Athletics Life Stories

Andrew Steele, Olympian and Innovator

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Running up £20,000 debt, an eight-year wait for an Olympic medal, jumping from the UK to Ireland (on ITV's This Morning weather map), best mates with Greg Rutherford, running the Premier League's COVID testing programme and becoming a successful tech entrepreneur towards floatation on the Nasdaq. This is a wide-ranging and fascinating interview with former British 400m runner Andrew Steele.

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Kathy Butler, mud, sweat and tears

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

1996 and 2004 Olympian Kathy Butler takes us through a career that saw her win medals at World and European Cross Country Championships, win European Cup gold, Goodwill Games bronze and - she tells us - miss out on a third Olympics with some dubious selection shenanigans. Now as US national coach, she also discusses her role off track and the advancement of shoe technology.

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World Championships special

Sat, 26 Aug 2023 09:29:00 -0000

Host Chris Broadbent downloads his dictaphone of delights featuring interviews with some of the biggest current stars of athletics. Includes Karsten Warholm, Mondo Duplantis, Jazmin Sawyers, Krisjan Ceh, Jakub Vadlejch, Elina Tzengko, Auriel Dongmo, Sasha Zhoya and Silja Kosonen.

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Stefan Holm, raising the bar

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 14:49:00 -0000

On a visit to Stockholm's BAUHAUS-galan meeting, we took the chance to interview one of the athletes from the Sweden's golden era in the early 2000s, Olympic high jump champion Stefan Holm. He talks us through his rise through the ranks onwards to four Word indoor titles and his place as the man who has jumped the furthest above his own height ever. We also discuss his love for LEGO and an unlikely new career as a romantic novelist.

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Dean Macey, Guts and glory

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0000

One of the most genuine athletes in a generation, Dean Macey was the no-frills decathlete from Essex who captivated British athletics fans at multiple major championships from 1999 to 2006.

Frequently battling with injuries and niggles, he grittily fought his way to two World Championship medals and Commonwealth Games gold and just missed out on Olympic medals, finishing fourth in both Sydney and Athens.

Macey was just as well known for his straight-talking manner which both the media and fans of the sport lapped up. He is still just as honest and open and takes us behind the scenes with some previously unheard stories behind the successes and near-misses. It wouldn’t be Dean Macey without a liberal sprinkling of industrial language, so this is not a podcast for the faint-hearted. It is – however - pure unadulterated Dean Macey.

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Jared Deacon, Running in the family

Mon, 22 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Jared Deacon was a dependable cog in a highly effective British men's 4x400m medal-winning machine. He was rewarded with medals at World, European and Commonwealth level and an appearance at the Sydney Olympics. Coming from a family of eight where his father was a former sprinter and his mother a talented swimmer, sport was deep in the family DNA. His siblings all took part in sport, including one occasion where he teamed up with his three brothers for a unique relay. He married another international runner, Scotland's Susan Deacon nee Burnside and their children now compete stretching the Deacon family involvement to another generation. His life has been touched with tragedy, but also with some quirky highs, such as his unusual world record. Jared has a really great story to tell of a life in athletics on and off track.

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Steve Edwards, Marathon Man

Mon, 15 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

From being bullied at school to becoming one of the most iconic figures of the UK running scene. Steve Edwards cuts a distinctive figure at every marathon he takes part in...and it's now nearly 1000 of them. Since running his first marathon in 1981 he has gone on to accrue record after record as he logs marathon after marathon. Now he is closing in on 1000 marathons in an average finish time under 3:30. A remarkable man with a remarkable story.

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Charlie Spedding, Unlikely Olympic Hero

Mon, 08 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Still no5 in the UK all-time men's marathon rankings and the last British athlete to have won and Olympic marathon medal, Charlie Spedding remains one of the great names in the UK over the classic distance. His name in the record books seemed unlikely growing up in a mining community in North East England where he would struggle academically and even in PE. He did find he had ability in endurance running, but it took him a decade to emerge from a pack of distance running talent in the region to become one of the world's leading marathon runners, going on to win in London, take bronze in LA 1984 and go on to place 6th at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

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Brian Whittle, running and running for power

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Five-times European medallist and Commonwealth medallist-turned Member of the Scottish Parliament, Brian Whittle enjoyed a sustained period on the international athletics circuit. He is still probably best known for losing a shoe whilst helping GB & NI to 4x400m gold at the 1986 European Championships. His career spanned some of the biggest moments in the mid 80s to eary 90s in the sport. He has anecodotes galore with behind the scenes stories including Kris Akabusi, Seb Coe, Ben Johnson, Tom McKean and more. Plus stories of iconic events from Seoul to Bislett to Auckland and Edinburgh to life in the coridoors of power in his native Scotland.

