Sporting Witness

In 1984, the British ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean entranced the world with their performance of Ravel's Bolero at the Winter Olympics. Torvill and Dean scored a row of perfect 6s and stormed to Olympic gold.

They speak to Alex Collins about their world record performance.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.

Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.

(Photo: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. Credit: AllsportUK /Allsport via Getty Images)

In 1976, the legendary Austrian skier won one of the most exciting Olympic downhill races of all time. Franz Klammer 'The Kaiser' was the overwhelming favourite, but he had to take massive risks to claim gold in front of his home crowd at Innsbruck. Klammer talks to Sporting Witness.

Picture: Franz Klammer, Credit: AFP/Getty Images.

In 1964, Britain won its only Olympic bobsleigh gold medal in an event that became famous for an act of sportsmanship by Eugenio Monti of Italy. Sporting Witness talks to the British team.

(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

At the 1980 Winter Olympics, the USA faced the USSR in a Cold War ice hockey showdown. Witness speaks to an American and a Soviet player about one of the biggest upsets in sporting history.

PHOTO: Getty Images

In 1998, a Kenyan farmer called Philip Boit became one of the first Africans to compete in the Winter Olympics. In the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing final he faced the legendary Norwegian, Bjorn Daehlie. It was a race that would unite the two athletes and inspire future Winter Olympians across Africa.

PHOTO: Getty Images.

In 1988, the American speedskater was told on the day of the Olympic final that his sister had died of cancer. Stricken by grief, he then fell during his race. It took Dan Jansen another six years - and five more Olympic races - before he finally won gold.

(Photo: Dan Jansen. Credit: Getty Images Sport)

In 1988, the glamorous East German skater, Katarina Witt, and her American rival, Debbi Thomas, both chose to dance the role of Carmen in the final of the Olympics. For Sporting Witness, Witt recalls a contest that became known as the "Battle of the Carmens".

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Fred Dove presents the highlights from Sporting Witness, the series which reveals the inside story of key moments in sporting history.

It's packed with stories of endurance, personal triumph and injustices, and we hear from Martina Navratilova about the personal cost of her defection, learn how Dick Fosbury came up with his revolutionary way of high-jumping and discover why the French team turned up at the 1948 Olympics in London with a train full of wine.

PHOTO: Hassiba Boulmerka of Algeria, winner of the women's 1500 metres at the 1992 Olympics. (Getty Images)

The Ethiopian distance-runner Haile Gebrselassie defeated his greatest rival Paul Tergat of Kenya in one of the narrowest victories ever in the 10,000m event.

He entered athletics history at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 by successfully defending his 10,000 metre title and beating Tergat by less than one second.

Presented by Fred Dove.

This programme was first broadcast in July 2012.

Picture: Ethiopian athlete Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat of Kenya at the end of the 10,000 metres at the Sydney Olympics, Credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images

In 1968, the American athlete Bob Beamon, made a jump that many thought would never be bettered.

"As I struck that lightboard, I went up over six feet... and then I'd landed at this distance that was described as a freak."

In a single leap at the Mexico City Olympics, he improved the world record by more than half a metre. His new world record for long jump was 8.90m.

Sporting Witness speaks to Bob Beamon and to Lynn Davies, a Welsh long-jumper who saw the feat.

This programme was first broadcast in July 2012.

Picture: Bob Beamon's long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, Credit: Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images