Caroline Barker speaks to Jake Peacock on how he wants to entertain and inspire the world through his achievements in the Muay Thai ring. Peacock, who was born with one arm shorter than the other, was bullied at school and still receives negative messages on social media, but he says his greatest satisfaction comes from inspiring people. From free classes and sharing equipment to the Olympic Games, Samantha Catantan is the first Filipino fencer to qualify for the Olympics in 32 years - and the first woman. Her qualification came after a significant injury setback and she’s not the only Catanta ..read more

***This episode contains discussions and references to suicide. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: befrienders.org*** Depression, health issues and the impact of the covid pandemic are familiar to many the world over. Canoeist Esti Olivier has been through it all and now has her eyes firmly fixed on competing at the Olympics in Paris. She tells us the highs and lows of the past few years of her life includin ..read more

***This episode contains discussions and references to extreme violence, sexual violence and domestic abuse. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: befrienders.org*** Tracy Otto is on the verge of representing the Team USA at the Paralympics in Archery for the first time. But representing the United States in Archery was not what Tracy thought she would be doing five years ago. Back then, in her early 20s she wa ..read more

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Bára Votíková tells Sportshour's Caroline Barker about how she balances her football career alongside being one of the Czech Republic's best known and most followed content creators. She tells us about using her social media platforms to advocate for gay rights, and how she deals with the haters. New Zealand pole vaulter Eliza McCartney is about to take a leap of faith ahead of the Paris Olympics. Since winning bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio, the 27-year-old has suffered many years of injury frustration. However 2024 brought silver at the World Athletics Indoor Ch ..read more

Please note: This episode contains discussions and references to mental health and drug abuse. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: www.befrienders.org For 10 years, quarterback Erik Kramer had it all - fame, fortune and the chance to land the NFL's biggest prize with the Detroit Lions and then the Chicago Bears. Despite the trappings that success brings, Kramer carried a burden - crushing depression that wors ..read more

In March 2024 Camille Heron cemented her place as the greatest Ultra Marathon runner of all time. She broke the six day world best, clocking an astonishing 560 miles. That's further than running from New York to Washington and back in 6 days, roughly the distance of Accra to Lagos and back in SIX DAYS!! She's been telling Sportshour's Nishat Ladha about her achievement. As Cambridge and Oxford line up against each other, who will mastermind their way to victory in the 2024 University boat race? Oxford Women's President Ella Stadler takes on her Cambridge counterpart Jenna Armstrong in special ..read more

Rikke Sevecke was living the dream! She'd fought the odds to make it into professional football despite all the barriers in her way. She'd played in England for Everton and represented her country, Denmark at the World Cup, and had just signed for one of the biggest teams in America. Living the dream. Then just two months ago in January 2024, out of nowhere, she was ordered to stop playing, immediately. It had taken just one phone call from a doctor to bring her world crashing down around her. Rikke had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition, and if she carried on playing it could have ..read more

Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for its Cowboys American football team. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game against another university. This is episode one of a four-part season from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast. Content warning: This episode contains lived experiences which involve the use of strong racist ..read more

Racing Louisville FC defender Carson Pickett was born without part of her left arm and Pickett went viral in 2019 after she was pictured giving an arm-bump with a young fan who was also missing part of his left arm. In 2022, Carson Pickett became the first player with a limb difference to play for the United States women's team and she told BBC Sportshour's Caroline Barker how her life has changed since that photo went viral. Where to start with Merle Liivand? A friend of the show, she spoke to us last year about how she combines her sports career as an open water swimmer with her environmenta ..read more

Some say that golf is "a good walk ruined", for others the sport is where they go to escape. For Patrick Koenig it became a quest to discover more about himself, the sport and the country he lives in. He tells Sportshour's Caroline Barker what he learned as he broke the record for most number of 18 hole golf courses played in one year. Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix we look at the future of motor sport and it's reliance on gas and petrol, as it is hosted in the country that produces the second most amount of oil in the world. But could it be other factors, as well as environmental conce ..read more