Send us a text In the first of our quick nightly pods we're aghast over the Dutch misfortunes but ecstatic who we managed to meet on day 1 of Budapest 2023. If tonight is anything to go by it's gonna be a crazy champs. Bring it on!!! Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social Media at Twitter - (@BackstraightB) Insta - (@BackstraightBoysPodcast)....
Aug 19, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Send us a text Budapest 2023 is finally upon us so it was time to pull out the big guns. To discuss the World Championships we thought we should get on some legendary champions and they don't come any more legendary than these two great ladies. Between them Dame Denise Lewis and Christine Ohuruogu have won everything possible in the sport with Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Golds and a pile of other medals along the way. We asked them to join us to discuss what we are most looking for...
Aug 15, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 113
Send us a text When we’re not debating relay lineups, there’s nothing us Athletics nerds love more than chatting about selection policy and now is the time to do it. With Budapest on the horizon and the team recently announced, it goes without saying there’s plenty to discuss, good and bad. To help us out we’ve invited on some special guests with very different selection experiences. Amber Anning is overjoyed to make her first senior World team in the 4x4 relay, but should she have an individual...
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 112
Send us a text Straight after the London Athletics Meet we thought we'd drop you a special, no frills episode discussing all the highlights. We chat about sensational performances from Femke Bol, Max Burgin, Ryan Crouser, Noah Lyles, Maree Jose Ta Lou, Jemma Reekie and many more!!! Roll on Budapest. Head over to Instagram @backstraightboyspodcast for interviews with all the stars Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and fol...
Jul 23, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 111
Send us a text There's been a feast of athletics over the last few weeks so we invited our good friend and athletics fanatic Lloyd Kempson to join as talk all things track. Lloyd is a runner, coach and co-owner of the Track and Field social media platform @Trackstaa. We chat about UK and US Trials, the Euro U23's, the Silesia Diamond League but mostly our current obsession with the w800m. Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listenin...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 110
Send us a text It's been 2 months since Jody and Bayo were in the same room together. Now that they have stopped gallivating around the world, it's time to reunite and discuss everything that has been going on this season. Join us to chat about our favourite performances so far this year and the UK Trials happening this weekend (Just don't mention pacing lights). Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social ...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 109
Send us a text A few months back Anyika Onuora was our guest on Instagram Live to discuss her wonderful new book My Hidden Race. Had so many requests that promised to release it as a pod so that all of our listeners not on Instagram can hear her fascinating story, so, by popular demand, here it is. Apologies for the sound quality, we've had to rip the audio from IG but hope you enjoy listening to her as much as we did. AND BUY THE BOOK!!! I can't recommend it enough. So many behind the scenes st...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 108
Send us a text We usually save out interview specials for retired legends of the sport but after this winter's exploits we 'Why wait?'. Here's everybody's favourite singing Long Jumper, Jazmin Sawyers. Big thanks to Mel Anning for editing. Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social Media at Twitter - (@BackstraightB) Insta - (@BackstraightBoysPodcast)....
Apr 29, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Send us a text We promised to repost some of our fave Backstraight episodes and what better place to start than our UK Sprint Queen Special from back in 2018. Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all of our socials Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social Media at Twitter - (@BackstraightB) Insta - (@BackstraightBoysPodcast)....
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 31 min
Send us a text Keely made it look easy, Karsten was in PB form, Nafi made history and Jaz had us all jumping for joy. The Boys have been journalising in Istanbul and in the studio they are joined by a lady who loves athletics as much as they do - Mel Anning. Journalist and administrator in Sussex, a founding trustee of the Lloyd Cowan Bursary - which supports young athletes and coaches - and mum of three sporty girls including 400m specialist Amber Anning, Mel joins us to talk all things Euro In...
Mar 11, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 106
Send us a text Having been unceremoniously dumped by their devoted girlfriend of the last 5 years, the newly single boys run back into the arms of an old flame and welcome OG Backstraight Boy, Matt Wood onto the show. It was Matt who introduced Claire and the twins in the first place so you have him to thank for the last 5 years of podcast mayhem. A former GB international Matt now heads Run Through , organising large scale running events across the the UK to keep you all fit. You can see see mo...
