Not by the Playbook

Whatever sporting achievements are made in Rio, they are unlikely to surpass the significance of those created by one man exactly 80 years ago. When Jessie Owens won FOUR gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympics of 1936 he didn't only create a record breaking sporting achievement, he left an indelible image for the world that is as powerful today as it was back then. We speak to...

At the age of 42, boxer Tony Moran became the WBF World Cruiserweight Champion of the World but it's his journey to this sporting pinnacle that really sets him apart. Whilst recovering from a fractured skull Tony became homeless and having lost his job his family life fell apart. So how has he managed to recover and reach new heights? Rugby's Great Survivor... Next stop Rio! She has not only overc...

Duathlete Chris Mosier is not only the first transman to make a men's US National Team; he also successfully campaigned for the International Olympic Committee to change their policy on transgender athletes. The rule changes brought in this year now mean athletes like Chris can represent their country at the Olympic Games. Pakistani Pain: A population of nearly 200,000,000 and not one has automati...

Her family think she is crazy; nonetheless Marathon runner Nary Ly will become Cambodia's first female long distance Olympian in Rio. In a country where the prevailing attitude encourages fair skin, women’s sport is discouraged because training outside tans the skin. For 42-year-old Ly, who escaped the Khmer Rouge to France as an 8 year old, it marks an important step for Cambodia as attitudes to...

We are live from Wimbledon on Ladies Final day looking at the remarkable career of Serena Williams, and sorting Wimbledon fact from fiction with ‘Devil Wears Prada’ author Laura Weisberger. Her latest book is set in the world of professional tennis. Mum Won’t Cramp My Olympic Style: In Georgia one family is particularly excited about the upcoming Rio Olympics. Why? Well, this family will make hist...

Following the withdrawal of several golfers from this year’s Olympic competition, including the world number one Jason Day, we ask if golf should be an Olympic discipline at all. Former pro Dottie Pepper tells us that it shouldn’t and that “the Olympics needs golf more than golf need the Olympics”, all of which is likely to annoy the chairman of the Professional Squash Association Ziad Al-Turki, w...

A stolen Olympic gold medal has been found by a six-year-old girl. Olympian Joe Jacobi had appealed to thieves who stole his 1992 Olympic gold medal to return it and set up a website www.stolenmedal.com. He was contact through the site by the family of six-year-old girl Chloe Smith who had found the medal whilst out for a walk with her father. Jacobi was out enjoying a meal with his family when th...

Training to take part in the Olympics is an unforgiving business - years of hard work easily undone by injury, loss of form or even confidence. But for American middle distance runner Sarah Brown, her road to Rio took something of a more pronounced bump. A surprise pregnancy! In March, just five months before Rio 2016, Sarah gave birth, having continued to train throughout her pregnancy. Her goal...

Austria play Hungary on Tuesday, so who do you support if you are the Archduke of Austria, but also the Crown Prince of Hungary? We put that exact question to His Imperial and Royal Highness Ferdinand Zvonimir von Habsburg-Lothringen, Archduke of Austria, Crown Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. Irish Double For the first time Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will appear together...

We hear from those who have had their lives influenced by Muhammad Ali Photo: Muhammad Ali in the ring Credit: Getty Images

As Jose Mourinho takes up his new position as manager of Manchester United we speak to a man has also managed Chelsea and Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti. He tells us what he would do if were taking control of Manchester United. He also reveals his year off from football has been busy including making his Hollywood film debut in Star Trek movie Pep Talk In the interest of fairness we profile Pep Guar...

We’re celebrating the FA Cup Final by delving into the competitions history and giving more than a passing nod to Saturday’s match. Invested comedians Kevin Day (Crystal Palace fan) takes on Justin Moorhouse (Manchester United supporter) in a bid to persuade as many neutrals as possible that it’s their team they should be rooting for! If You Manage the Team, You Have to Visit! Be careful who you c...