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Rick Broadbent, Award Winning Author

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 07:09:00 -0000

A former winner of the British Sports Book Awards, Rick Broadbent is a highly accomplished long-time sports writer for The Times. He has authored books on Jessica Ennis-Hill and Emil Zatopek, reported on four Olympic Games and seven World Athletics Championships. In this wide ranging interview and with an obvious passion for the sport, he provides a great overview on athletics' status in the current climate. He also provides some great anecdotes of life behind the scenes with some of the world's leading sports stars in athletics and beyond.

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David Gillick, Irish trailblazer

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

David Gillick became the first Irish sprinter to win gold at a major championships for 76 years, when he won the 2005 European Indoor 400m title in Madrid. It was a title he defended two years later in Birmingham. He brought a refreshing flash of green to the sprinting lanes of major championships from a country whose athletics heritage was dominated by the middle and long distance disciplines. His Olympic career was not what he hoped where illness and injury hampered him. And the premature end of his career caused him to slip towards depression, but he rebuilt his wellbeing through rediscovering running through Parkrun and a lower-key comeback to the track. He also found time to win Ireland’s Celebrity Masterchef. He gives a brilliantly honest overview of a fascinating life in and out of the sport, the demons he has faced up to and overcome.

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Jamie Baulch, Wales to the world

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Adopted at six months old and growing up in rural Wales, a route to the top of elite athletics was an improbable one. But Jamie Baulch made it to the top, becoming World Indoor Champion over 400m. Competing in the toughest eras of UK one lap running, he cut a diminutive and distinctive figure, competing at top level for a decade against the likes of Roger Black, Iwan Thomas and being guided by Colin Jackson among others. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses the shameful episode of the re-awarding of 4x400m gold medals, what was the final straw that led him to retire, the importance of sport psychology, being a household name, his post athletics career and his journey to meet his biological parents.

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Tasha Danvers, the mother of comebacks

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0000

As befits her event of the 400m hurdles, London's Tasha Danvers has had a career that has been a huge challenge, with many barriers on the way. She became a mother at the peak of her career, suffered depression and even made a suicide attempt. But today she can look back happily and healthily on a career that brought her Olympic and Commonwealth medals from her life in Los Angeles, where she is a mentor and coach, inspiring people to find the best version of themselves. Colourful, funny, moving, Tasha is must-listen.

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Rob Denmark, the only way is endurance

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0000

In a career that spanned the African revolution in distance running, Essex's own Rob Denmark faced some of the greatest athletes in the sport. He met the challenge and - at times - succeeded. A determined and hard-working athlete, he won Commonwealth gold, European silver and World Indoor bronze. He raced some of the sport's greats including Paul Tergat, Haile Gebrselassie and the UK's legendary trio Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram at the latter end of their careers, Now a renowned coach, he has worked with Jess Judd, Melissa Courtney-Bryant and Amy-Eloise Markovc among others. He gives a fascinating account of a life in long distance running.

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Jo Pavey, cream of Devon

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0000

In a storied career Jo Pavey represented Team GB at five Olympic Games, more than any other track athlete. But it was in 2014 when she really captured the public's imagination when she won her first major title aged 40 - and as a mum of two - when she won 10,000m gold at the European Championships. One of the most down-to-earth and genuine runners of her generation, the Devon born and bred runner tells a facinating - and often funny - story of her journey to top level athletics. We talk backpacking, hot chocolate in the Olympic village with Kelly Holmes, being slightly tipsy in front of the Queen, family life, frustrations of competing against drug cheats and ultimately, gold medal glory.

