Sporting Witness

In July 1992, Andre Agassi became a tennis superstar when he won the Wimbledon men’s title at the age of 21. But beneath the showman image, Agassi was in private turmoil – in pain from a back problem, depressed and secretly hating his sport. Later in his career, Agassi would even smoke crystal meth. Simon Watts tells his story using BBC archive interviews. PHOTO: Andre Agassi in action at Wimbledo...

In July 2004, Greece pulled off one of the biggest shocks in football history by winning the European Championship with a 1-0 victory over Portugal. The Greeks had never previously scored a point in tournament football, but fought their way to the final thanks to set-pieces and a well-marshalled defence. Charlotte North talks to the Greek goal-scorer, Angelos Charisteas. The programme is a Whistle...

In 2004 the first Cheerleading World Championships, or Worlds, were held at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. It was a big moment for All Star Cheer – a new sport made up of demanding group routines of coordinated tumbles and stunts, rather than supporting a sports team from the sidelines. Lucy Burns talks to Ambrel Brannon, a member of the winning Cheer Athletics senior girls' squad, about...

Bermuda-born Clyde Best came to England as a teenager in 1968 and went on to play for West Ham United alongside the likes of Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. Best made a name for himself as a talented goal-scorer in more than 200 appearances for the Hammers, but he faced constant racist abuse from fans, and on occasion, from opposition players. Now in his 60s, Clyde Best has been telling Mike Lanchin...

At the 2000 Olympics, American Rulon Gardner pulled off the greatest shock in the history of modern Greco-Roman wrestling when he beat the Russian Aleksander Karelin. Karelin had not been defeated for 13 years and had already prepared a party to celebrate his latest gold medal. The win made Gardner a hero in America and is credited with sparking a boom in the popularity of his sport. He talks to A...

In 2016, the Muslim-American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad made history by becoming the first US athlete to wear a hijab at the Olympic Games. After facing questions about her hijab and political views throughout her career, Ibtihaj was trailed by the global media throughout the Rio games. She overcame a shaky start to win a bronze medal in the team sabre event. Ibtihaj Muhammad has since written a popu...

The blind African paralympian Tofiri Kibuuka has the unique distinction of competing successfully for two different countries in two different events. In 1976, Kibbuuka represented Uganda in cross-country skiing at the inaugural winter Paralympics in Sweden. To escape the Idi Amin regime, Kibbuka then took Norwegian nationality and switched to middle-distancing running, taking part in three succes...

The Italian cyclist, Fausto Coppi, is considered one of the greatest riders of all time – known as “Il Campionissimo”, he was a two-time winner of the Tour De France and five-time winner of the Tour of Italy. But in his home country he is remembered equally for an affair with a married woman called Giulia Occhini, which scandalized the nation in the 1950s. Alicia Gioia talks to Faustino Coppi, Fau...

In May 1988, Wimbledon secured a shock victory over a great Liverpool side in the 1988 FA Cup Final. Known as the "Crazy Gang" because of their physicality and tough attitude, the Wimbledon players went one-nil up after 37 minutes and somehow kept the lead thanks to some typically uncompromising defending. Alex Capstick talks to Wimbledon goal hero, Lawrie Sanchez. (Photo: Lawrie Sanchez, centre l...

In December 2012, Maria Toorpakai Wazir reached the top 50 of women’s squash after an extraordinary struggle to become a professional player. Born in the tribal areas of Pakistan, Maria’s family disguised her as a boy until she was a teenager so she could try sport. After the Taliban discovered her true identity, Maria was threatened and she went into hiding until a Canadian former squash champion...

In 1972, the Northern Irish athlete Mary Peters became a hero across the sectarian divide in her country by winning the gold medal in pentathlon at the Munich Olympics. At the age of 33, Peters was coming to the end of her career but she took victory in the final 200-metre sprint by just one tenth of a second, setting a World Record in the process. Mary Peters talks to Ian Williams. PHOTO: Mary Pe...

In the 1980s, a group of French teenagers created a sport with no equipment, no coaches and no rules. Called Parkour, the idea is to convert your local town into an obstacle course by jumping across rooftops, vaulting walls and hanging off ledges. Parkour is now so popular that it has featured in a Madonna video and a James Bond film. Claire Bowes talks to one of Parkour's founders, Sebastien Fouc...

