Athletics Life Stories

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices