Raw

Asif Sultani and Farid Walizadeh were born in Afghanistan in the mid-nineties, and by the age of seven had both been forced to flee the country. Walking alone across mountains, boats breaking down in the Pacific Ocean, being thrown into jail—these two young men have suffered unimaginable trauma in the search for safety. Despite the trauma, they found strength through sport and both received IOC scholarships in 2018. This episode explores how displacement, war, and prejudice have been overcome with self-determination of heroic proportions. Farid and Asif are inspirations to displaced people worldwide.

In 2011, fresh-faced German sprinter Marcel Kittel exploded onto the world of cycling. He won a stage on his Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta a España that season, and from there his rapid ascent to the peak of his sport saw him considered a revelation. Marcel was completely adored by fans, thought to enhance his sport as a whole by his peers, and took 14 Tour de France stages and 89 professional wins. So, when he announced his retirement in 2019, cycling fans were stunned. He was just 31. The all-encompassing psychological pressures had become too much—the time away from family and friends, the remorseless training—and this episode is about the complexities of becoming burnt out by the thing you love the most.

Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian is Jamaica’s first ever female bobsledder. Growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, Jazmine was a talented athlete in her childhood and originally competed for the USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She switched allegiances to Jamaica in 2016, with a promise to show young Jamaicans that they could be visible in situations where, usually, they weren’t. Under 2% of athletes at PyeongChang in 2018 were black and, after overcoming funding struggles and threats that their sled would be taken away, Jazmine and her teammate Carrie Russell celebrated their identity on the sport’s biggest stage. In this episode, Jazmine candidly reflects on her remarkable journey to get there…

Born in Cameroon, Serge Betsen moved to Paris with his mother and siblings when he was nine. After being introduced to rugby a couple of years later, Serge would become one of the most feared flankers to ever play the game. He won three Six Nations, nullified legends like Johnny Wilkinson, and received over 200 stitches to his head. He cites pain, via a broken cheekbone, as the reason he fell in love with the sport, and this episode explores pain in all forms: inflicting it, receiving it, and using the fear of it to make you who you are.If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice.

When Alison Van Uytvanck and Greet Minnen teamed up in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon in 2019, they did something that nobody had ever done before. An openly gay couple had never played on court together at a Grand Slam, and with Billie Jean King at Wimbledon and 30,000 people at London’s Pride celebration down the road, this combined for a hyper visible showing of an LGBTQ+ relationship in elite sport. In this conversation, Alison and Greet share their thoughts on overcoming the fears of what other people think, embracing differences, and the journey of acceptance for the LGBQT+ community in the sporting world.If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

In 2003, Ryan Boyle’s life changed forever.Whilst on his bike at a friend’s ninth birthday party, Ryan was hit by a truck. The back of his head was crushed, part of his brain was removed in surgery, and he woke up from a coma two months later.Doctors told him the best he could hope for was learning how to type. Ryan didn’t listen. After relearning to swallow, talk, and walk—Ryan got back on his bike.Now a World Champion paracyclist, in this episode Ryan shares how he wants his story to be an inspiration to anyone told that they can’t do something.

Jane Couch changed the world. Born in a small fishing town in the north west of the UK, Jane turned her life away from street-fighting and crime after watching a boxing documentary aged 26.She won multiple World Titles, yet wasn’t even allowed to fight in her own country until successfully suing the British Board of Boxing Control in 1998.This episode sees Jane and Natasha Jonas—Great Britain’s first ever female Olympic boxer—in conversation about the struggle, determination, and victories that it took to overcome gender inequality in the world of boxing.

Imagine fleeing across a mountain range.Imagine being told you can’t earn a living because of your gender.Imagine hearing that you will never walk again.Across the world, there are extraordinary people who have had to overcome extreme hardship and prejudice to be able to compete, and in this new eight-part series from Eurosport, we go under the skin and into the heart of these incredible tales of sporting defiance.This is Raw - stories of bravery, determination, and talent.