Former England international, Natasha Dowie, and Euros winner, Fran Kirby, join John Bennett as we look ahead to Euro 2025. Will England defend their crown or will Spain add the title to their 2023 World Cup win? Who else is among the favourites and what about debutants Wales and Poland? We hear from England captain Leah Williamson, Poland and Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor – the top scorer in the world in 2025 – and other stars who will be playing in Switzerland for the Championship.
Jun 28, 2025•48 min
Mackenzie Little won Commonwealth Javelin silver in 2022 and World bronze in 2023. She won those medals whilst qualifying as a medical doctor. Following her bronze at the Worlds in Budapest, she was due back at the hospital to continue her training, but had to delay her departure for Australia so that she could attend her medal ceremony. She describes how flying back from a Worlds or an Olympics and going straight into a night shift is a very grounding experience with no time to dwell on the hig...
Jun 27, 2025•51 min
New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr had a golden 2024. He was one of a handful of athletes who won the World Indoors in March, and then followed it up with an Olympic title at the Games in Paris. But Hamish almost missed that final. He was facing elimination in the qualifying round at the Stade de France. After two failures at 2.20 metres, he tells us he thought about retiring if he failed again and crashed out of the Olympics. Hamish explains how, after going to that ‘dark place’, he knew he had the ment...
Jun 23, 2025•51 min
As Aiden Markram added his name to the Lord's honours board after hitting the only century on the World Test Championship final, Sportsworld looks at the top ten Test batters of all-time. Cricket writer and broadcaster Jarrod Kimber released a new book called The Art of Batting: The Craft of Crickets greatest Runs Scorers. He joined Lee James in our quest to name the greatest of all-time. So, how did compiling a list turn into a study of batting and how cricket has evolved over the years? Photo:...
Jun 18, 2025•26 min
Dominica’s Thea LaFond had a golden 2024. She was one of a handful of athletes who won the World Indoors in March, and then followed it up with an Olympic title at the Games in Paris. That night, the entire population of her native Dominica could have fitted inside the Stade de France. Her gold at the Games was the island nation’s first of any colour in any Olympic sport, just as her World Indoor title was their first medal of any colour at those Championships. Having moved to the United States ...
Jun 16, 2025•50 min
Karsten Warholm has been one of the biggest stars in world athletics since winning the 400m hurdles world title in 2017, going onto become Olympic champion and win multiple World and European titles. But why has the Norwegian felt like he has needed a ‘reboot’ ahead of targeting a fourth world title at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo? Warholm shares more in a special podcast with Sportsworld’s Lee James ahead of the start of the 2025 season, including an insight into his training...
Apr 23, 2025•16 min
Sebastian Vettel dominated the sport in his Red Bull car before leaving to join the most successful and iconic team on the grid - Ferrari. The German went onto win 53 Grand Prix's during his career and came close to delivering the Italian team their first drivers title since 2007 when he twice finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton. After retiring from the sport in 2022, Vettel has dedicated his efforts to sustainability projects and uses his platform to promote many environmental and social cause...
Mar 21, 2025•18 min
Julien Alfred made history in 2024 when she won the women’s 100m gold in Paris becoming St. Lucia’s first ever Olympic medallist. In a special Sportsworld podcast, the sprinter sits down with Sportsworld’s Lee James to look back on her historic year, what it took to become Olympic champion and what it was like receiving a hero’s welcome back home. Also hear how Alfred’s athletics career started with her first coach Cuthbert Modeste and the impact it’s had on St. Lucia with Permanent Secretary of...
Dec 20, 2024•51 min
A new era is beginning at Manchester United with former Braga and Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim officially installed as head coach. He'll take charge of his first match against Ipswich Town, but who is Ruben Amorim and what makes him tick? In a special Sportsworld podcast, United We Stand fanzine editor Andy Mitten joins Delyth Lloyd to find out more about Amorim from those who know him best - his childhood friends, former colleagues, players who have worked with him, as well as discovering what...
Nov 15, 2024•29 min
Ahead of the start of the Paralympics in Paris which will see 4,400 athletes competing in 22 sports, Mani Djazmi looks ahead to the Games. Mani is joined by 16-time British Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson, Australia’s most successful Paralympian Ellie Cole and journalist Andy Stevenson. Indian shooter Avani Lekhara explains how sport has transformed her life, while French wheelchair tennis superstar Stephane Houdet expresses his excitement about the prospect of competing in a home ...
