Track & Ball with Ellen White and Richard Whitehead

Here's another chance to listen to Richard and Ellen's chat with Paralympic legend David Weir recorded in May 2021

Tom Huddlestone began his career in the youth set-up at Nottingham Forest before moving on to Derby County, Spurs, Wolves and Hull. A brilliant passer of the ball who made it to the England squads at age group and senior level.

Tom shares his insights from inside the world of football...from the European Super League to VAR.

Tom's had a tough year - for the first time every he's not had a club and had to train alone and for a time even stopped watch the game. But he's fired up and getting himself in shape ready for the new season.

He shares his highlights of 18 years at the top. He made his debut at Derby as a 16 year old and played two full seasons. And made his England debut against Brazil.

There's lots of chat about his favourite players - those he's played with and against. And his thoughts about the Euros! He finishes, of course, with the quick fire round of questions from Ellen and Richard.

Ellen White is an England footballer who's played at three World Cups and the 2012 Olympics.

Richard Whitehead won gold at the Rio and London Paralympics.

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And find this interview on Youtube at

David Weir is one of the Paralympic greats. He won six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 games as well as an 8 times winner of the London Marathon.

His ten Paralympic medals have come at a range of distances in his racing chair...from 200m to marathon.

He talks about his career and some of the tough mental battles he's had and his suicidal thoughts. He's outspoken on the way he feels he was treated by the sports rulers at the last Paralympics.

Through counselling he discovered he'd been depressed all of his life. He recalls crying as a young boy on a council estate because he wanted to be 'normal' and play football and ride a bike. He never addressed the issues until 2016 and he's now thankful he spoke out and believes he's in the best mental state he's ever been in.

David retired after Rio in 2016 but he's back and hungry for action in Tokyo this summer.

The "WeirWolf" has also developed a new way of coaching and set up the Weir Archer Academy to pass on knowledge, experience and enjoyment of sport to the next generation of disabled people.

Thanks for listening. Track and Ball is presented by England footballer Ellen White and Paralympic sprinter Richard Whitehead

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And you can see the video version of this and previous podcasts at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ

In another bonus episode here's Richard talking with Carl Froch MBE, former world champion boxer and one of Britain's finest boxers in the last two decades.

Carl "The Cobra" had an amazing career with a series of world title fights and a record of 33 wins from 35 bouts including a sell out win over George Groves at Wembley Stadium(in front of 80000 people), his final fight.

He's now a pundit and poker player as well as a successful businessman, husband and dad.

Carl takes us behind the scenes on his career - from his professional debut to the world title fights, including his run of 26 wins in a row. And he talks about coming back from his first defeat and what he learnt from it.

You can see the Youtube version of this podcast here

https://youtu.be/Km1WgGUzM28

Track and Ball is presented by Paralympic gold medal winner Richard Whitehead and England footballer Ellen White. Ellen's away for this podcast, on international duty.

Follow us

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@marathonchamp

@ellsbells89

Pole Vaulter Holly Bradshaw is an Olympian, a British champion and hoping for a medal at Tokyo.

Holly's had a challenging few weeks after catching Covid following the European Indoor Championships.

Today's podcast is presented by Richard Whitehead, Paralympic gold medal winner at London and Rio. Ellen White's away with the England squad so she's not around today.

Holly talks about her favourite moments, her relationship with her coach and reveals her big fear! Spiders.

You can see the podcast on Track and Ball's YouTube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ

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Alistair Brownlee gives Ellen and Richard a real insight into life as a triathlete. He won gold in Rio and London and has a whole sackful of other medals at World, European and Commonwealth level.

There's his brutal training schedule, his and his obvious passion for the sport. He talks about the pressures of London 2012, the hell of a bad injury just before the Games and the joy of gold.

Alistair reveals he's aiming to be in Tokyo and has his sights set on the up and coming qualifying events....but after Tokyo he plans to move in to the much longer distance Ironman events.

He talks about the High Performance mindset and credits his parents, a teacher, his coaches and his colleagues for getting him to where he is. He says endurance sport is about doing the simple things right over and over again.

We cover upbringing, training, inspiration, resilience and goals - all the factors needed to make a champion.

If you like video - here's our Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ

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Ellen White is an England football. Richard Whitehead is a double Paralympic gold medal winner

With us today is former England footballer Darren Bent. Darren first played for Ipswich and went on to sign for Charlton, Spurs, Sunderland, Villa and Derby amongst others. He's now a broadcaster for Talk Sport.

Darren was an England standard long jumper as a schoolboy - but when he signed for Ipswich at 14 he followed his passion. He tells us how he learnt by watching lots of football on TV with Ian Wright one of his biggest influences.

Ellen asks him what his first big purchase was when he became a professional - and we get a great answer!

He reveals his training methods and his big belief in repetition to succeed. And also talks about the loyal friends who've supported him along the way...with the same friends now as when he was a kid.

We'd love to hear from you - find us @trackandballpod

Track and Ball is presented by England footballer Ellen White and Paralympic gold medal winner Richard Whitehead.

We loved having Team GB sprinter Adam Gemili on the podcast. What a story he has. He loved sport as a kid and played everything from cycling and cricket to rounders and netball.

Adam found his love in football and spent 8 years at the Chelsea Academy before moving to Dagenham and Redbridge. He became a full-time track athlete in 2012 and has some great stories about his experiences at the London Olympics.

He spoke to us from his training camp in Florida but also revealed how tough he found things in 2020 with the cancellation of the Tokyo Games and he was surprised how much it affected him.

Thanks for your support!

You can find us at

@trackandballpod