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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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