Sporting Witness

In 1995, there were wild celebrations across the racial divide in South Africa when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup on home soil.

Victory on the pitch followed a concerted campaign by Nelson Mandela - then the new president - to get white and black South Africans behind the team.

Rob Bonnett hears from the South African captain Francois Pienaar and from John Carlin, the author of the book about the World Cup which became the Hollywood film, Invictus.

Photo: Nelson Mandela presents the Rugby World Cup to Francois Pienaar. Getty Images Sport.

In 2004, the Boston Red Sox - one of the most popular sports teams in America - won the baseball World Series for the first time in 86 years.

On the way to victory, they had to defeat their deadly rivals, the New York Yankees, and end the so-called 'Curse of the Bambino.

Tim Mansel talks to Red Sox fan, John McSheffrey.

PHOTO: The Red Sox celebrate their win. (GETTY IMAGES SPORT)

The story of Africa's greatest Olympic sprinter.

We hear from the man himself about his four silver medals for Namibia - and why he never made it to gold.

The first Paralympics were held in Rome in 1960.

Margaret Maughan was a member of the British team - and won the UK's first Paralympic gold medal for archery.

Photo: Margaret competing at a later date.

(This programme was first broadcast last year - 2010)

In 1983, the Australian yachting team made history by winning the America's Cup - the biggest prize in the sport.

They defeated the Americans for the first time in 132 years.

Witness speaks to the Australian skipper, John Bertrand.

Photo: John Bertrand at the helm of Australia II (Getty Images Sport).

Louise Hidalgo hears from Israeli athletes who lived through the darkest day in Olympic History - the shootings at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Photo: A German policeman on patrol after the shootings (Hutton Archive/Getty Images).

In 1912, the Native American athlete, Jim Thorpe, stunned the world by winning both the decathlon and pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics.

Less than a year later, Thorpe was stripped of the medals in controversial circumstances.

After struggling to make a living as a Hollywood extra, he ended up dying in poverty in a trailer park.

Richard Fleming tells Jim Thorpe's incredible story, with contributions from his biographer, Kate Buford.

PHOTO: Jim Thorpe, the track athelete. Courtesy of Cumberland County Historical Society.

In the 1960s, American athlete Dick Fosbury revolutionised high-jumping by inventing the 'Fosbury flop'. Instead of diving or scissor-kicking over the high-jump bar, Fosbury floated across on his back. He went on to win a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

In 2011, Alan Johnston spoke to Dick Fosbury for Sporting Witness.

Image: Dick Fosbury's winning leap at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

In 1950, victory in a test match at Lord's made the West Indies a force in international cricket for the first time.

The win sparked wild celebrations among the newly-arrived West Indian immigrant community in England.

Tim Mansel talks to the late Sir Clyde Walcott, who scored a century in the game, and to West Indian cricket fans.

PHOTO: Sir Clyde Walcott (centre) and his West Indies team-mates. Getty Images