Sportsworld

As the camera moved along the line-up before the 2025 World Indoor Long Jump final, Claire Bryant held up a sign she'd made.
The Championships were being held in Nanjing, and Claire had decided to make a sign which said 'Jesus' in Mandarin.
As she prepared to take her first jump, an official informed her that doing so had broken World Athletics rules concerning the displaying of religious or political symbols or slogans on the field of play.
There was a risk she could be disqualified.
What happened next, as described to us by Claire in this episode, really captures her natural humour, her fierce competitive instincts on the runway and the part that her Christian faith plays in every aspect of her life.
Photo: Gold medallist Claire Bryant of Team United States celebrates winning the Women’s Long Jump Final on day three of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2025 at Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Sports Park on March 23, 2025 in Nanjing, China.(Credit: Getty Images)

Anna Cockrell won 400 hurdles silver at the Paris Olympic Games. In her event, the build-up had focussed on the head-to-head between Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol. It was the defending champion and world record holder against the reigning world champion.
Anna was aware of that conversation but also knew that she was in the form of her life. In the finishing straight, she passed Bol to claim the silver medal behind McLaughlin-Levrone. She didn’t believe it until she saw her name come up on the board in the stadium. When it did, the time next to Anna’s name was the fourth fastest in history.
The road to the Olympic podium was difficult. Going back to 2019, Anna was ready to quit track and field. She was carrying the weight of her own expectations and everyone else’s. Her college coach saw she was struggling with depression and sent her to see a therapist. A lot of self-discovery and trial and error followed as she began rebuilding.
In 2021, the same year that her brother won the Superbowl, Anna made her first Olympic team. She reached the final in Tokyo, but finished down the field before being disqualified for running out of her lane. The transition from college athlete to the pro ranks was next, and it wasn’t easy. In 2022, her first year as a professional, she didn’t make the world championship team and got injured as well. It was during the 2023 season that she and her coach started figuring things out. Anna finished fifth at that year’s worlds – learning lessons she’d carry into Olympic year and onto the podium in Paris.
We discuss the prospect of winning gold at a home Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Some of her friends have already bought their tickets for her final at the LA Games – Anna says they know the schedule better than she does!
Anna’s family, her parents and her siblings, have helped to shape her – that really shines through in this episode. Also listen out for when the Kardashians get a mention – a first for the Warm Up Track!
Photo: Silver medalist Anna Cockrell of Team United States celebrates on the podium during the Women's 400m Hurdles medal ceremony on day fourteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 09, 2024 in Paris, France. (Credit: Getty Images)

Sweden’s Daniel Stahl grew up following the NHL and he started out playing ice hockey, but discus thrower Ricky Bruch was always young Daniel’s biggest hero.
Bruch was like a rockstar, a real cultural icon as well as a sportsman. His admiration for Ricky, and the fact that you can’t play ice hockey all year round, helped him to find track and field. Mum and Dad were throwers too, so he had the genes to succeed when he finally picked up the discus.
Daniel wasn’t an overnight success as a discus thrower, and he explains why the journey to the top took time. But when he got there, the medals were gold.
Doha in 2019 was the first of his three world titles but, it was all so overwhelming, that Daniel believes he wouldn’t have won the Tokyo Olympic Games if they had gone ahead as scheduled in 2020. Instead, when those Games did take place, he was better prepared mentally to deal with everything.
A second world title followed and then, on the final night of the 2025 World Championships, he claimed his third. It was special for so many reasons. He was back in Tokyo in the same stadium where he’d won the Olympics, but this time with a crowd. In terms of the night itself, it rained and it rained and it rained.
In the end, everything else had finished. It was the last night of the Championships and even the closing ceremony had ended, but the discus throwers were still out there. What was it like dealing with all of the delays? Watching as the volunteers tried and failed to mop up the rain from the throwing circle using a seemingly endless supply of towels? Daniel watched it like it was a comedy show, knowing he was ready after preparing for those conditions for months.
We also discuss the prospect of completing the career grand slam. He’s won the Olympics and the Worlds, but the European title is the one that’s missing.
Finally, did his hero Ricky Bruch ever give him any advice?
Photo: Daniel Stahl of Team Sweden competes during the Men's Discus Throw Final on day nine of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Credit: Getty Images)

At the age of 16, Innes FitzGerald turned down selection for the World Cross Country Championships because they were a long-haul flight away in Australia.
The environmental impact of getting on that plane was more important to her than the experience of competing on the international stage. That decision changed her life. Traditional media and social media wanted to know who she was and why she’d made that choice. Innes found herself being compared to the climate activist Greta Thunberg, something she welcomes.
We discuss that period in her life, and the factors that went into Innes writing that letter to British Athletics. She also explains how she continues to take trains and busses to as many European competitions as she can, and the factors she had to weigh up before stepping onto a plane to compete at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo.
Having initially become famous for something she chose not to go to, Innes has since started to win gold at the championships that she has attended. In 2025, the British long-distance runner won the European under-20 titles at 3000m, 5000m and Cross Country. Then, on New Year’s Day 2026, she broke the women’s UK parkrun record.
In terms of the future, Innes explains what her sport’s governing bodies can do to make a global sport a greener one.
Photo: Julia Ehrle of Germany is overtaken by Innes Fitzgerald of United Kingdom during the U20 women's race at the 2025 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal. (Credit: Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Geordie Beamish was involved in arguably the best race of the 2025 World Championships. In Tokyo, he timed his finish to perfection to upset the twice and reigning champion, Soufiane El Bakkali, in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. The Moroccan was looking for his third world title in a row, to go with his Olympic golds from Tokyo and Paris. But Geordie had other ideas.
He takes us back to that night, and to that final lap. We relive it all, including an incident earlier in the week, where he narrowly avoided getting his face stepped on in the heats.
Tokyo wasn’t the first time that the New Zealander had struck gold at a World Championships. Indoors in Glasgow in 2024 he won the 1500m title. So which event does he prefer and how close was either performance to a perfect race?
Geordie came through in New Zealand at the same time as High Jump World and Olympic champion, Hamish Kerr. They’ve competed in the same High School and age group champs and now are spearheading a golden period in New Zealand athletics on the world stage. We discuss the friendship between these two flying Kiwis.
In a Commonwealth Games year, Geordie also explains what the Games mean to him and to his country.
Photo: Geordie Beamish of Team New Zealand and Soufiane El Bakkali of Team Morocco compete along the final straight during the Men's 3000 Metres Steeplechase Final on day three of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 15, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Credit: Getty Images)