Vicky Tolfrey on parasport research and childhood dreams of the Olympics
The Life Scientific
BBC
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 July 2024
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's summer - no really - and although the weather might have been mixed, the sporting line-up has been undeniably scorching - from the back-and-forth of Wimbledon, to the nail-biting Euros, to the current pageantry of the Summer Olympics.
Next month the 2024 Paralympic Games get underway in Paris, involving the world’s very best para athletes; and Professor Vicky Tolfrey is at the forefront of the science that makes their sporting dreams a reality.
Vicky is the Director of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University, a hub for elite para-sport research. She’s worked with stars from the worlds of wheelchair athletics, basketball, rugby and tennis, amongst others – and in 2017, became the first European recipient of the International Paralympic Committee’s prestigious Scientific Award.
She tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili about her work with elite para athletes, her experiences at major international sporting events, and her childhood dreams of becoming an Olympian herself.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced by Lucy Taylor
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to tell you about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.0 | My name is Allison Hindle and I commission audio drama and fiction for the BBC. |
| 0:10.0 | It's a great privilege because I get to unearth stories people love. |
| 0:13.7 | You should see the books and scripts covering my floor, |
| 0:16.5 | from new talent and established writers as well as classics. |
| 0:19.8 | The BBC has such a rich history of making great audio drama, |
| 0:23.7 | we're still the largest producer in the world, |
| 0:26.0 | and the popularity of podcasts means we can share what we do with even more people. |
| 0:30.8 | So if you like to lose yourself in a gripping audio drama or book, find your next listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:42.0 | Hello and welcome to the podcast edition of the life scientific I'm Jim Alkalele and this is the show where I get to talk with some of the world's leading scientists and you get to find out what drives them. So sit back, get comfortable and enjoy the episode. |
| 0:56.0 | So the summer is here and even if we're not guaranteed good weather over these middle months, |
| 1:01.0 | one thing we can be assured of is a scorching run of sporting events. |
| 1:05.6 | In tennis we've had the back and forth of Wimbledon. Football fans have bitten their nails |
| 1:10.1 | to the quick following the euros and right now millions of us are enjoying the |
| 1:14.4 | pageantry and variety of the summer Olympics in Paris and of course it's not over |
| 1:19.2 | yet next month the 2024 Paralympic Games get underway showcasing the incredible the Today is at the forefront of the science that makes their sporting dreams a reality. |
| 1:35.0 | Vicky Tolfri is the director of the Peter Harrison Center for Disability Sport at Luffborough University, |
| 1:41.0 | a hub for elite para-sport research. She's worked with sporting stars |
| 1:45.6 | from the worlds of wheelchair athletics, basketball, rugby and tennis, amongst others. |
| 1:50.5 | And in 2017 she was the first European recipient of the International Paralympic |
| 1:55.8 | Committee's Prestigious Scientific Award. She says sport is so powerful for social connections |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.