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Helen Clitheroe, Lancashire's late bloomer

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

After years of dogged determination, hard work and near misses, the versatile Helen Clitheroe won her first major international aged 37 when taking 3000m gold at the 2011 European Indoor Championships. It was a just reward for the gritty competitor in her 14th year on the international scene. A double Olympian, Commonwealth bronze medallist she was a mainstay of the British team for 17 years across track, road and cross country. Now a coach, she oversees a great stable of athletes that includes European and Commonwealth medallist Ciara Mageean. Articulate, energetic and good humoured, Helen tells a great story of her varied life in the sport.

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Kate Dennison (Rooney), poles apart

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0000

Kate Dennison was the standard bearer for women’s pole vaulting in the UK. She set multiple national records in 2009 and 2010, taking over from Janine Whitlock as the foremost British athlete in the fledgling event and handing on the mantle to Holly Bradshaw. A world and European finalist, she is also a Commonwealth Games medallist. She competed in the same era as all-time great Yelena Isinbeyeva and represented Team GB at two Olympic Games. She has since gone on to be a successful coach and is of course, married to decorated 400m runner Martyn Rooney. She gives a fascinating interview of her time in the sport, including some of the intricacies of competing in one of athletics most nuanced and unique events.

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Ben Pochee, 10k innovator

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0000

A talented junior athlete who earned an England vest at cross country, Ben Pochee was a high-quality club senior athlete, though not quite quick enough for the very elite end of the sport. But it is as an innovative event organiser where he has made a real impact on the international stage. The Night of the 10,000m PBs at Parliament Hill has become one of the absolute gems of the British sporting year. A quirky mix of endurance running, beer tents, live music, pyrotechnics and family fun, it has completely revolutionised an event that was previously lucky to attract one man and his dog. This year is the 10th anniversary of the event and in this episode we look back on some of the moments that have taken the event to European Cup status and become the official trial event for Olympics and World Championships. We also explore the potential of other disciplines and how they could help transform athletics’ broader appeal.

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Tom Bosworth, walking the walk

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:13:00 -0000

A world record holder, Commonwealth medallist and the first openly gay British track and field athlete, Tom Bosworth has a fascinating roller coaster story. In this tell-all episode we cover his international career, including two contrasting Olympic Games, world records, disappointment at London 2017. There is also plenty on his life off track, including coming out publicly and his mental health struggles including suicide attempts. He has an inspiring and captivating story of resilience and hope.

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Chris Tomlinson, long haired leaper

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0000

With his long blond locks flailing in the wind and - sometimes - ungainly style, Chris Tomlinson cut a distinctive figure on the long jump runways for a decade and more. And although he didn’t come from one of the sport’s hotbeds, the Middlesbrough born jumper competed at three Olympic Games, including a best placed fifth in Athens. He also won World Indoor silver and European bronze in a long career on the international circuit. In this wide ranging interview, we cover his international career, his rivalry with Greg Rutherford, stepping away from the track, the ice cream business and why athletics needs to professionalise at grass roots.

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Paula Dunn, performance pioneer

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0000

One of the leading British sprinters of the 1980s and 1990s, Paula Dunn went on to be a ground breaking leader in athletics, when she was appointed as Paralympics Head Coach at UK Athletics. It made her the first British woman to hold a Head Coach post in the sport. After taking over the role from Peter Eriksson in 2012, whom she served as no2, she led Team GB athletics to their greatest ever medal haul at Rio 2016. It was from a glittering sprints career, winning Commonwealth and European medals from a very different era to today where she developed her work ethic. In this episode Paula discusses her own career and competing against the East Germans, Flo Jo and representing Team GB at the Olympics with support almost non-existent in a largely amateur era. On to her role in performance sport, including across three Paralympic Games.

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Martyn Rooney, anchor man

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0000

No British athlete has competed in more World Athletics Championships than 400m runner Martyn Rooney. With eight appearances, he holds the record jointly with Marlon Devonish. With ten senior medals from Olympic, World and European Championships, he is one of the most decorated athletes in modern times. He is also a two-time European Champion, but its possibly as the anchor leg of the 4x400m relay in which most people remember him. As the hard charging final leg runner, he was must-see sport in one of athletics’ most popular events, winning GB multiple medals. In this podcast, packed with great anecdotes, he talks openly about his years in the sport, including being married to former international pole vaulter Kate Dennison, he takes about being blanked by Jeremy Warriner, his reaction to the shocking news over former training partner Oscar Pistorius, getting started in the sport and being asked not to beat the Borlee brothers in Brussels.

