Advertise on podcast: Track & Ball with Ellen White and Richard Whitehead

Here's another chance to listen to Richard and Ellen's chat with Paralympic legend David Weir recorded in May 2021

Tom Huddlestone began his career in the youth set-up at Nottingham Forest before moving on to Derby County, Spurs, Wolves and Hull. A brilliant passer of the ball who made it to the England squads at age group and senior level. Tom shares his insights from inside the world of football...from the European Super League to VAR. Tom's had a tough year - for the first time every he's not had a club and had to train alone and for a time even stopped watch the game. But he's fired up and getting himself in shape ready for the new season. He shares his highlights of 18 years at the top. He made his debut at Derby as a 16 year old and played two full seasons. And made his England debut against Brazil. There's lots of chat about his favourite players - those he's played with and against. And his thoughts about the Euros! He finishes, of course, with the quick fire round of questions from Ellen and Richard. Ellen White is an England footballer who's played at three World Cups and the 2012 Olympics. Richard Whitehead won gold at the Rio and London Paralympics. You can follow us @trackandballpod @ellsbells89 @marathonchamp And find this interview on Youtube at

David Weir is one of the Paralympic greats. He won six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 games as well as an 8 times winner of the London Marathon. His ten Paralympic medals have come at a range of distances in his racing chair...from 200m to marathon. He talks about his career and some of the tough mental battles he's had and his suicidal thoughts. He's outspoken on the way he feels he was treated by the sports rulers at the last Paralympics. Through counselling he discovered he'd been depressed all of his life. He recalls crying as a young boy on a council estate because he wanted to be 'normal' and play football and ride a bike. He never addressed the issues until 2016 and he's now thankful he spoke out and believes he's in the best mental state he's ever been in. David retired after Rio in 2016 but he's back and hungry for action in Tokyo this summer. The "WeirWolf" has also developed a new way of coaching and set up the Weir Archer Academy to pass on knowledge, experience and enjoyment of sport to the next generation of disabled people. Thanks for listening. Track and Ball is presented by England footballer Ellen White and Paralympic sprinter Richard Whitehead Follow us @trackandballpod @ellsbells89 @marathonchamp And you can see the video version of this and previous podcasts at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ

In another bonus episode here's Richard talking with Carl Froch MBE, former world champion boxer and one of Britain's finest boxers in the last two decades. Carl "The Cobra" had an amazing career with a series of world title fights and a record of 33 wins from 35 bouts including a sell out win over George Groves at Wembley Stadium(in front of 80000 people), his final fight. He's now a pundit and poker player as well as a successful businessman, husband and dad. Carl takes us behind the scenes on his career - from his professional debut to the world title fights, including his run of 26 wins in a row. And he talks about coming back from his first defeat and what he learnt from it. You can see the Youtube version of this podcast here https://youtu.be/Km1WgGUzM28 Track and Ball is presented by Paralympic gold medal winner Richard Whitehead and England footballer Ellen White. Ellen's away for this podcast, on international duty. Follow us @trackandballpod @marathonchamp @ellsbells89

Pole Vaulter Holly Bradshaw is an Olympian, a British champion and hoping for a medal at Tokyo. Holly's had a challenging few weeks after catching Covid following the European Indoor Championships. Today's podcast is presented by Richard Whitehead, Paralympic gold medal winner at London and Rio. Ellen White's away with the England squad so she's not around today. Holly talks about her favourite moments, her relationship with her coach and reveals her big fear! Spiders. You can see the podcast on Track and Ball's YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ Follow us @trackandballpod @marathonchamp @Ellsbells89

Alistair Brownlee gives Ellen and Richard a real insight into life as a triathlete. He won gold in Rio and London and has a whole sackful of other medals at World, European and Commonwealth level. There's his brutal training schedule, his and his obvious passion for the sport. He talks about the pressures of London 2012, the hell of a bad injury just before the Games and the joy of gold. Alistair reveals he's aiming to be in Tokyo and has his sights set on the up and coming qualifying events....but after Tokyo he plans to move in to the much longer distance Ironman events. He talks about the High Performance mindset and credits his parents, a teacher, his coaches and his colleagues for getting him to where he is. He says endurance sport is about doing the simple things right over and over again. We cover upbringing, training, inspiration, resilience and goals - all the factors needed to make a champion. If you like video - here's our Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9j_WfzRU4PdMtd5otWJjQ Please give us a follow and get in touch @trackandballpod @ellsbells89 @marathonchamp Ellen White is an England football. Richard Whitehead is a double Paralympic gold medal winner

