The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are a mere six months away, and focus is not just on the athletes but also those who make the big decisions in national governing bodies. As ever, the pressure is on for each country to achieve in the medal table, and in the UK the woman overseeing that knows exactly what it takes to get to the top of the podium. Dame Katherine Grainger is the UK's most decorated female Olympian and a six-time world champion rower. She's now Chair of UK Sport and has been speaking to the Fired Up Sport podcast.

As bushfire smoke clouds the Australian Open, we speak to those who make the tennis Grand Slams happen. Up-and-coming pro Kim Birrell tells us how she copes with the mental strain that injury brings, and WTA umpire Donna Kelso gives advice on how to pursue a career in the game. Plus, there’s a sneak preview of an interview with Britain’s most decorated female athlete, Dame Katherine Grainger. The Fired Up Sport podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #changetheconversation.

British Olympic legend Lady Mary Peters went to a bookshop to buy a book on women's sport. There were over a hundred on men's sport but only four on women's, so she decided to change that ratio. Peters’ new book highlights overlooked sportswomen across disciplines and generations. She joins Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster on the Fired Up Sport podcast to talk about ‘Sportswomen Who Inspire’, how she still walks four miles a day at eighty years old and how she's determined to leave a legacy that will give practical help to young athletes.

2020 starts with another selection of great guests from 2019. It was an incredible year for women’s golf, which included Europe’s dramatic defeat of the US with the very last putt of the Solheim Cup. We hear from victorious captain Catriona Matthew and vice captain Mel Reid. We’ve also Fallon Sherrock - the first woman ever to beat a man at the World Darts Championships, Laura Hoggins (‘Biceps Laura’) who walked out of her office job to follow her Strongwoman dream, plus Amazin LeThi who experienced prejudice and abuse before being saved by sport. She’s now helping to make it more inclusive and safe for all. Fired Up Sport in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster bid a cheery farewell to 2019, with some of the incredible guests who have spoken to the Fired Up Sport podcast. From Susan Alberti, a key figure in creating the Women's Aussie Rules Football League, to Tracy Edwards MBE, who skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. A documentary about that crew (‘Maiden’) is now on the shortlist to win an Oscar! It has been an incredible first year of Fired Up. Thanks for coming with us as we #changetheconversation on women's sport. See you in the New Year! Merry Christmas!

We talk to Fallon Sherrock in the week she became the first woman to defeat a man in the PDC World Darts Championship. She tells us about the momentous match and about her love of ‘power scoring’ against the men. Plus, we chat to Catriona Matthew, Europe’s Solheim Cup-winning captain, who is now relishing the challenge of trying the retain the cup in the United States. Fired Up Sport with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

We talk to Scottish para-swimming star Toni Shaw, who has her sights set on a place at Tokyo 2020 and inspiring a new generation of aquatic athletes. Shaw already holds UK and European records, so she is not your average fifteen-year-old! Elite swim training while at school is pretty exhausting, but her regime out of the water has been helped massively by a state-of-the-art prosthetic. Plus, we have a sneak peak of an exclusive interview with a woman at the centre of one of the biggest sports stories of the year, the captain of Europe’s victorious Solheim Cup team Catriona Matthew. It's the Fired Up Sport podcast with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us #changetheconversation

All around the world, professional and amateur sportspeople are this week wearing rainbow-coloured laces to show support for the LGBT community. Gay rights pressure group Stonewall is behind the campaign and are leading the way in trying to make sport an inclusive and safe place for all. Clare McDonnell speaks to Stonewall ambassador Amazin LeThi, who suffered discrimination and prejudice from a very young age. It drove her to the edge, but sport saved her. Fired Up Sport in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

As the saying goes, governing bodies are traditionally "male, pale and stale" but Sport England has a plan to change all that. Its Executive Director of Sport, Phil Smith, tells Clare McDonnell all about it. And Kirsten Webster stumbles across a BMX champion of the future; three-year-old Olive! Plus, the mum who took her kids to BMX meets and became a Top 10 rider herself. 

 

Fired Up Sport is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #ChangetheConversation

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster take you to the beaches of Australia and the world of the Surf Life Savers. As recently as the ‘80s these were all-male clubs, but we hear from the woman who changed all that. And we also find out if Kirsten passed her final test to be a Surf Life Saver with the Tallebudgera Beach club in Queensland. The Fired Up Sport podcast is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #ChangetheConversation