We hear the powerfully moving story of former British welterweight boxing champion Kevin Lueshing. His formative years growing up in South London were dominated by physical and sexual abuse, but it was boxing that saved him and allowed him to shine a light on abuse. Olympics in 3D German cyclist Denise Schindler will be attempting to go one better than her silver at the London 2012 Paralympics. Sh...

When you meet someone you've never met before, how do you introduce yourself? It's as if someone has asked you to sum up who you are in one sentence. For many athletes their identity is their sport So what happens when your identity is taken from you? Claire Hanna - a member of the Canadian women's volleyball team - found out when she was told by her coach that her international career was over, a...

The San Quentin Correction Facility is one of North America's most notorious prisons. It has held convicts like Charles Manson, and today it houses the largest death row population in the USA. The cells are dark, claustrophobic and threatening. However outside in the Californian sun is one of the more progressive rehabilitation projects in the American penial system: The San Quentin tennis program...

Searching for swimmers in the South Pacific Situated in the tropics, Tonga is surrounded by the blue waters of the South Pacific. But few Tongans can swim or are tempted into the water. Now efforts are being made to change that, and even find a future Olympian, as Aaron Kearney reports from the Kingdom. Mum's the word For some elite sportswomen, motherhood is something that comes after their caree...

Jonas Gutierrez has been speaking to Sportshour after an employment tribunal found he was dropped by Newcastle United because of his cancer diagnosis. He told Caroline Barker some of his former-team mates called to congratulate him after the verdict. The 32-year-old was suing the Magpies for about $3,000,000 on the grounds of disability discrimination. The tribunal also ruled the club made it impo...

We are on the course at Aintree in Liverpool ahead of the world’s most famous horse race, The Grand National. We speak to the Leighton Aspel who is looking to become the first ever jockey to win the race three years in a row. He is riding last years winner Many Clouds, who is hoping to become the first horse since Red Rum to win the Grand National in consecutive years. The Man Who Taught Tricks to...

The new Major League Baseball season starts this weekend set against the back drop of a new era in relations between Cuba and the USA. The sport has always played a significant role politically between the two counties, not least back in the 1960s for a young man from Maryland, USA at the start of his sporting career. Tom Brown is one of very few people who have played professional football, he wo...

This week's visit by Barack Obama to Cuba, was the first by a sitting US president since the 1959 revolution. It followed two years of secret talks which eventually restored embassies in Havana and Washington. On Tuesday Presidents Obama and Castro even sat together, to watch a baseball, between the Cuban National team and the Tampa Bay Rays from the US Major League -- a league that features many...

Caroline Barker investigates the softer side of one of sports most bitter rivalries as India prepare to host Pakistan at the World T20 but their fans are uniting on Social Media using the hashtag #ProfileforPeace in an effort to ease tensions between the countries. We'll hear from Eddie Izzard as he runs 27 Marathons in 27 days in honour of Nelson Mandela and Sports Relief. Reaction from Britian's...

Richard Parks is set to take on his toughest challenge. He's used to rough sporting battles, having played rugby union for Wales, but it's his career as a self-styled "Extreme Environmental Athlete" that has really pushed him to the limits. His next goal is to climb Everest without the aid of oxygen, taking blood samples for medical research into Alzheimers along the way. In doing so he hopes to b...

To mark International Women’s Day we’ve gathered in conversation four women who in their own way have confronted and overcome some of the most significant barriers facing women in sport. We’ll also look back at some of the stories Sportshour has covered in the past year, from body image to physical and mental abuse of female athletes. We’ll ask if the past twelve months has seen any progress towar...

It's a parent's instinct to want the best for their child, and to help them achieve it, but at what point does a supportive Mother or a Father cross the line and start putting too much pressure on their off-spring? Olympic Swimmer Karen Pickering has been investigating the world of children’s sport - speaking to a ten year old that was getting booed by other parents and to a man who didn't realise...

A ban on women spectators at volleyball games in Iran was supposed to be lifted for this week's men's international beach volleyball event on Kish Island. But "mis-understandings" meant some women were denied entry. Fernando Lima, secretary general of the sport's governing body, has been telling Sportshour why the event took place. (Image: General view shows a volleyball match between Iran and Nor...