Planet Sport

Estonian athlete and 1500 metres national record holder Tiidrek Nurme continues his story about his life, running and faith, from being jailed at the age of just 15 for criminal activities to rediscovering his love for running and becoming a double Olympian. He talks about his experience in 2008 in Beijing when he competed in the 1500m and this year's Olympics in Rio where he ran in marathon.

We talk to Estonia's national 1500m champion Tiidrek Nurme who overcame a life of crime as a teenager that saw him imprisoned at the age of just 15 to become a double Olympian. In 2008 he competed in the 1500m in Beijing and earlier this year he represented Estonia in the marathon at the Games in Rio. He tells us about his early life and how his life changed gradually but clearly for the better after he became a follower of Jesus Christ.

Stuart Weir reports on the recent 'Sport in the Service of Humanity' conference hosted by the Vatican and we hear from one of the many sportspeople who attended, the former Juventus and Italy midfielder, Alessandro Del Piero. And in the light of recent high-profile misdemeanors involving top rugby players former Auckland and Samoa scrum-half, Tu Nu'uali'itia shares his thoughts on the responsibility that goes with being a high profile player and whether it is fair to expect top players and internationals to also be role models?

Carina Horn holds the South African record for the women's 100 metres in a time of 11.06 seconds. The 27-year-old talks to us about her athletics career and the centrality of her Christian faith. And former world recorder in the women's marathon, Kenya's Tegla Loroupe, tells us about her Peace Foundation, set up in 2003 to bring warring communities in Kenya together and help orphans and refugees achieve their potential. This past summer in Rio she was the Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team.

Carl Dambman is a former Greco-Roman wrestler who represented the United States at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Since retiring from the sport for the past 30 years he has been a chaplain to athletes at the Summer and Winter Olympics. He talks to us about his work as chaplain and why he sees it as such an important role. And we find out about Fusion Community Festivals that take place around the world during major sporting events. We spoke to spokesman Marty Woods at a festival on Copacabana Beach during the recent Olympic Games in Rio to find out more.

We talk to Ghanaian-born British boxer Joshua Buatsi, two days after he won bronze in the light-heavyweight division at the recent Olympic Games in Rio. He tells us about the sacrifices he's made over the past four years to achieve his Olympic goal and the role that his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ plays in his life. And in football we discuss the unfolding English Premier League table and ask if England captain Wayne Rooney has a future at Manchester United?

In the second and final part of our interview with Arthur White the British four-times world power-lifting champion tells us about the difference his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ has made to his life. After losing his wife, house and business to an addiction to cocaine he sought help and was able to kick the habit, eventually being reconciled to his wife and discovering an even deeper love for the sport of power-lifting. And Arthur gives his advice to young people taking part in sport, that the main thing is to have fun and enjoy it.

Twenty years ago Englishman Arthur White was a power lifting champion. During his career he held 9 British titles, 6 European titles and 4 World titles. He was also a successful businessman with houses, cars and a loving family. But he lost it all through a drug addiction to cocaine. He ended up as a nightclub bouncer and an illegal debt collector who used violence to get people to pay the money they owed.Twenty years on and everything has changed. Arthur is no longer violent and he’s reconciled to his wife and family. In the first of his two-part story this week on Planet Sport he tells us about his love for power lifting and how he’s turned himself around from a life of drug addition, fear and paranoia.

Jarryd Wallace is a hot favourite for a medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio. The 26-year-old from the USA competes in the T44 category for athletes with a lower limb disability in the 100m, 200m and 400m. In 2013 he won two gold medals and broke three world records at the IPC Athletics World Championships and in Rio he is looking for his first Olympic title. Jarryd spoke to Planet Sport reporter Norman Brierley at the Anniversary Games in London in July about his life, career and hopes for the Paralympic Games.

Dan Smith won his first gold medal for swimming in school competition at the age of 5. In his early teens he was compared to the great Australian swimmer, Ian Thorpe, after breaking several of his age records. The world was at his feet but in his late teens he turned his back on sport and took to a life of excessive drinking, drug abuse and crime and ended up living on the streets. In this interview recorded at the recent Olympic Games in Rio, Dan told reporter Tom Ellis how he turned his life around and rediscovered his love of swimming to compete at the Olympic Games.