Aug 25, 2024•49 min
After 16 days of competition across 32 sports with 329 gold medallists the Olympic Games in Paris has drawn to a close. Lee James is joined by French broadcaster Julian Laurens to assess the impact of the Games and the legacy they can have on the city of Paris and the nation of France. The team look back at the memorable moments and athletes from the Games, and what may be to come in Los Angeles in 2028 with the help of USA Today’s Rachel Bowers as well as Sportsworld's Ed Harry and Ade Adedoyin...
Aug 11, 2024•26 min
BBC World Service introduce you to the five bosses who’ll be making their managerial debuts in the Premier League this season. Find out all you need to know about the managers including Pep Guardiola’s former assistant, the man following in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps and the youngest permanent coach in Premier League history. Plus two managers who are tipped for big things after winning promotion last season. Sportsworld’s John Bennett is joined by former Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong and j...
Aug 08, 2024•51 min
In Rio 2016, African competitors won 45 medals, with 10 of them golds. At the last Games in Tokyo - that number slipped to 37 medals overall. But Africa does have its first medal. On the opening day, South Africa won bronze in the men's Rugby 7s. BBC Sport Africa's senior reporter Celestine Karoney. George Addo Junior and Nishat Ladha joined Sportsworld’s Lee James at our Olympic hub to take a look at Africa’s medal chances. Photo: Bronze medallist Mohamed Elsayed of Team Egypt celebrates on the...
Jul 29, 2024•44 min
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred is this year’s World Indoor champion for the women’s 60 metres. She’s aiming to win Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal, and would like it to be gold. After a stunning US Collegiate career, Alfred reached the final of both the 100 and 200 metres at the 2023 World Championships, just missing a medal in the longer sprint. In 2024, her first season as a professional, she made history for Saint Lucia, winning the island’s first World Indoor gold, taking the 60 metres title ...
Jul 29, 2024•28 min
Canada’s Marco Arop is the reigning World champion for the men’s 800 metres. He describes being inspired to take up the event after finding the video of David Rudisha breaking the world record to win Olympic gold in 2012. Marco tells The Warm Up Track that he watched it repeatedly. Fittingly, it was the Kenyan who presented him with his World gold in Budapest in 2023. For Marco, that moment was even better than winning the race and, in the near future, he hopes that they can find time to sit dow...
Jul 25, 2024•36 min
Larissa Iapichino is the European long jump silver medallist indoors and out. She talks to The Warm Up Track about being the daughter of Fiona May, winner of two long jump World titles and two Olympic silver medals. Larissa is coached by her father, Gianni, who was also an elite athlete and coached her mother too, so how do they keep athletics and their family life separate? How does Larissa cope with having a famous mum and the inevitable comparisons that come with that? She tells us why it’s i...
Jul 22, 2024•39 min
Valarie Allman is reigning Olympic champion for the women’s discus and has also won bronze and silver at the last two editions of the World Championships. She tells The Warm Up Track how she and her coach figured out ‘the master of all puzzles’ to win Olympic gold in Tokyo. Valarie explains how, starting out, they sought to break the mould of how previous US throwers had prepared for global championships, and that strategy was to face her main rivals as often as possible on the circuit. But, hav...
Jul 16, 2024•34 min
Seventeen-year-old Maria Sharapova shocked the tennis world when she won Wimbledon in 2004. The teenager beat top seed and defending champion Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam singles title in one of the most memorable finals in history. Twenty years on, Sportsworld’s Delyth Lloyd looks back on Sharapova’s rise and route to the Wimbledon title with insight from her former doubles partner Tamarine Tanasugarn, her second round opponent Anne Keothavong, and tennis commentator Barry Millns...
Jul 13, 2024•39 min
The oldest of the continental tournaments - the Copa America - begins its 48th edition on 20th June. It's being hosted in the United States and the World Cup holders Argentina are defending the title they won in Brazil three years ago. Sportsworld's Mani Djazmi and guests have your essential guide to the Copa America of 2024. Photo: Lionel Scaloni, Head Coach of Argentina, presents the Copa America trophy during the official draw of CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 at James L. Knight Center on Decembe...
Jun 18, 2024•54 min
Sada Williams of Barbados is the reigning Commonwealth champion for the women’s 400m and also won bronze at the last two editions of the World Championships. Williams is among the favourites for Olympic gold in Paris but, when she isn’t racing, she’s not someone who seeks the spotlight. In a rare interview, she explains how being the centre of attention is not her thing – and that extends to her gold medal winning moment on the podium at the Commonwealth Games. As happy as she was, she was thank...