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Jack Green, overcoming the barriers

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0000

A World Junior Championship finalist aged 18, a European under 23 gold medallist aged 20, in the World’s top ten and in an elite training group alongside the world champion, the athletics world was at the feet of Jack Green.

But after struggling through 2012 and crashing out in the semi-final at the London Olympics, he took leave from the sport citing depression. At the time, it was unprecedented for an elite athlete to be so open about their mental health and step away from the top level.

He came back to the track and won World and European medals and represented Team GB again at the Olympic Games, even whilst sleeping on a sofa and training alone. He also regards his fourth place finish at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as one of his greatest achievements, due to the circumstances.

In this fascinating interview, Jack offers a fresh perspective on high performance. He remains a huge fan of sport, but also challenges the notion that elite level sport is the healthy environment it is perceived to be.

Now retired, he has worked in wellbeing for BBC Studios and independently and is remarkably candid over his career and life outside the sport. A unique and must-listen episode.

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Best of 2022

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0000

A look back on some of the best bits from 2022 featuring a smorgasbord of tasty delights from Olympic heptathlon medallist Kelly Sotherton, Team GB Head Coach Charles van Commenee, European 110m hurdles champion Andy Turner, Olympic 4x100m champion Jason Gardener, European 400m hurdles winner Eilidh Doyle, European 10,000m silver medallist Chris Thompson, World 10,000m gold medallist Liz McColgan, Athletics Weekly Editor Jason Henderson, European 800m gold medallist Lynsey Sharp, World cross country medallist and commentator Tim Hutchings, World 400m hurdles winner Dai Greene, World 4x100m medallist Craig Pickering, World Indoor 800m bronze medallist Jo Mersh, Olympic 400m fourth placer Donna Fraser and European cross country winner Hayley Yelling.

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Chris Thompson, cult hero

Mon, 26 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0000

Chris Thompson is one of the most popular runners on the British distance running scene. A prodigiously talented young athlete, he began earning British under 20 vests from the age of 16. He won silver at the European Cross Country Championships and beat a certain Mo Farah to win 5000m gold at the European under 23 Championships. Injury dogged his progress, but he went on to win European silver as a senior behind Mo Farah and represent Team GB at London 2012. His Olympic days looked over as his 40th year loomed and he became a parent with athlete wife Jemma Simpson. But in a crazy week of new parenthood, having his hand run over, COVID protocols, he dredged up the run of a lifetime at Kew Gardens to win the Olympic marathon trial and implausibly earn a place for Tokyo 2020. It was a run that cemented Thommo's cult like status among the UK running community. He talks frankly and in his own inimitable way over the trials and tribulations of his career, including visa issues preventing him running at the 2022 World Championships, brushes with authority and lots of behind the scenes anecdotes and laughs from his 25 years plus in the sport. An absolute must listen episode.

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Lynsey Sharp, born runner

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0000

Born to two international athletes, life in track and field was always a possibility for Lynsey Sharp. But it was not a given that the little Scottish girl who played in the long jump sand pit whilst mum trained would go on to reach Olympic and World finals. But she did! And yet, it has been far from a straightforward journey to the global stage. The debilitating injuries to her father following a road accident, her hotly debated selection for London 2012 and being embroiled in the transgender debate in athletics have all left their mark on her. But with resilience and a pure passion for the sport she has ridden the storms to be one of the standout British middle distance runners of her generation, winning multiple international medals, with the possible highlight being Commonwealth silver in front of a raucous home crowd at Glasgow 2014. Married to fellow distance runner Andrew Butchart, she also talks enthusiastically about family and motherhood and her comeback to the track in 2023.

