Amazing Sport Stories

In 2003, Namibia's Rudie van Vuuren became the first - and, to date, only - man to have played at both the cricket and rugby World Cups. His feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that he was also working full-time as a doctor. His sporting career saw him take on stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar and James Anderson; though Namibia rarely won, he still managed to find some small victories of his own. This is the ...

Following the unexpected and shocking death of heroic wrestler Gholamreza Takhti, Tehran is a tinderbox. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the streets as tensions and rumours rise to a pitch. Everyone wants someone to blame for this terrible loss. Rana hears about those volatile days, and the state-sanctioned silence that follows. She wrestles with the myth to catch glimpses of the real Takhti, and to seek the legacy that h...

Heroic wrestler Gholamreza Takhti is dead. Rana Rahimpour goes back to that terrible night in January 1968, hearing from perhaps the last person to see him alive. We speak to his teammate Abdollah Movahed about the immediate impact of his death, and then take a closer look at his relations with Mohammed Reza Shah. Everything in Iran is political, and sport is no exception. To understand why, Rana takes us through the story of Mos...

Gholamreza Takhti is a hero. In Iran, a nation full of wrestlers and wrestling fans, he’s the most beloved wrestler of them all. But unexpectedly, tragically, the great champion is found dead in a hotel room in Tehran, in the early days of 1968. Presenter Rana Rahimpour grew up with Takhti’s legend all around her; his image plasters her childhood memories. But now she wants to understand how Takhti, and wrestling, became so inter...

Exploring Iranian wrestling legend Gholamreza Takhti’s journey in life, death and his legacy. The Iranian wrestler was the people's hero: a multiple gold Olympic medal-winner, who embodied the spirit of Iran. He was well loved, even by those who fought against him.

Then, in January 1968, Takhti was found dead in a Tehran hotel room. He was 37.

Presenter Rana Rahimpour delves into the man behind the myth and sheds a light on the compl...

Iraqi weightlifter Raed Ahmed was proud to carry his country's flag at the opening ceremony for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. But the honour came with a strict instruction: he was not to look at the American President, Bill Clinton. Iraq's Olympic Committee was led by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, a man with a reputation for brutality.

But Raed had already begun to think of escape. And that night, with a single glance, he made up his min...

Breaking, or breakdancing, has its origins in the gang culture of 1970s New York. It evolved on the floors of huge parties, where dance replaced violence as an outlet for neighbourhood bravado. But artist and entrepreneur Michael Holman saw an opportunity to turn the nascent culture in something much larger, a scene that could have global appeal.

Four decades later, breaking makes its debut as an Olympic sport, with competitors from...

Since the 1950s, basketball's Harlem Globetrotters have entertained audiences with their showboating, dunks and pranks in exhibition games all over the world. Their perennial opponents, the Washington Generals, have endured more than 17,000 defeats at their hands, with crowds booing and mocking them as the Globetrotters bamboozle them with flashy skills, tricks and dribbles.

So what's it like to play for a team whose only job is to ...

In 2016, Nick Butter was searching for a way to raise £250,000 for a prostate cancer charity. He knew he wanted to undertake some kind of running challenge, but wasn't sure what - until he discovered nobody had ever run a marathon in every country in the world. Two years later, he headed to Canada to embark on an epic journey, not realising just how challenging it would be. On his travels, he would be shot at, mugged at gunpoint an...

Between 1946 and 1966, the ball boys at one of the world's most prestigious tennis tournaments, Wimbledon, were selected from children's homes run by the Barnardo's charity. Two of them were Winston Norton and Sam Hill. Sam had been taken into care because his parents' home was too small to house their six children; Winston because his mother could not cope with the abuse she'd received for having a mixed-race child. At their child...

One year after the crash, Zambia awaits the Africa Cup of Nations final. Football writer Ponga Liwewe and superfan Melody Mwala describe the fever-pitch atmosphere of hope in the country. Fast-forward 18 years, and Zambia are preparing for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final in Libreville, Gabon, near the 1993 crash site. Despite fading on the international scene, Zambia’s run to the final is remarkable. Facing Africa’s best team,...

The newly formed Zambian football team begins to honour the legacy of the KK11, and the players start to defy all odds. The resilience of a nation is witnessed as the new team is met with a wave of support and jubilation. We hear Zambians cheer on their team with the iconic Chipolopolo chant as the players stage an important comeback in a World Cup qualifier which ensures they climb the ranks for the Africa Cup of Nations. #Amazi...

The families of Zambia’s fallen football players grieve their loved ones, as a new national team is formed. The nation mourns the squad at the Independence Stadium in Lusaka, as relatives begin their fight for justice and truth. The newly assembled line-up begins training. Danish manager Roald Poulsen will be their coach. Three players from the original team, but who were not on the flight - Kalusha Bwalya, Johnson Bwalya and Charl...

The stars of Zambia's national football team are killed in a deadly plane crash in 1993, and a dream is shattered. Former international player Robert Earnshaw goes back to his roots in Zambia to interview football writer Ponga Liwewe and the families of the legendary players, including relatives of Godfrey Chitalu, and David Efford Chabala. The team had been nicknamed the KK11 in honour of President Kenneth Kaunda, a proud football...

In 1971, women in Brazil were banned from taking part in organised football. Lea Campos had spent most of her life being steered away from the game, but the fascination had never left her, and she began to wonder if she could get involved by becoming a referee. However, future Fifa president Joao Havelange was determined to maintain the status quo.

With this seemingly insurmountable obstacle in her path, Lea decided to appeal to one...

Caroline Brouwer was one of very few women working in English men's football in the 1980s - and she found her home in one of its most infamous dressing rooms.

The Wimbledon team of the late 1980s featured some of the game's most intimidating players: Vinnie Jones, Dennis Wise, John Fashanu. The press labelled them the 'Crazy Gang', notorious for their riotous behaviour and direct, physical tactics. Their fans loved them; the footbal...

Antonio Esfandiari's heart was beating like a drum. $18 million was stacked up about 12 feet away from where he was sitting. Only one other poker player stood between him and the biggest prize in the game's history.

Everyone held their breath as the dealer revealed the final card.

For Esfandiari, it represented the culmination of a career which began in very different circumstances; for poker itself, the change was immeasurable. This...