Sporting Witness

It was supposed to be a friendly match between Egyptian giants Zamalek and Czechoslovakian side Dukla Prague, but before the game started there was a deadly crush in the crowds. The day before the game on 17 February 1974, the venue had been changed from the larger Cairo Stadium to Zamalek's home ground. It was reported that 48 people died and 47 were injured in a stampede. Josephine McDermott hea...

In 1996, South Africa won the Africa Cup of Nations, bringing sporting joy to a country still recovering from Apartheid. It was the Bafana Bafana team's first victory at an international football tournament. In 2015, two members of the multi-racial side, Phil Masinga and Mark Fish, spoke to Will Yates. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service. (Photo: South Africa captain Neil Tovey lifts th...

In 1984, Lamine Gueye of Senegal became the first black African skier to take part in the Winter Olympics. The grandson of a prominent Senegalese politician, Gueye founded his country's ski federation and for a long time was the only member. In 2017, he spoke to Tayo Popoola. A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service. (Photo: Lamine at the 1996 World Championships. Credit: Jerome Prevost/Temp...

Lin Dan has dominated badminton for several decades. The Chinese star nicknamed 'Super Dan' clinched the sport's Super Grand Slam - winning 9 major titles by the age of 28 and the first player to achieve the feat. But it was his Olympic Games Gold medals which are particularly special to him. He speaks to Wendy Tang about how he got to be a world great. This is a Made Manchester Production for the...

The Elfstedentocht is one of the toughest sporting events there is. It’s an ice skating race around the lakes and canals of the northern Dutch province of Friesland – and it can only take place when it is particularly cold. The last one was in 1997, but the most notorious happened back in January 1963, when only 69 of the 10,000 skaters made it to the end of the 200 km course. The rest were stoppe...

In 2000, Sven-Goran Eriksson got the job as manager of England’s men’s football team. He was the first non-English person to do the job. Some in England were sceptical about an overseas coach when Sven moved from his post at Lazio in Italy to succeed Kevin Keegan as England boss. Sven tells Uma Doraiswamy about the media’s reaction to this sporting first, his quest to understand the Liverpudlian a...

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima was leading the Men’s Marathon with six kilometres to go. What happened next shocked the millions of fans watching and propelled Vanderlei into becoming a universal role model for sportsmanship. He relives those last kilometres with Uma Doraiswamy. (Photo: Vanderlei de Lima being attacked by Cornelius Horan. Credit: Jiro Mochizuki/ AFP via G...

In 1970, Yuichiro Miura became the first man to ski on Mount Everest, starting from the height of the ‘death zone’, an elevation where there isn't enough oxygen to survive for long. His daring ski run saw him reach a speed of 160 kilometres per hour, before he crashed into a boulder and narrowly avoided falling into a crevasse. Not satisfied with this achievement, he also became the oldest person...

Caster Semenya was just 18-years-old when she won gold in the 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Her victory was controversial because the South African runner was facing questions over her gender. So much so, that she was made to take a gender test on the eve of the final. The test revealed that the teenager had been born with internal testes and no womb. It meant she had highe...

In 2003, arguably one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Roger Federer won the Wimbledon Men’s title. Aged just 21, it was his first major win and was the start of a record eight men’s single titles at the championships. Uma Doraiswamy goes through the BBC and Wimbledon archives where the Swiss champion looks back on his momentous win. (Photo: Roger Federer holds the trophy after his vict...

In December 1993, EA Sports released Fifa International Soccer, also known as Fifa 94. The football game sold half a million copies in its first month and went on to become a cultural phenomenon. Coder Jan Tian was the lead developer. He tells Vicky Farncombe how his devotion to the task landed him in hospital. (Photo: Fifa International Soccer, the first Fifa game. Credit: Fifa/EA Sports/ Moby Ga...

In 1978, first division football side West Bromwich Albion became the first professional British club to visit communist China. The visit came as the communist country wanted to improve relations with the West after the death of Chairman Mao Zedong. The team played five exhibition matches, including one against the Chinese national team in Beijing in front a crowd of 90,000 people. Alex Last spoke...

In 2003, Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, came up with the idea of combining two of his passions – chess and boxing. Using the cerebral strategy of chess along with the physicality of boxing, the winner is decided by either a checkmate or knockout. Ashley Byrne speaks to Jean-Louis Veenstra, who fought Rubingh at the inaugural World Chessboxing Championship in Amsterdam. This is a Made in Manchester pro...