When sports enthusiast Van Phillips lost his foot in a water-skiing accident, he decided to design a prosthetic leg that would allow him to keep running. He used carbon graphite which was light, flexible and strong. His invention would revolutionise para-sports. He tells Rebecca Kesby how he was determined to improve the clumsy prosthetic legs available in the 1980s, to allow amputees to feel the...

In 1991, Wade Leslie stunned the world of professional rodeo by becoming the first – and only – cowboy to achieve a perfect score of 100 points for a bull-ride. Leslie stayed in full control of an angry 1500-pound bull called Wolfman at a meeting in Oregon. He talks to Jonathan Holloway. The programme is a Made-In-Manchester Production. PHOTO: Wade Leslie (courtesty Wade Leslie)

SPORTING WITNESS – IRONMAN’S IRON WOMAN (26th MARCH). In 1982, Julie Moss made headlines when she crawled to the finish line of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii after collapsing just metres from the end of her race. It was her first competitive triathlon and she came second, but as Julie explains to Rebecca Kesby, that heroic fight for the line changed her life, and her attitude to the spo...

During World War Two, the Hungarian swimmer, Eva Szekely, was saved from the Holocaust because of her father's quick thinking and her own talent for swimming. Eva Szekely would go on to break six world records and become an Olympic gold medallist at the 1952 Helsinki games. She died in February 2020. Louise Hidalgo tells her story using archive interviews with Eva Szekely held at the USC Shoah Fou...

In 1995, the Scottish driver Colin McRae became the youngest ever winner of the World Rally Championship after a dramatic victory in the last race of the season in North Wales. McRae’s no-holds-barred driving style later inspired a video game that brought rallying to a wider audience. He died in a helicopter crash in 2007. His brother, Alistair McRae, talks to Jonathan Holloway. (Photo: Colin McRa...

In 1998, a Kenyan farmer called Philip Boit became one of the first Africans to compete in the Winter Olympics. In the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing final he faced the legendary Norwegian, Bjorn Daehlie. It was a race that would unite the two athletes and inspire future Winter Olympians across Africa. This programme was first broadcast in 2014. PHOTO: Bjorn Daehlie and Philip Boit (Getty Image...

In February 1968, the Canadian skier Nancy Greene pulled off a flawless performance at the Winter Olympic Games, winning the Giant Slalom by a record-breaking margin of 2.6 seconds. Greene was nicknamed “Tiger” because of her attacking style, and the commanding victory made her one of the most popular Canadian sportswomen of all time. Nancy Greene talks to Freddy Chick. (Photo: Nancy Greene is che...

In February 1990, a little-known fighter called James “Buster” Douglas pulled off arguably the biggest shock in boxing history by beating the previously undefeated Mike Tyson to take the world heavyweight title. The fight was expected to be such a foregone conclusion that only one casino agreed to take bets on a "Buster Douglas win, but the outsider battered “Iron Mike” again and again with his ja...

How a wounded Vietnam war veteran became an NFL Super Bowl champion. Rocky Bleier was a young American football player beginning his career in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But in 1968 he was drafted into the US Army to serve in the VIetnam war. He was injured in combat and his career appeared over. But Rocky fought his way back to become a member of the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers team...

In 1975 a group of young black soccer players from apartheid-era South Africa went on tour to Brazil. They were part of a team known as "Stan's Men", organised by the English soccer legend, Sir Stanley Matthews, in the black township of Soweto. Matthews had been helping train youngsters in South Africa since the 1950s, in defiance of the racist white government, and continued travelling there afte...

In the 1980s, P.T. Usha, a sprinter and hurdler from the southern Indian state of Kerala, became the first woman from her country to achieve major success in athletics. But in 1984 she missed out on a medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles by an agonising 100th of a second. P.T. Usha talks to Farhana Haider. (Photo: P.T. Usha in action in the 1980s. Credit: Getty Images)

In January 2010, a guerrilla group in Angola opened fire on the buses carrying the Togo football team as they travelled to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The machine-gun fire lasted 30 minutes and killed two members of the Togolese delegation. Ashley Byrne talks to Elitsa Kodjo Lanou, the Togo team’s technical director about a day that changed football in Africa. The programme is a Made-In-...

In January 1992, Wrexham caused one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history by beating reigning English champions Arsenal 2-1 in a third-round tie. At the time, Wrexham were languishing near the bottom of the Football League and struggling to survive financially. Jim Frank talks to one of the Welsh club’s goal-scorers, Steve Watkin. PHOTO: The victorious Wrexham team in 1992 (Getty Images)