Jun 18, 2024•34 min
Delyth Lloyd is in Berlin for the start of the men’s European Championship. She travels across the German capital and visits famous sports teams such as Bundesliga side Union Berlin and basketball club Alba Berlin to understand how you build a successful team in the city. She also gets to hang out with Berliner and future Olympic rower Maren Volz as she prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games. Image: The Olympiastadion in Berlin during the men's European Championship. (Credit: BBC)...
Jun 15, 2024•46 min
Grenada’s Kirani James discusses winning his first global medal aged 14, and the Olympic title at 19. He also describes being diagnosed with the thyroid condition Graves’ Disease in 2017, and the impact that had on him. He tells us where he keeps his full set of Olympic medals, and explains what it’s meant to stand on the podium in the same event at the last three editions of the Games. When he won at London 2012, he went online to check the words of Grenada’s national anthem, because he knew al...
Jun 10, 2024•45 min
World 400 Hurdles silver medallist, Kyron McMaster, describes in detail losing his coach in 2017. Xavier Samuels was killed when Hurricane Irma hit The British Virgin Islands and McMaster believes that, together, they would have broken the world record. The twice and reigning Commonwealth champion describes how coach Samuels’ words and methods have continued to shape the athlete he’s become in the years since, and explains why the world record and Olympic gold medal can still be his. He also dis...
Jun 03, 2024•44 min
Jurgen Klopp is the smiling, bear-hugging coach who leaves Liverpool having led the club to eight trophies – including winning the Champions League and a first Premier League title. But what do you know about his Black Forest roots, and his journey from second division footballer to managerial master? Sportsworld’s John Bennett takes you to Klopp's home village of Glatten, to Mainz where he was a player for a decade, then tasted promotion and relegation as a manager - and to Dortmund where he wo...
May 13, 2024•55 min
After British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group were confirmed as new minority investors in Manchester United - a deal which saw them take control of United's football operations - will this new era return the club back to their perch at the top of English football? The BBC’s Chief Football News Reporter, Simon Stone; Carl Anka who covers Manchester United for The Athletic; and United fan Beth Tucker, presenter of The United Stand, join Sportsworld’s Lee James to discuss what can...
Mar 22, 2024•55 min
The Asian Cup is football’s second oldest continental championship and the 18th edition – which gets underway in Qatar on 12 January 2024 – will see the continent’s best football nations go head-to-head to be crowned this year’s Asian champions. Who are the main contenders? Which team could spring a surprise? What can be expected? Mani Djazmi is joined by Asian football journalist Michael Church, Japanese sports journalist Kumi Kinohara and BBC Persian Service’s Iran reporter Pooria Jafereh to p...
Jan 07, 2024•47 min
As 2023 winds down, Delyth Lloyd tests the sporting knowledge of you and some familiar names from the BBC World Service Sport team in a special Sportsworld quiz. Will it be Team World Cup’s Maz Farookhi and Katie Smith, Team Sportsworld’s Lee James and John Bennett or Team Warm Up Track’s Ed Harry and Ade Adedoyin who will be crowned the ultimate sporting quiz champions of 2023? Photo: The sportsworld quiz teams (Credit: BBC)
Dec 24, 2023•51 min
It's been another sensational athletics season with multiple gold medallists and world record breaking performances on the track, the road and in the field. From the highs of the World Championships in Budapest to Diamond League glory and marathon supremacy, who are the athletes who have impressed the most in 2023? Sportsworld’s Lee James is joined by The Warm Up Track’s Ed Harry and Ade Adedoyin who name their top 10 athletes of the year, with additional insight from BBC Africa’s Celestine Karo...
Dec 11, 2023•26 min
Following the death of Sir Bobby Charlton at the age of 86, here’s another chance to listen to the Manchester United and England legend select his all-time World Football XI. During his illustrious career – which included winning the World Cup with England, the European Cup with Manchester United and also the Ballon d’Or – he played alongside and against many of the world’s best. Who makes his all-time World Football XI? Charlton talks the BBC’s Mike Costello through his squad selection of footb...
Oct 22, 2023•23 min
In a special Season-ending episode The Warm Up Track welcomes two brand new world champions from Budapest, Hurdler Danielle Williams and Long Jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou. What’s it like winning your second World title eight years after your first? How do you win Gold with your last jump of the competition? Who celebrated their Gold medal with a slice of chocolate cake? Danielle also explains her ideas for improving and evolving the sport of Track and Field as we look at what Budapest did well and...
Sep 10, 2023•54 min