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Tim Hutchings, cross country star and commentator

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0000

He’s the last British man ever to win an individual medal at the World Cross Country Championships and a respected athletics commentator the world over. And he’s not short on opinions either! But with European and Commonwealth medals on the track along with two silver medals at the World Cross, he has earned the right. He competed in a golden era of British endurance running, schooled on brutal sessions at Crystal Palace under Frank Horwill. In this honest insight, he talks of tussles with some of the sport’s great names like Ovett, Ngugi and Aouita, breaking into commentary, launching the Brighton Marathon and his views on shoe technology and the demise of the World Cross Country Championships.

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Jo Mersh (Fenn), the model athlete

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0000

She’s the girl who grew up in an impoverished community in East London in the 1980s, but who went on to model for Stella McCartney via representing Team GB at the Olympic Games. Competing as Jo Fenn in her athletics career, her story is one of raw talent, perseverance, heartbreaks and glory on the global stage. Unable to afford her first England Schools tracksuit, the young prodigy had to overcome years of injury struggles before breaking through in her mid 20s where she became the pin-up girl of British Athletics, earning her stripes at Olympic and Commonwealth Games and a superb bronze at the World Indoor Championships over 800m. Multi-talented and comfortable on stage, she worked as a model and as a singer. Her exuberance and effervescence have made her a hugely popular member of the British athletics community among fellow athletes, officials and fans of the sport. Now settled with her young family in New Zealand, Jo talks with typical humour, honesty and - with the odd song thrown in - gives a fascinating insight into her colourful life so far.

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Jason Gardener, the nice guy who won

Sun, 27 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0000

One of the most likable and genuine athletes of his generation, Jason Gardener was a distinct figure in the men’s sprints in the late 90s and early 2000s. There was no braggado, no menace, no strutting, he just went about his business as a quietly effective and efficient medal-winning machine. As his peers were spitting in each other’s lanes, getting into warm up track fights and using every tool to intimidate, Jason describes his approach as being “a silent assassin.” He opens up to tell all about standing out as a dark skinned child growing up in affluent Bath. The ascent to international athletics, the injuries and rivalries and the ongoing satisfaction of winning Olympic gold with team-mates Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis in Athens 2004. You can read more about that monumental sporting moment in “Our Race,” a fantastic book by Trystan Bevan and Ben Mercer.

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Charles van Commenee, The Head Coach

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0000

Known for his outspoken views as much as his world-renowned coaching, Dutchman Charles van Commenée left an indelible mark on British Athletics. Firstly as coach to Denis Lewis as she won heptathlon gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and then to Kelly Sotherton as she rose from 59th in the world to Olympic bronze in Athens 2004, under his guidance. He returned to the UK in 2009 to lead the nation’s athletics team to London 2012. And with media scrutiny turned up to 11, he navigated issues such as ‘fatgate’, Plastic Brits and medal hope Phillips Idowu leaving team preparations to Super Saturday and one of the greatest nights in British sporting history. We cover all that and more in this fascinating hour. WARNING - this episode is not for pu**ies, w***ers, clowns, attention seekers and wimps.

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Kelly Sotherton, the honest heptathlete

Sun, 13 Nov 2022 08:21:00 -0000

No stone is left unturned in this interview with three-time Olympic medallist Kelly Sotherton. For many years she carried the flag for British heptathletes, winning Olympic and World bronze and Commonwealth gold. With typical honesty she talks about her relationship with Jessica Ennis and her feelings of jealousy during London 2012. She also opens up about her relationship with coach Charles van Commenee and training partner Denise Lewis and some hilarious behind the scenes anecdotes. She tells us how she regards the drugs cheats who denied her glory in the past, today. She also reveals how she tried out track cycling and kayaking when injuries wrecked her heptathlon career. She also discusses mental health and wellbeing and the issues around transgender athletes in the sport.

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Liz McColgan, an enduring runner

Sun, 06 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0000

From growing up on the breadline on a Dundee council estate where prospects were limited, Liz McColgan rose up to be one of the world’s great long distance runners. As well as winning London, New York and Tokyo Marathons, she was World and Commonwealth 10,000m champion, Olympic silver medallist and broke numerous world records. She speaks with typical candour over her life as an elite athlete, including the incredible highs such as becoming World Champion to the lows of an insect bite ruining her bid for Olympic glory. In retirement she turned to coaching and in summer 2022 her daughter Eilish followed in her footsteps by winning Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham on an unforgettable night. A must-listen episode with an incredible woman.

