Planet Sport

In this week's show six top athletes talk about the impact of their faith on their sport and lives. Four of them were recently crowned world champions at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing - Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the women's 100m, US triple jumper Christian Taylor and the winners of the men's and women's 400m, South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk and the USA's Allyson Felix. We also hear from bronze medallist in the men's 110m hurdles Aries Merritt and South Africa's Wenda Nel who reached the final of the women's 400m hurdles.

In the second and final part of our interview with Dan Leo the 32-year old second row rugby forward tells us about his experience at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups with Samoa and why he and his national colleagues threatened to boycott an international game against England in November 2014. He also talks more about the impact of his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ on his life and rugby career.

With the Rugby World Cup just three weeks away we talk to two-times World Cup player, the Samoa second row forward, Dan Leo, who retired from international rugby in May. In Part One of The Dan Leo Story he tells us how he got into the sport and the highlights of his club career which took him from New Zealand to Australia, England and France. He also talks honestly about the challenges of matching his involvement in a high-pressure contact sport with his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.

We look forward to the World Athletics Championships that start in Beijing on Saturday and run til 30th August. Planet Sport reporter Norman Brierley talks to four athletes hoping to be among the medals in Beijing: US shot put hope Michelle Carter, South Africa's long jump duo Godfrey Mokoena and Zarck Visser and Kenya's 800m Olympic champion and world record holder, David Rudisha.

As the new English Premier League season kicked off on Saturday we're joined by our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir to review the weekend's action. We consider the season ahead for the teams aiming to win the title and the three new teams battling to stay in the top tier of English football. And we look forward to the All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo next month as we revisit a night at the swimming at the last edition of the Games four years ago in Maputo, Mozambique.

The new English Premier League season kicks off on Saturday and we’re joined by our Chief Football Correspondent, Stuart Weir, to discuss the prospects of last year’s top teams including reigning champions Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. We also consider the challenges facing the three new teams – Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford – as they aim to avoid relegation after one season. Wednesday 5th August marked one year out from the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro so to celebrate that Planet Sport reporters Tom Ellis and Andy Bloss take us to one of Rio’s most iconic landmarks, the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

We're at the Anniversary Games Diamond League meeting in London, to meet athletes preparing for next month's World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Usain Bolt talks about the challenge of racing against athletes who have previously been banned as drugs cheats. We also hear from two of the USA's Olympic champions Sanya Richards-Ross (400m) and Aries Merritt (110 m hurdles) and two of this year's form athletes likely to be challenging for medals in Beijing, Wayde van Neikerk (400m, South Africa) and Mercy Cherono (5,000m, Kenya).

Michael Jones scored the first try in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. He also scored the first try in the final as he helped New Zealand beat France 29-9 to be crowned the first Rugby World Champions. A powerful flanker and number eight forward he played 55 times for the All Blacks and was one of the most feared players of his time. In 2000 Rugby World magazine named him the third best All Black of the 20th century and in 2003 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. He talks about the influences on his incredible career, the highlights and constant battle against injuries, his strong faith as a follower of Jesus Christ and his conviction not to play on a Sunday.

We look back on two weeks of captivating tennis at the Wimbledon Championships and talk to the finalists in the men's and women's singles events - Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza. And we visit a project in Rio de Janeiro that is using football to help children escape from lives of sexual exploitation, drugs and crime.

We continue our conversation with Brazilian racing driver Adriano Medeiros as the 2013 Classic Formula Ford 1600 champion tells about the Jesus Saves team he drives for, his aim to take part in endurance racing and why he thinks Lewis Hamilton will win this year's Formula 1 Championship.

Racing driver Adriano Medeiros was inspired to get into motor sport by his fellow Brazilians and F1 drivers, Alex Dias Ribeiro and Emerson Fittipaldi. In 2013 he won the Classic Formula Ford title in the UK driving for the Jesus Saves team. He has also driven in exhibitions for clients including Pure McLaren Experience and Top Gear Live show. In the first of a two-part interview he talks to Planet Sport's Norman Brierley about his twin passions of racing and his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Jaime Fillol played in the 1960s and 70s reaching two Grand Slam doubles finals and representing Chile in the David Cup. After retiring he became one of the founder members of the ATP, serving as president from 1979-80. In the week before the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship the 69-year-old talks to Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir about the highlights of his career, his work with the ATP and the differences in the game between the time he played and today.

We talk to four athletes at the recent Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, Kenya's javelin thrower Julius Yego after recording the furthest distance since 2006, 800m runners Eunice Jepkoech Sum and Nijel Amos and Kenya's 5000m runner, Thomas Longosiwa. And following Sepp Blatter's resignation as president of FIFA we ask fans of 'the beautiful game' what they would change if they were FIFA president?

We're at the Diamond League athletics meeting in Birmingham to talk to two reigning Olympic champions, Allyson Felix, who won gold at London 2012 in the 200m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays and triple jump gold medallist Christian Taylor. We also catch up with Australia's Commonwealth discus champion, Dani Samuels, and Commonwealth 400m silver medallist Wayde van Niekerk from South Africa as they share their hopes for the World Championships in Beijing this August.

In the week that Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce equals the fastest time by a woman for the 100 metres this year, we revisit our interview recorded with the double Olympic champion last year in which she talks about the faith that underpins her life and the ambitions she still holds on the track.

We look back on another captivating season in the English Premier League. Our Chief Football Correspondent Stuart Weir assesses the achievements of the top four clubs and nominates three players who have impressed him this year. We congratulate Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford on their promotion to the Premier League next season and talk to Watford's Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo.

We're at Wembley at the launch of FIFA's new anti-racism and discrimination system being implemented at 2018 World Cup qualifiers and at the World Cup itself. We hear from Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder, Yaya Toure, and other speakers at the event. And we talk to former Aston Villa midfielder, Lee Hendrie, about Villa's chances in next week's FA Cup final against Arsenal.

We join the promotion party at Watford FC as the club celebrates achieving Premier League football next season. We hear from joyous fans and from the Hornets' former Brazilian international goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes. And we report from the Great City Games in Manchester and hear from top athletes Jessica Ennis-Hill, Felix Sanchez and Richard Browne.

We talk to the winners of the men's and women's elite races, Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya and Ethiopia's Tegist Tufa and two winners in the wheelchair races, USA's Joshua George and Tatyana McFadden. And we hear from Paula Radcliffe who was taking part in her last competitive race on the same track where in 2003 she set the world record for the women's marathon which still stands to this day.

Why do there seem to be so many controversial refereeing decisions in football? In the English Premier League this season hardly a week goes by without some key decision being made which affects the result of the game. We are joined by our Chief Football Correspondent, Stuart Weir, and Referees' Assessor and former top referee, Bob Hamer, to discuss the challenges and pressures facing top flight referees.