When Orla Met...

The popular, critically acclaimed podcast series When Orla Met…is back for a second season, and Orla has once again spoken to a host of top athletes and fascinating characters from the world of sport, to find out more about what drives them to phenomenal lengths and success, what it takes to make it to the very top, what lessons we can learn in dealing with setbacks, and how we can all find inspiration in the pursuit of excellence. In this season, Orla explores themes that expand beyond the boundaries of sport - the role of women in society, what kind of personality traits it takes to excel, how we can train our brains to be more successful in our own lives, the universality of cheating.

Featuring, among others, Tour de France winner and BBC Sports Personality of the Year favourite Geraint Thomas, triple European Champion sprinter and fellow Sports Personality of the Year front-runner Dina Asher-Smith, world-renowned psychiatrist and author of 'The Chimp Paradox', Dr Steve Peters, Team Sky and British Cycling head coach Rod Ellingworth, triple Olympic medalist Kelly Sotherton and Olympic hockey Champion Sam Quek.

When Orla Met…is a conversation with people from the world of sport, about sport, but it's not just a sports podcast. It's a podcast for anyone interested in stories, in the fortitude and frailties of those who push themselves to the limit. It's a chance to get to know some of the biggest names and brains in sport along with Orla, and to learn a little more of the motivation, fears and discipline that drive the ordinary to become extraordinary, to become the very best.

When Orla Met Jonnie Peacock is an insight into one of those rare people in life who genuinely don’t seem to see hardships as obstacles, who simply deals with life as it comes to them, rather than over-thinking, over-worrying, or asking ‘why me?’ As a five-year-old Jonnie lost his leg to meningitis, but rather than allow it to hold him back, he threw himself into all kinds of sport, ignored the bullying that came his way, and started out on the journey that would see him become double Paralympic and World Champion.

In the second part of When Orla Met Jonathan Vaughters the cycling team manager and confessed doper debates the Darwinian urge to gain advantage, the justice of the penalties imposed on Lance Armstrong, and the need for both society and sports teams to believe that sport can be clean.

When Orla Met Jonathan Vaughters is a thoughtful discussion with the former professional cyclist, confessed doper, and current cycling manager about the idealism and practicalities of clean sport. Does it exist? Can it exist? And where do we draw the line from eating cheese, to injecting performance enhancing drugs?

When Orla Met Mark Cavendish is a conversation with one of the most successful cyclists of all time, and his mum. Despite his fame and fortune Cavendish still feels most at home on the Isle of Man, where he grew up and where he still has a house opposite his mother. Orla meets both Mark and his mum and chats about his drive as a child, his ongoing need to win, and the challenges of spending so much time away from family and loved ones.

When Orla Met Lizzie Deignan is a chat with one of the top cyclists in the world about the challenge and excitement of impending motherhood. Lizzie shares her joy at starting a family, and her plans to juggle her new role, with that of being a professional cyclist. She also talks openly about her “horrendous” experience before the Rio Olympics when it was reported that she had missed three anti-doping tests in a year, despite having her name cleared in court, and her disappointment in the UK Anti Doping Agency for their role in the matter.

When Orla Met Maggie Alphonsi is an inspirational conversation with the World Cup winning rugby player, who became the face of international women’s rugby. Maggie opens up about her childhood on a council estate in North London, as the daughter of a single-parent mother who sacrificed everything to give her child the best start in life. Born with a physical disability, she talks about the freedom she found in sport, and her good fortune in having a PE teacher who changed her life. Maggie’s is a story of self-improvement, of learning to take the good from the bad, and of always keeping the faith that you can one day, after a lot of hard work, disappointment and failures, become the very best in the world.

In Part 2 of When Orla Met Judy Murray, the mother to two World Number 1 tennis players shares her compelling theory on the power of sport for children, and the need to teach competitiveness from a young age. "I've always felt in life that you learn much more from the defeats, the losses, the disappointments, than you do from the wins". The former Scottish Tennis Coach also has novel theories on how we can encourage more girls into sport, and how she's preparing her "army of women, ready to take over the tennis world."

In Part 1 of When Orla Met Judy Murray, Judy lays bare the sacrifices she made to give her Grand Slam winning sons the best start in life, and the lessons she's learned along the way. Judy shares her experience of motherhood, coaching, and teaching her sons to 'love the torture of hard work'. Having been portrayed for years as the pushy, tennis mum, the former Scottish National Coach confesses 'nothing could be further from the truth.'

In Part 2 of When Orla Met Pippa York, Pippa reflects on the ongoing lack of openly gay athletes, and the perceived lack of team support for anyone wishing to come out. She talks about the transition of fellow elite athlete Caitlin Jenner, and the implications of the huge amount of media coverage afforded to it, and also shares her thoughts on life back in the public eye, and back in the sport of cycling.