As the 2016 Games comes to and end and Rio hands over the Olympic baton to Tokyo we investigate the legacy that has been left for the Brazilian city. Planet Sport reporters Tom Ellis and Andy Bloss talk to residents of Curicica, a suburb of Rio, where homes were demolished to make way for the new Bus Rapid Transport route providing a fast transport system across the city. We hear from the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, who believes the cost of the Games provides great value and ongoing benefits for the people of Rio. And Tom Ellis looks back on the sporting action from the 2016 Olympics and shares his personal highlights.

Olympic 400m champion and new world record holder Wayde van Niekerk talks to us about the secret of his success. Former 400m world record holder Michael Johnson shares his thoughts on the doping controversy afflicting Olympic sport and we hear from Tegla Loroupe, former women's marathon world record holder from Kenya about her role as leader of the Olympic Refugee Team in Rio.

With the Games in Rio well underway we talk to visitors outside Olympic Park and hear from our correspondent Tom Ellis in Rio about the atmosphere and highlights from the first week's events. And we talk to double Olympic 400m hurdles champion, Felix Sanchez from the Dominican Republic about his Olympic triumphs and the faith that is the foundation of his life.

As the 2016 Summer Olympics get underway in Rio we find out about life in the Games Village from Planet Sport reporter Stuart Weir who is in Rio this time to serve the Togo delegation as their Olympic attache. We also talk to two of the athletes competing in Rio: British rower Richard Chambers and South Africa's 400 metres hurdler, Wenda Nel.

We're at the Anniversary Games in London and meet the new women's 100m hurdles world record holder, Kendra Harrison. Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce talk about their hopes of retaining their Olympic titles in Rio and we hear from a Brazilian journalist about how the Host City is preparing for the Games against a background of security issues, the threat of the Zika virus and questions over the Games venues. And we complete our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we look back on the 2012 Olympics in London.

This week's show has a distinct Olympics theme with the 2016 Games in Rio just two weeks away. We visit Ipanema Beach in Rio to find out about a popular sport played there which is now growing popularity elsewhere, called footvolley. Our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era continues as we reach the 2008 Games in Beijing and we meet the only athlete to beat the great Carl Lewis in an Olympic final, Joe DeLoach from the USA, who won the 200 metres in Seoul in 1988.

What's gone wrong with Zimbabwe cricket? Fortunes have plummeted since the glory days of the late 1990s when Zimbabwe beat South Africa and India on their way to finishing fifth in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. This year Zimbabwe have lost to Afghanistan in the Twenty20 World Cup and 3-0 in a ODI series at home to India. So what's gone wrong? We hear from the Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, Tavengwa Mkhulani, and talk to journalist Steve Vickers in Harare. And with the Olympic Games in Rio just three weeks our series looking at the history of the modern Olympic era reaches the 2004 Games in Athens.

As reigning Olympic 400 metres champion Sanya Richards-Ross announces her retirement we pay tribute to her remarkable career. Journalist Stuart Weir provides some insights from his meetings with her over the years and we hear from Sanya herself as she recalls her Olympic triumph in 2012 in London and reflects on the faith which has sustained her through success and disappointment. And we continue our journey through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we look back on some of the highlights of the 2000 Games in Sydney.

With the Olympic Games just a month away we talk to three athletes aiming to win medals in Rio - Kenyan long-distance runners Vivian Cheruiyot and Mercy Cherono and South Africa's Commonwealth Games women's javelin champion, Sunette Viljoen. And we continue our series through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we come to the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

This week we meet two Olympic champions about their plans and hopes for the Games this summer in Rio. Kenya's 1500m world champion, Asbel Kiprop, won gold in Beijing in 2008 while Christian Taylor from the United States is the reigning world and Olympic triple jump champion. And we continue our series journeying through the Games of the modern Olympic era as we come to the 1992 Games in Barcelona and hear from winner of the women's 400m hurdles, Sally Gunnell.