Not by the Playbook

Linda Ashmore, Ironman competitor and age-group world champion, shows us that qualifying for the world stage can come later in life.
Team GB cyclist and bobsledder Victoria Williamson shares her journey from a devastating crash to redefining herself beyond elite sport, embracing a new path in health and fitness.
Former Premier League footballer Jody Craddock reveals how he is building a second career as a professional artist and discovering creativity beyond the pitch.
Basketball storyteller Leigh Ellis, founder of the Basketball Passport, on playing pickup games around the world and the power of sport to bring people together.
Each story exploring reinvention, identity and the courage it takes to leap into something new.
(Photo: Triathletes compete in the 3.8km swim during the Ironman World Championships on 10 October, 2015, Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Credit: Jason Rappaport/Getty Images)

Wrap up warm, because this week all our stories are about winter sports. We'll go cross-country skiing in Italy, play ice hockey on the equator and have a snowball fight in Finland!
When Canadian cross-country skiers Beckie Scott and Sara Renner lined up for the Women's team sprint at 2006 Winter Olympics, they wouldn’t have anticipated help from a medal rival. But, after disaster struck, it was a Norwegian coach who was there to help. Proving that even the coldest environments can produce the warmest displays of sportsmanship.
An Olympic team of one. Shiva Keshavan was the only member of India’s 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. A 16-year-old representing a nation of over a billion. Shiva’s sport? Luge, one of the most dangerous winter sport disciplines with athletes facing speeds of up to 145 kilometers an hour.
After winning a silver medal at Beijing 2022, para-snowboard star Lisa DeJong turned her inspiring journey into a children’s book. Drawing on her own experiences, the story shows the importance of representation, resilience and celebrating differences.
With the Winter Olympics taking place, we learn about a sport and a team with Olympic aspirations. Yukigassen, a snowball fight tuned into a sport; and Kenya’s Ice Lions pioneering Ice Hockey in a country with just a single ice rink.
Photo: Beckie Scott and Sara Renner of Canada celebrate winning the Silver Medal for finishing second in the Women's Cross Country Skiing Team Sprint on Day 4 of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games on February 14, 2006 in Pragelato Plan, Italy. (Credit: Bongarts/Getty Images)

When Canadian cross-country skiers Beckie Scott and Sara Renner lined up for the Women's team sprint at 2006 Winter Olympics, they wouldn’t have anticipated help from a medal rival. But, after disaster struck, it was a Norwegian coach who was there to help. Proving that even the coldest environments can produce the warmest displays of sportsmanship.
An Olympic team of one. Shiva Keshavan was the only member of India’s 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. A 16-year-old representing a nation of over a billion. Shiva’s sport? Luge, one of the most dangerous winter sport disciplines with athletes facing speeds of up to 145 kilometers an hour.
After winning a silver medal at Beijing 2022, para-snowboard star Lisa DeJong turned her inspiring journey into a children’s book. Drawing on her own experiences, the story shows the importance of representation, resilience and celebrating differences.
With the Winter Olympics taking place, we learn about a sport and a team with Olympic aspirations. Yukigassen, a snowball fight tuned into a sport; and Kenya’s Ice Lions pioneering Ice Hockey in a country with just a single ice rink.
Photo: Beckie Scott and Sara Renner of Canada celebrate winning the Silver Medal for finishing second in the Women's Cross Country Skiing Team Sprint on Day 4 of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games on February 14, 2006 in Pragelato Plan, Italy. (Credit: Bongarts/Getty Images)

Sometimes realising your dream can all be a bit much. Leonard Russell was drafter 14th overall when the Patriots signed him. The franchise was on the brink of a historic dynasty and Russell was right there, winning the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1991. But being at the top causes its own challenges. Leonard turned to illegal substances to deal with the pressures., and it didn't take long before it had taken his career, marriage and very nearly his life. Ejected from the NFL and sat in a jail cell Leonard realised he needed a radical change of life. Leonard Russell's story is one of revival and responsibility. His comeback is inspirational and shows what can be achieved no matter how far you fall
How do we as individuals balance the challenges thrown at us in life and not engage in damaging behaviour. For Steve Wright there was an added layer of difficulty. His job as an NFL player required him to act in and occupy an aggressive state of mind. But flicking a switch to go from his natural mild mannered to threatening and destructive and back again was not easy. Alongside his wife Lizzy Wright, we explore living with Jekyll and Hyde.
Jaime Coffee became the first woman to call an NFL game in the stadium when she did so at Levi Stadium (where the Super Bowl is to be played) a couple years back. She had previously broken glass ceilings in basketball by calling NBA games and again when invited by the 49ers to be their stadium announcer for a game back in August 2023
Whichever team wins the Super Bowl will not only receive the Vince Lombardi trophy and have a homecoming parade they also receive a Super Bowl ring! Over the years these have got bigger and more elaborate. Chris Poitras is vice president and chief operating officer of Jostens. They are the jewelers who have made the vast majority of Super Bowl rings over the years.
This episode was updated on 9 February 2026 due to music rights restrictions.
(Photo: Running Back Leonard Russell #32 of the New England Patriots runs the ball against the Phoenix Cardinals at Sun Devil Stadium, 10 October,1993 in Tempe, Arizona. The Patriots won 23-21. (Bernstein Associates/Getty Images)

February, the month of love, the one with the fewest days and the in the northern hemisphere the last month of winter, but what you might not have realised is that February might also be the most exciting month of the year. And we have the guests to prove it! February hosts two massive sporting events, the Winter Olympics in Italy and the Super Bowl in California. So wrap up warm as we head to the ice and snow of Lombardy, and then get your sun lotion as we head to the Bay area and the Super Bowl
Iranian skier Samaneh Beyrami Baher is all set to compete in the grueling cross country skiing event at the Winter Olympics in Italy. This is the second time Samaneh has qualified for the Games. When Iran's flag barer at the 2018 Games she caused a sensation with her emotional entrance at the Opening Ceremony. She tells us about her rigorous training, the challenges she's has had to overcome and why she's so confident in a new set of skis she's just received from Olympic champion Jessica Diggins.
American Football and Politics... One is a brutal, winner takes all, adversarial, adrenaline fueled contest, where everyone has an opinion. The other is American Football! and the idea that sport and politics don't mix has been debated long and hard over recent years. Some believe players should stick to playing, others that they have a responsibility to use their platform to speak about matters that are important to them. Colin Allred has played both games. He made it to the NFL the hard way going undrafted, before being signed up to the Tennessee Titans. After playing he went back to school to study law and in 2018 was elected as a member of the House of Representative from his home state of Texas. His victory, a Democrat beating the incumbent Republican, was something of an upset. Having lost his seat in 2024, he's trying to regain it later this year.
We have managed to find a story that neatly moves neatly from the Winter Olympics to the Super Bowl. Kind of! Think Ice Bowl. Back to New Year's Eve 1967, when the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys in one of the most famous games in American Football history. Played in Arctic temperatures, the match elevated the reputation of Packers' coach, Vince Lombardi stature. We hear from former Packers' lineman, Jerry Kramer.
Photo: Iran's Samaneh Beyrami Baher practicing in Italy ahead of the Winter Olympics which start in February 2026 (Credit: Samaneh Beyrami Baher)