With us today is former England footballer Darren Bent. Darren first played for Ipswich and went on to sign for Charlton, Spurs, Sunderland, Villa and Derby amongst others. He's now a broadcaster for Talk Sport. Darren was an England standard long jumper as a schoolboy - but when he signed for Ipswich at 14 he followed his passion. He tells us how he learnt by watching lots of football on TV with Ian Wright one of his biggest influences. Ellen asks him what his first big purchase was when he became a professional - and we get a great answer! He reveals his training methods and his big belief in repetition to succeed. And also talks about the loyal friends who've supported him along the way...with the same friends now as when he was a kid. We'd love to hear from you - find us @trackandballpod Track and Ball is presented by England footballer Ellen White and Paralympic gold medal winner Richard Whitehead.

We loved having Team GB sprinter Adam Gemili on the podcast. What a story he has. He loved sport as a kid and played everything from cycling and cricket to rounders and netball. Adam found his love in football and spent 8 years at the Chelsea Academy before moving to Dagenham and Redbridge. He became a full-time track athlete in 2012 and has some great stories about his experiences at the London Olympics. He spoke to us from his training camp in Florida but also revealed how tough he found things in 2020 with the cancellation of the Tokyo Games and he was surprised how much it affected him. Thanks for your support! You can find us at @trackandballpod

Some brilliant questions! And we do our best to answer them all. From our influences, our favourite sports people, the challenges we face, our we motivate ourselves and even what sort of chocolate we eat. This is a follow up from last week's edition with all the questions we didn't have time to answer. Thanks everyone for your support! Follow us at @trackandballpod @marathonchamp @ellsbells89

This a recording of the Live Q and A we had. Wow! Thank you for your response. We're recording a bonus episode to answer all the questions we didn't get time for - and we'll be publishing it soon. Thanks for the support! Richard and Ellen @trackandballpod

Iwan Thomas is one of the characters of athletics....with his distinct hair as flamboyant 400m runner and now as a TV and stadium presenter. There is so much to Iwan Thomas and he freely talks about all aspects of his life - from his days competing to his post-athletics life. He talks about how he lives his life, surrounding himself with good friends and good people. He won silver at the World Athletics Championships in the 4x400m relay but this was eventually upgraded to gold because two of the American team admitted to take performance enhancing drugs. Iwan feels he's never been properly recognised with the team. He was given a form of medal in a car park in Birmingham. It makes him sad that they've never had their moment in the limelight. There are lots of great stories; from an altercation in a Southampton nightclub to drinking free beers to help give a sample for a drugs test. Iwan had many battles with injury during his career, missing the Athens Olympics and Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He tells us how he struggled mentally to cope with with his physical injuries and shut himself away suffering depression. He went on to make a video with Prince Harry to help others with mental health issues. He also had a traumatic time soon after his little boy Teddy was born. Within hours of being born little Teddy was taken into intensive care with Strep B. For ten days it was incredibly serious. Iwan now does all he can to raise awareness of the condition. We'd love to hear from you if you have any comments or guest suggestions @trackandballpod @ellsbells89 @marathonchamp

James Ellington is one of Britain's finest sprinters. In this chat he's relaxed and brutally honest. And he's got a story to tell! He fell in love with athletics as a toddlers watching on TV. But the real change happened when his mum grounded him for 6 months when he was 12 years old for getting in to trouble with the police. James joined the local athletics club at Crystal Palace and never looked back. He was national champion at 12 and went on to compete internationally. But it has been far from plain sailing. He wasn't funded - so auctioned himself on ebay to raise money to compete at the London Olympics. He was also only training 3 times a week and so didn't really understand the demands of a professional athlete. He's got firm views on racism, sexism and the class divide in his sport. James is an Olympian and British and European Champion. He's been a part of the sprint relay squads; and has his own views on why more medals haven't been won by GB in that event. Life changed dramatically in 2017 when he was seriously injured in a head-on crash at a training camp in Tenerife. Many thought this was career-ending. James is currently training in Dubai and hoping to make the Tokyo Games in 2021. And he gives insight into the technical training that takes place in the 100m to allow him to sprint as fast as he can. Thanks for listening! @trackandballpod @ellsbells89 @marathonchamp