Britain's Forgotten Olympic Heroes

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2021

⏱️ 40 minutes

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Summary

The Olympics are a sporting event like no other and in this episode, we celebrate two great British Olympians of the past Anita Neil and Hugh 'Jumbo' Edwards. These are two very different athletes from completely different backgrounds, but each highlights the Olympic spirit at its finest.

Firstly, Dan speaks to a British Olympic pioneer Anita Neil who was the first black woman to represent Great Britain at the games. Anita was an extraordinary sprinter who represented Great Britain at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and the 1972 games in Munich. Anita and Dan discuss he journey to the Olympics, her experiences there and the struggles she faced trying to compete at the highest level.

Then Dan speaks to Gavin Jamieson about the extraordinary life of Hugh 'Jumbo' Edwards. A legend in the sport of rowing he competed in the Oxford Cambridge boat race, won three races at the Henley Regatta and then went on to the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 where he won two Olympic gold medals in the space of an hour; a record that stills stands today. During the Second World War, he joined the RAF and was a decorated pilot in Bomber Command and later in life became an innovative rowing coach.

Listen to our recent episode examing the history of the Olympics with Professor Martin Polley here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, welcome to Dan Snow's History, the Olympics are underway.
0:04.6	Isn't the Olympics that we hoped we'd have?
0:07.2	You know what?
0:08.4	It's still quite amazing watching it and it's been fun introducing my kids the first time
0:12.7	to the kind of magic that surrounds the Olympic Games.
0:15.8	And for this podcast, we've talked to the historian that Professor Martin Holy
0:20.1	about the history of the Olympic Games.
0:22.3	Now I thought we could look at some individual Olympians.
0:24.6	I'm very glad.
0:25.2	First of all, you'll be hearing from Britain's first ever Black female Olympian.
0:30.7	Doris, known as Anita Neal, was born in 1950.
0:35.0	She was extraordinary sprinter and in 1968 she became the first Black British woman to
0:40.6	go to the Olympic Games.
0:41.8	She trained in her spare time.
0:43.1	She works in the machinist and a clothing factory.
0:45.4	She had to support herself, but she was clearly an extraordinary natural talent.
0:51.5	And if she'd been given the kind of support that athletes get these days, well, I think
0:55.2	she could be a household name.
0:57.2	After that, you'll be hearing from Gavin Jamerson, who's written up the story of jumbo edwards,
1:01.5	or rather Hugh Edwards, known as jumbo, was a legend in the world of rowing.
1:04.9	He won the boat race.
1:06.3	He also had Cambridge boat race.
	...

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