Sporting Witness

In May 1949, a plane carrying the Torino football team crashed into a mountain near Turin killing 31 people. At the time, "Il Grande Torino" were the dominant team in Italy and Europe, but the club never really recovered from an accident that killed almost the entire squad. Sporting Witness hears from Carla Maroso, the widow of one of the Torino players, and life-long Torino fan Gianpaolo Oremezzano. This programme was first broadcast in 2016.

PHOTO: The ill-fated Torino squad (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In April 1980, South African racing driver Desiré Wilson became the only woman to win a Formula One event when she took the chequered flag at Brands Hatch. But despite her obvious talent, Wilson faced opposition from some male drivers throughout her career and never attracted the sponsorship she needed for a proper shot at a Grand Prix career. She talks to Ashley Byrne. The programme is a Made-In-Manchester Production.

PHOTO: Desiré Wilson posing with a lion cub in 1979 (Graham Morris/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 2003, the British runner Paula Radcliffe set a famous world record of 2:15:25 at the London Marathon. It was the highlight of a career that also included a gold medal at the World Championships, but a series of failures at the Olympic Games. Simon Watts reports.

PHOTO: Paula Radcliffe in 2005 (Getty Images)

In 2008, a deaf American rider called Ashley Fiolek won the first of four women’s motocross championships. Fiolek became the poster girl for one of the most dangerous forms of motor sport despite being short, wearing pink and not being able to hear her motorbike’s engine or her rivals. She talks to Claire Bowes.

PHOTO: Ashley Fiolek (Getty Images)

In April 1994, West Indies batsman Brian Lara set a new world record of 375 for the highest ever score in test cricket. The milestone that made Lara a superstar came against England in Antigua, and took him three days of play. Simon Watts brings together the memories of Lara and England bowler Angus Fraser.

PHOTO: Brian Lara in action (Getty Images)

Between 1981 and 1990, Bruce Fordyce won South Africa’s Comrades Marathon – one of the most famous races in Africa – a record nine times. He talks to Simon Watts about one of the ultimate tests of endurance and how he used the event to protest against the Apartheid regime.

PHOTO: The start of the Comrades Marathon (AFP/Getty Images)

In March 2008, the England batsman Marcus Trescothick announced that he was retiring from international cricket because of a long struggle with depression and anxiety. Trescothick’s decision shone new light on the pressure facing elite sportsmen and women. Simon Watts reports.

PHOTO: Marcus Trescothick in action (Getty Images)

In 1983, the ultra-runner Ron Grant became the first person to run around Australia. On a 13,383 kilometre jog that took seven months, Grant overcame injuries, crew mutinies and serious financial debt, before being greeted by huge crowds at the start/finish line in Brisbane. He talks to Ashley Byrne. The programme is a Made-In-Manchester Production.

PHOTO: Ron Grant and fellow runners in 1983 (Victor Colin Sumner/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)

In 1971, the Bangladeshi football team made history at the height of the country's war of independence when they played a series of matches in India. The games were the first to be played under the flag of a nation that was still not officially recognised and helped raise money for Bangladesh's independence struggle. Farhana Haider talks to star striker Kazi Salahuddin, who was smuggled into India so he could take part in the matches.

(Photo:The Shadhin Bangla Football Dol "Free Bengal Football Team", 1971. Credit: Kazi Salahuddin)

At the beginning of the 20th Century, the British invented downhill skiing and introduced it to the Alps, creating both a new sport and the multi-billion-dollar tourist industry we know today. Using the BBC archives, Simon Watts introduces the memories of Sir Arnold Lunn, the inventor of modern skiing, and of British and Swiss racers from the early days of the sport.

(Photo: A skiing party in the 1920s, with Sir Arnold Lunn centre-right. Credit: Getty Images)