In 2006, Lindsey Jacobellis was riding high in the world of snowboarding and arrived at that year’s Winter Olympics in Turin in Italy, a firm favourite to win gold in the inaugural Snowboard Cross event. What followed was the most infamous moments of that year’s games, as Lindsey’s Olympic dream came crashing down in a split second. Nearly 20 years later, Lindsey speaks to Jorja McAndrew to talk t...

In January 2010, Egypt beat Ghana 1-0 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations to complete an unprecedented treble, having won in 2006 and 2008. It was also the seventh time they won the cup, a feat unmatched by any of their rivals in the African Confederation. Justice Baidoo speaks to Egyptian fullback Ahmed Fathy and Ghanaian defender Samuel Inkoom. This is a Made in Manchester production for B...

In 2003, England beat Australia in Sydney to win the Rugby World Cup. The match was famous for England's fly-half, Jonny Wilkinson, kicking the winning points in the dying seconds. England's coach, Sir Clive Woodward, and Australia's captain, George Gregan, recount that night to Ben Henderson. (Photo: Sir Clive Woodward lifts the Rugby World Cup trophy. Credit: Joe Mann/Offside via Getty Images)

Joseph Pilates developed a system of strengthening exercises which are now practised all over the world. He called it "contrology", but it's now better known as just Pilates. We hear from Mary Bowen, one of the Pilates Elders, who studied with Joseph Pilates and his wife Clara in New York in the 1950s. (Photo: Joseph Pilates, inventor, physical fitness guru and founder of the Pilates exercise meth...

Nearly 60 years ago, New South Wales in Australia hosted the first official World Surfing Championships. The competition attracted around 200 entries, including surfers from France, USA, South Africa, England, Peru and New Zealand. The event was held in May at Sydney's Manly Beach and pulled in a crowd of up to 60,000 people. Australian finalist Mick Dooley speaks to Patrick Kiteley about competin...

The Netherlands embarrased England at Lord's on the opening day of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup. The top scorer for the Dutch was Tom de Grooth and he speaks to Matthew Kenyon about the famous victory. (Photo: Tom De Grooth of Netherlands plays a reverse shot watched by James Foster of England during their ICC World Twenty20 Cup match at Lord's cricket ground in London, on June 5, 2009. Credit:...

Australian tenpin bowler Cara Honeychurch on her incredible streak of becoming World Champion and Bowler of the Year in 1996, then winning three golds at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. She speaks to Ashley Byrne in this Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service. (Photo: Cara Honeychurch bowling in Melbourne, Australia in 2003. Credit: Jeff Crowe / Sport the Library)

In 2012, Zahra Lari from the UAE, made history by becoming the first figure skater to compete in a hijab. When she was 17 she took part in her first international competition, and although her routine went well, the judges deducted points for her headscarf. After the competition, she met with the International Skating Union and convinced them that the rules should allow the hijab to be worn, with...

When part-time fighter Chuck Wepner is given a shot to fight heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in 1975, no one gives him a chance. But his heroism in the ring knocked down all expectations, including those of the champ, and inspired a cinematic saga in the process. He speaks to Ben Wyatt about the build up and the big fight itself. This is a Comuniqé production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: C...

In 2015, Japan’s Rugby Union team pulled off one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time, when they beat South Africa in their opening match of the World Cup in England. The Brave Blossoms’ win over one of the giants of world rugby would have been unimaginable before the team’s remarkable transformation under its captain Michael Leitch and head coach Eddie Jones. Michael Leitch spoke to Theo W...

In 1977 English batsman Dennis Amiss became the first cricket player in the modern game to wear protective headgear. Derided and taunted by spectators, as well as some players, the pioneering use of head protection revolutionised pitch safety. He speaks to Wayne Wright about the profound effect in had on the sport. This is a Made in Manchester Production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: 10th Jun...

In September 1997, the Australian tennis player Pat Rafter was the surprise winner of the US Open. Dismissed as a “fluke” victory by John McEnroe, Rafter returned to Flushing Meadows the following year to retain the title and also became world number one. Pat Rafter talks to Ashley Byrne about the victories and his career. The programme is a Made-In-Manchester Production. (Photo: Pat Rafter in act...