
Christiane Paquelet, Cultural Director of the Brazilian Olympic Committee concludes our tour of the Olympic Exhibition in Rio as we view the medals, mascots and memorabilia.
We preview the weekends English Premier League fixtures and go back to the 2006 Commonwealth Games to hear from gold medallist Dorcus Inzikuru from Uganda.
We review the Third Round of the FA Cup and take a look around the Olympic Exhibition when it visited Rio de Janeiro.
We find out about the Street Child World Cup taking place in Brazil in March 2014 to draw attention to the needs of the millions of children who live on the world's streets.
We look forward to some of the sporting events in the coming year in football, rugby union and Formula One.
Three sportsmen - former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro, Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga and Aberdeen and Scotland footballer Brian Irvine - pick their highlights from 2013 and share what Christmas means to them.
What did you make of last week’s draw for the 2014 World Cup finals? The hosts Brazil avoided any of their major rivals in Group A while reigning champions Spain found themselves in a tough draw alongside the Netherlands and Chile in Group B. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir considers the winners and losers in last week’s draw.
As World Cup fever grows we take another tour of the Maracana stadium in Rio where next year’s final will be played.
And we pay tribute to former South African president Nelson Mandela and reflect on his contribution to the world of sport.
Last month’s First Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England was overshadowed by the issue of sledging. The practice of making comments on the field to unnerve your opponents is accepted as part of the game but where do you draw the line to stop it going too far? We discuss what is and isn’t acceptable with a cricket coach, a fan of the game and the former Zimbabwe player Henry Olonga.
In football Brian Kidd helped Manchester United win the 1968 European Cup. Today he’s an assistant coach at Manchester City. He tells us what he thinks makes a good coach and why humility is an important quality.
Former Cardiff City and Cambridge United winger Graham Daniels tells how he coped with the injuries that ended his career in his mid-20s and how he discovered the faith that changed his life.
Graham Daniels fulfilled a childhood dream when he signed for Cardiff City as a 16-year-old. Following his transfer to Cambridge United he experienced the highs and lows of life as a professional footballer from scoring at Newcastle United to suffering the injuries that ended his professional career in his mid-20s. Adrian Barnard talks to Graham about his life and footballing career. Continues with Part Two next week.
The 2014 World Cup final will be played at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Rio historian Bruno Lucena tells us about the history of the stadium and what makes the atmosphere there so special. And AC Milan and Brazil midfielder Kaka recalls his goal against Croatia in the 2006 World Cup finals and talks about the role of faith in his life.
Next year Brazil is hosting the FIFA World Cup and on the 13th of July the show-piece event, the final, will take place at the famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. For the past two weeks I’ve been in Rio to find out how the city is preparing, not only for the World Cup but also to host the Olympic Games in 2016.
So, is Brazil ready for the World Cup? Let’s find out as today’s show comes from the amazing Maracana stadium in the heart of Rio. We’ll find out about its history, the teams that play there and how it takes its name from a Brazilian bird!
We meet double Olympic silver medallist in the women's quadruple sculls, Great Britain's Debbie Flood.
An extended interview with former women's marathon world record holder, Catherine Ndereba.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup finals are now just eight months away and, after the last few days’ latest rounds of qualifying matches, we’re getting a clearer picture of who will be going to Brazil!
We’re joined by our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir to review the latest action and look at some of the latest countries to book their places in the finals next June.
And what is it like to PLAY in a World Cup qualifier, with the hope or maybe expectation, of reaching the World Cup finals? We hear from the former Scotland defender, Brian Irvine, who played in five World Cup qualifiers in the 1990s.