A new BBC podcast presented by local resident James Threlfall MBE explores the world of Sport’s Greatest Underdogs.
The series tells the stories of five iconic British sportspeople who achieved success against all the odds.
James, who grew up in Melksham, is a radio and sports presenter and DJ. He performed at this year’s Glastonbury Festival and was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his work promoting youth-led competitive skateboarding.
A podcast launch event was held recently in Devizes, attended by industry professionals, James’ friends and family, and special guest Eddie the Eagle.
Episodes feature ski jumper Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards, who qualified for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, becoming Britain’s first-ever competitor in the event; boxer Nicola Adams, a double Olympic gold medallist; Beth Shriever, a BMX rider who became the first British athlete to win a gold medal in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021; Nicolas Hamilton, the brother of seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who became the first disabled racing driver in the British Touring Car Series in 2015 and later battled a gambling addiction; and Leicester City Football Club, which won the Premier League title in 2016 for the first time in its 132-year history.
James said, “I couldn’t be more excited for Sport’s Greatest Underdogs to be out in the world. This is an idea I’d been working on behind the scenes for a while, but once we were given the green light, I just had to keep my fingers crossed that the guests would be up for it. Thankfully, they were, and we’ve got an all-star line-up of athletes, each with truly unique stories.
“The guests in this series are maybe some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, but I really feel that we’ve managed to cover aspects of each story that aren’t out there in the public domain – and that really excites me. I hope listeners leave feeling inspired too.”
You can listen to the podcast via BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p0lr0v3d
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