Mar 02, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 105
Send us a text Our 100th episode passed us by in a flash. Like a home straight Kyle Langford. Like the naps you desperately snatch whilst balancing a championship across the globe with your commitments at home. Like the time between each jaw-dropping performance from Rojas and Duplantis. We missed it just as surely as we've habitually missed Diamond Leagues (why are they so inconsistently scheduled??) since starting this podcast - all the way back in 2017. 'Better late than never' we figured, an...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 104
Send us a text Where to even begin? 2022 had it all: a World Indoors, World Outdoors, Commonwealths, Europeans, and the GOAT Shelly-Ann adjusting her hair mid-200 metres. Can you even believe that Marcel Jacobs beating Coleman in that fantastic 60m was only nine months ago? Us neither. It's bonkers how much athletics there's been this year. Bonkers and brilliant - but also impossible to summarise in a single podcast episode, unless you really, really know your onions. Enter: Jeanette. Sprint Que...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 103
Send us a text EUROPEAN CHAMPS REVIEW. GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT. Twitter: @BackstraightB & @Claire_GThomas Insta: @BackstraightBoysPodcast & @ClaireGThomas Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social Media at Twitter - (@BackstraightB) Insta - (@BackstraightBoysPodcast)....
Sep 02, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 102
Send us a text 'Three is a magic number' - and so it often proves. Destiny's Child. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Major outdoor champs this summer. Members of this podcast. Stages in the wonderful, bronze-clinching personal best achieved by this episode's guest in the Commonwealth triple jump final. That's right: the one and only Naomi Metzger joined us for our Birmingham review - fresh from soaring onto the Alexander Stadium podium. We chat Commonwealths, competing in Germany, the majestic Yulimar ...
Aug 09, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 101
Send us a text It's our 100th episode. One *hundred* podcasts. Can you believe that? We certainly can't. Jody and Bayo are sleep deprived after watching all of Eugene live, Claire is trying (and failing) to instil some sort of structure into our Oregon World Championships review, and all three of us are fuelled by M&S birthday cake. It's neither organised nor comprehensive, but it's certainly opinionated and enthusiastic (a sentence which applies to each of the 100 episodes we've produced so...
Jul 28, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 100
Send us a text Yo: it's the Oregon set. Backstraight Boys: live and direct. Kath Merry mash up (she was with Wightman on the deck). It's the Eugene World Champs - we're live and direct. Just in case you missed it: here's our mid-Worlds review, with a lengthy and outstanding cameo from the ever-glorious Kath Merry - who dialled in from Oregon (and brought some much-needed knowledge and class to proceedings in the process). Kath: thanks for joining <3 You lovely lot: thanks for listening xoxo F...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 99
Send us a text Made in haste and love. Join our lobby. Chat to us on socials xoxo Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listening and follow us on Social Media at Twitter - (@BackstraightB) Insta - (@BackstraightBoysPodcast).
Jul 15, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 98
Send us a text After a brief sabbatical (Claire was feeling a bit swamped), we're back - and all roads lead to Eugene. The Worlds are a week and a bit away, with Commonwealths and Euros looming large, and the British squad has been announced. It's big, it's teeming with talent, and it's getting us as extremely excited as we always are for anything involving supremely fit individuals running, throwing, and jumping. Jody and Bayo were at the trials, so report back on a gusty and eventful couple of...
Jul 04, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 97
Send us a text Jody and Bayo went to Belgrade, and returned with: photos with everyone's favourite Italian high jumper, a fractured wrist, memories of a splendid birthday feat. the athleticos, and... Covid. A mixed bag, it's safe to say. More broadly, the 2022 World Indoors were a varied championships themselves: Keely and Elliot were DNS, and Kat was DNF, but there were 3 world records, medallists from 31 different countries, and some outstanding performances. Yaroslava Mahuchikh winning gold w...
Mar 25, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 96
Send us a text Full description to follow, but - for now - treat yourselves to an hour of Belgrade chatter with multiple world indoor medallist, Jamie 'Sporting Hair of the Year' Baulch: as heard via Instagram live earlier this week. Rate, review, subscribe, and SAY 'HI': @BackstraightB, @Claire_GThomas, and @JamieBaulch The first major championship of 2022 is upon us... phwoar. Enjoy xoxo Please enjoy, please subscribe and please let us know what you think on all our socials. Thanks for listeni...
Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 95
Send us a text Keely doing Keely things, baby 'brig setting world records, Mondo soaring, and the Winter Olympics rocked by a doping scandal with a 15-year-old girl at its heart. 2022 hasn't exactly got off to a quiet start, has it? Backstraight is back (alright!) - with a romp through recent indoor results, a discussion about the Kamila Valieva story and Sha'Carri's take on it, and plenty more besides. It is GOOD to be back podding, and you can expect plenty from us this year, as the busiest at...
Feb 23, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 94
Send us a text In so many ways, 2021 was a year to forget. It won't be one looked back upon with universal fondness, and there are lots of reasons to be pleased to leave it behind. But one of the reasons we love sport is the phenomenal escapism it offers, and the way its narratives can transcend arenas to leave indelible marks upon the world we live in. On the track, on the field, and out on the roads - 2021 was a year full of those moments. Time and time again, athletes shrugged off the challen...
Jan 02, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 93
Send us a text World Athletics have named their end-of-season gong longlists. They've also named their shortlists, but we weren't organised enough to realise that, so we covered all ten athletes per field. Death, taxes, and us merrily getting things slightly wrong on this podcast... Anyway: great fun pitting Elaine against Yulimar, and debating Karsten versus Ryan. There was some *wonderful* running, throwing, and jumping this year, it transpires. We also turn our attention to the changes at UKA...
Nov 18, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 92
Send us a text Diamond League finals, Sha'Carri and #DeadLast, a shout out to the surprisingly excellent Continental Tour, *that* 100 metres in Nairobi, a change in attitudes towards DSD athletes, and plenty more besides - including, of course, quotes from both 'Grease' and 'The Hollow Men'. It might be rambling, but at least we don't spend 90% of the pod talking about American steeplechasers who aren't even leading the race...* A huge thank you to Hal Leonard Europe for their support - we adore...
Sep 23, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 91
Send us a text Two World titles, two Olympic silvers, and a personal best of 7.11m. Fiona May achieved an awful lot in a stellar long jump career, but - despite having been born in Slough and becoming a Junior World Champion whilst competing for Great Britain - her greatest moments were for the Azzurri, after she switched citizenships in 1994, and never looked back. Her daughter, Larissa, is European Junior Champion, and already closing in on her mother's records. With Italy winning five golds i...
Aug 20, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 90
Send us a text 'What's the plan for this one, Claire?' 'I'll do a quick intro, and then how about we just talk about the Olympics for an hour?' And there you have it: a non-stop romp through just a sliver of a truly magical Games. From Karsten to Rojas, and back again via Tamber(in)i and some stellar British performances. We laughed, gasped, and cried our way through the games, had a blast doing World Athletics' Inside Track, and remain utterly in love with the Olympics. We're sure you are, too....
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 89
Send us a text Athletics in Tokyo is just hours away, and - if we thought we were excited before Roger Black joined us to discuss it all - we had another thought coming. The three-time Olympic medallist has left us like kids at Christmas: he really was the perfect guest for this one. Stacked middle distance fields, infinite and bonkers scheduling permutations, and those 400 metre hurdle races... Be still, our beating hearts. We honestly cannot wait, and promise to keep serving up track and field...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 88
Send us a text When British Athletics offer you accreditation for Olympic trials, you drop everything, and so Claire and Bayo headed up to Manchester for a blockbuster Sunday of runs, jumps, and throws. They caught up with Adam, with Beth, with all three women's 800-metre medalists, with the ever-wonderful Elliot Giles, the prodigious Oliver Dustin, the gravity-defying duo of Jaz and Morgan, a delighted Tiff Porter (off to her THIRD Games), an ecstatic Jess Judd, a not-yet-qualified Amy-Eloise M...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 87
Send us a text US trials start today, so we hopped on Instagram Live with the reigning Olympic Champion, the goat, and the birthday boy, Christian 'friend of the pod' Taylor: the future president of World Athletics (/the world). Here's - and, brace yourselves, it's entirely unedited - our preview of what should prove a humdinger of a championship. On paper, the US trials are simple: have the standard, finish top three, and go to Tokyo. In reality, they're high pressure, high quality, and high dr...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 86
