Sporting Witness

In 1995, promising Kenyan runner Henry Wanyoike suffered a stroke and lost his sight. After initially feeling depressed, Henry learnt how to run tethered to a guide and went on to a set a series of long-distance running records for the blind. Henry Wanyoike talks to Alex Last. (Photo: Henry Wanyoike, right, with his guide on a run in 2013. Credit: Getty Images)

At the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, British sweethearts Ann Packer and Robbie Brightwell became household names all over the world when they both competed in the running events. Ann would win a gold medal at her least favourite distance, the 800 metres, while Robbie had to make do with a silver in the 4x400 relay. As this was the amateur era, the couple retired after their first and only Olympic to get ma...

At the London 2012 Olympics, Somalia sprinter Zamzam Farah became a crowd favourite after finishing last in her 400-metre heat by a whopping 27 seconds. Zamzam had grown up in war-torn Mogadishu, where she had to dodge violence from the militant Al-Shabab group while training on the so-called "Road of Death". Zamzam competed with her body fully covered, but, after the Olympics, her family in Somal...

The first Olympic Games in Japan were held in 1964, less than 20 years after the country lost the Second World War. The bombed-out centre of Tokyo had been virtually rebuilt following the Allied Occupation, and the Japanese took the opportunity to showcase new technology such as the Bullet Train and colour TV broadcasts. Ashley Byrne talks to wrestling gold medallist, Yojiro Uetake, about his memo...

At the 2000 Sydney games, women were able to compete in the Pole Vault at the Olympics for the first time. It followed the emergence of a generation of vaulters led by America’s Stacy Dragila, who proved that women could master an event traditionally regarded as too physically demanding and too technically difficult for them. Stacy Dragila went on to win the first women’s Olympic gold medal in her...

In the late 1970s and early 80s, Sweden’s Bjorn Borg was the biggest star in world tennis and arguably the sport’s first sex symbol. Always besieged by young female fans, Borg won five Wimbledon championships in a row and enjoyed a famous rivalry with John McEnroe, which culminated in an epic tie-break in the 1980 final. But Bjorn Borg would then shock the world of sport by retiring in 1983 at the...

In July 2000, France became only the second team to hold the World Cup and European Championship titles at the same time. Already the reigning World Champions, a French side featuring all-time greats such as Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps struggled to break down their Italian opponents. But everything changed in the final moments of a dramatic final, as midfielder Robert Pires tells Steve Ha...

In June 1976, Czechoslovakia won the men’s European football championship with probably the most famous penalty kick in history. During a penalty shootout against West Germany, midfielder Antonín Panenka waited for the goalkeeper to dive and then casually chipped the ball down the middle of the goal. The technique is now known as a “Panenka” and has been copied by everyone from Zinedine Zidane to...

In June 1996, an England team led by Paul Gascoigne went on an impressive run as hosts of the European championships – with the terrace anthem “Football’s Coming Home” becoming the soundtrack for a summer of national euphoria. But the tournament would end in English tears when future national manager Gareth Southgate missed the decisive penalty in an agonising semi-final shoot-out against Germany....

In June 1988, Holland finally won a major international football tournament when they defeated the Soviet Union in the final of the 1988 European Championship. The Dutch sealed victory with an almost-impossible volley by striker Marco Van Basten. Matthew Kenyon talks to Arnold Muhren, the veteran midfielder who set up one of the greatest goals in football history. PHOTO:

In June 1992, Denmark’s top footballers were relaxing on the beach when they received an urgent call to take part in the Euro 92 tournament. The Danes had failed to qualify for the championship, but were now needed as replacements for Yugoslavia, a country that no longer existed because it had descended into civil war. In a surprise to everyone, including themselves, Denmark then went on to win th...

In 1992, badminton legend Susi Susanti won the first ever Olympic Gold medal for Indonesia. It was the first time that badminton had been included as an Olympic sport in the games, giving them a special significance for Susi's badminton-obsessed home country. For Susi, it was also a moment when she could show her national pride as an Indonesian who hailed from the nation's ethnic Chinese minority....