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Hayley Yelling, queen of cross country

Sun, 30 Oct 2022 07:00:00 -0000

An ebullient character of the UK endurance running scene, Hayley Yelling was a mainstay of the GB & NI cross country team in the early 2000s, twice winning individual gold at the European Cross Country Championships. She also won international vests on track and road including at the European Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games and World Half Marathon Championships. But she narrowly missed out on the Olympic Games on three occasions, most closely in 2004, when she fell short of the 10,000m time by just 0.14secs. She looks back on her time in the sport, including the highs and lows, being in the same team as Paula Radcliffe, experimenting with hypnosis and the close relationship and rivalry with sister-in-law Liz Yelling.

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Jason Henderson, the sport's editor

Sun, 23 Oct 2022 06:00:00 -0000

For a quarter of a century, Jason Henderson has written about virtually every significant run, jump or throw in the UK and beyond. In 2022, he celebrated 25 years at Athletics Weekly, the sport's leading media title. For the majority of that, he has been the iconic publication's editor, interviewing the biggest names in the sport and reporting from the biggest events and right down to the grass roots. He reveals his favourite events, his favourite interviewees, the big moments that have lived with him and the behind-the-scenes life in what he describes as a "dream job".

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Andy Turner, overcoming hurdles

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 17:48:00 -0000

A talented footballer and rugby player in his youth, Andy Turner made his mark in sprint hurdling against the odds. Despite no international recognition as a junior athlete, he broke through as a senior, making his major championship debut at the Athens Olympics. He felt out of place, but soon found his feet. And despite losing lottery funding, he eventually became European and Commonwealth champion and a World bronze medallist. Since retiring, he enjoyed success in bodybuilding and boxing. He also fondly remembers his long-time coach Lloyd Cowan who passed away prematurely in 2021.

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Donna Fraser, a survivor and a thriver

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 15:48:00 -0000

A central figure in one of the sport's most iconic races of all-time, Donna Fraser was training partner to Cathy Freeman ahead of the Australian's celebrated 400m gold in Sydney 2000, where Donna finished an agonising fourth. Along with three other Olympic Games and a glittering career that included World, European and Commonwealth medals, the Londoner has an inspiring tale to tell from her diagnosis with cancer, the loss of her long-time coach from the disease and her ground breaking work for equality, inclusivity and diversity. In this emotional episode, Donna tells it all in the most inspiring way imaginable.

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Craig Pickering, a sprinting prodigy

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 19:03:00 -0000

Craig Pickering, former teenage sprint star talks with Chris Broadbent is a searingly honest interview on his sprinting career. Including his rise to prominence, racing Usain Bolt, his headline-hitting rivalry with Dwain Chambers, letting a relay medal slip at the Olympics, winning World bronze, European silver and his switch to bobsleigh. Now settled in Australia, he looks back on his life in international athletics with huge candour.

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Dai Greene, valley boy to World Champ

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 18:37:00 -0000

400m hurdler Dai Greene on a career of highs and lows resulting in gold at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships. Also on his disappointment at London 2012 and dealing with placing fourth. He talks about his frustration of a hernia operation that has cost him years of his career. He also shares stories on his rivals such as Felix Sanchez, Kerron Clement, LJ van Zyl and fellow Welsh hurdler Rhys Williams, including how the two didn't talk despite being training partners. He gives his take on the modern day 400m hurdlers such as Karsten Warholm.

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Eilidh Doyle, Scotland's greatest

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 18:27:00 -0000

In a remarkably candid interview, 400m hurdler Eilidh Doyle talks to Chris Broadbent about her athletics career at top level from winning European gold to almost walking away after London 2012. On her domestic rivalry with Perri Shakes-Drayton and three Commonwealth Games medals. On her relationships with coaches such as Malcolm Arnold and Charles Van Commenee. How fellow Scot Laura Muir dealt with some noisy GB sprinters. What she makes of the current state of women's 400m hurdling and why she chose to retire rather than strive for a third Olympic Games.

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