In March 2011, Anthony Robles won a national college wrestling title in the United States despite being born with only one leg. Relying on upper-body strength and a unique sense of balance, Robles went undefeated throughout the entire season and was voted the outstanding wrestler of the NCAA finals. He also holds the world record for the most pull-ups in one minute. Anthony Robles talks to Ian Wil...

In the early 1980s, Aberdeen went from Scottish footballing obscurity to the very top of the European game, beating mighty Real Madrid to win the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup. The sporting fairy-tale made the reputation of Sir Alex Ferguson, before he went on to manage Manchester United. Alex Capstick spoke to former Aberdeen assistant manager Archie Knox and former midfielder Neale Cooper. Neal...

In the 1980s, the Spanish hurdler Maria-Jose Patiño was forced to quit athletics after a sex test revealed she had male chromosomes due to a rare genetic condition called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. Often facing hostile press coverage, Patiño fought a two-year battle to change the international rules – successfully proving that her chromosome pattern did not improve her athletic performance a...

In 1982, Kuwait made their first and only appearance at the football World Cup, with their amateur side putting up respectable performances against France and England. But press attention focused on the Kuwaitis’ team mascot – a camel called Haydoo, who became such a fan favourite that he even inspired a hit song. Sumaya Bakhsh talks to Kuwait captain, Saad al-Houty, about how Haydoo came to repre...

In 1990, two of Ghana’s most talented sprinters, Gus Nketia and Laud Codjoe, escaped from their national team’s accommodation at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland. The pair had made friends in New Zealand and wanted to flee from a country with an increasingly repressive government. They were helped by an extended Maori family, who hid them in the New Zealand backcountry and helped them apply for...

In the 1980s, the American boxer, Gail Grandchamp, launched a long campaign for the right to take part in amateur competitions in the USA. Representing herself and raising money through part-time jobs, Gail was eventually successful in 1992 - blazing a trail for women boxers the world over. She spoke to Rebecca Kesby in 2016. PHOTO: Gail Grandchamp squaring up (The Berkshire Eagle)

In 2003, Italian top-flight side Perugia made a new and unusual signing: Al-Saadi Gaddafi, the son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. It was seen as a publicity stunt by headline-hungry Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci, with Gaddafi making just one Serie A appearance, as a substitute in a win against Juventus in 2004. But Gaddafi made a big impression off the field and was renowned for his playboy li...

At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Zimbabwean sprinter Elliot Mujaji won his country’s first ever Paralympic gold medal when he sprinted to victory in the 100 metres. Mujaji had been a promising runner as a teenager, but suffered severe burns and the amputation of his right arm while working in a part-time job as an electrician. Mujaji then faced a tough battle to get sponsorship in a country...

In 1982, the first ever Gay Games were held in San Francisco. Attracting a large crowd and featuring more than 1000 athletes from more than 100 countries, the event was organised by a group of LGBT activists, including former Olympians, to raise awareness about homophobia in sport. The Gay Games are now held every four years at venues around the world. Ashley Byrne speaks to organiser Sara Waddell...

French Canadian Manon Rhéaume became the first, and only, woman to play in the National Hockey League. In 1992 she was signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a goaltender after a successful performance in training camp. Manon tells Rebecca Kesby how she started playing ice hockey at the age of 5 with her brothers, and why she loves playing in goal with pucks flying at her at well over 100km an hour....

In 1996, Nova Peris became the first aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal when the “Hockeyroos” women’s hockey team took victory at the Atlanta games. Peris’s mother was one of Australia’s so-called Stolen Generation – the aboriginal children separated from their families by the state – and Peris experienced racial abuse herself during her sporting career. After triumphing in hockey,...

In 2003, the NFL introduced a landmark diversity policy requiring American football teams to interview ethnic minority candidates for positions as head coaches or general managers. Known as the “Rooney Rule”, the policy was the result of organised pressure from black coaches and former players, led by former NFL champion, John Wooten. Initially seen as a success, the Rooney Rule has been influenti...

In 2004, Mianne Bagger of Denmark became the first transitioned woman to play in a professional golf tournament when she played in the Australian women's open in Sydney. It was a landmark moment for trans sport and made headlines around the world. Mianne Bagger talks to Robbie Wojciechowski. PHOTO: Mianne Bagger in action in 2010 (Getty Images)