destination tokyo by Mark Shardlow

Libby Clegg is a blind sprinter in the Paralympics GB team in Tokyo. Libby won double gold in Rio but since then has become a mum to Edward.

Charlotte Moore ie a wheelchair basketball player for Paralympics GB. Tokyo will be her second Games after making her debut as a 17 year old in Rio.

Richard Whitehead is competing in the T61 200m at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

Stef Reid will compete in the Long Jump for Paralympics GB and she starts this double header. Stef talks about life at the GB preparation camp and dealing with the Covid protocols.

Today's guest is Hannah Cockroft, wheelchair racer for Paralympics GB.

Lauren Rowles is part of the rowing squad for Paralympics GB for the Tokyo Paralympics.

Big thanks to the Her Spirit Podcast for letting me use this interview. Check out Her Spirit on herspirit.co.uk - your friendly coach in your pocket. But also, I know you'll want to listen to the whole hour of Mel Marshall - she's quite brilliant. So please go to the Her Spirit Podcast too.

I'm back with a quick reflection on the Olympics before we head to a final preview of the Paralympics Games

Here's a bonus edition

Maddie Hinch is the GB Hockey goalkeeper who was one of the heroes of the Rio Olympics in 2016. But she's had a difficult time since with mental health issues.

Natalie Powell is in the Judo team for the Tokyo Olympics. This will be her second Games.

Today I have 3 swimmers as guests. Adam Peaty won gold in Rio and is completely dominant at his event. He's favourite to retain his Olympic gold medal.

Moe Sbihi has won medals at the London and Rio Olympics. Gold in the coxless four in 2016 and bronze in the eight in London.

Darren Pearcy is the Team Manager at Skateboard GB as the sport makes its Olympic debut. And this is a great insight into the culture of a very non-traditional sport.

George Peasegood is going for a unique treble at the Paralympics in Tokyo this summer. George has qualified for the para-triathlon and for the road race and time trial in cycling. He's going to have a mad week in the intense heat and humidity of Tokyo.

Patrick Huston is part of the Team GB Archery squad for the Tokyo Olympics. Patrick has been giving us a unique insight in this podcast into his Olympic preparation and his love of a very different exercise routine. Definitely check him out on social media!

Nick Hope will be reporting on the Olympics for BBC Sport. He's one of the most knowledgable Olympic reporters around and definitely worth a follow at the Games on @NickHopeTV

Beth Dobbin will run the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics for Team GB and she has quite a story to tell. As you'll hear Beth is absolutely thrilled to be going to the Olympics. Since she was a young girl, it's something she dreamed of. She well remembers Dame Kelly Holmes winning in Athens with her dad screaming at the TV. And then in 2012 she was obsessed, buying lots of memorabilia to fill her room.

Hollie Pearne-Webb is the Team GB women's hockey captain. She was part of the gold medal winning team in Rio. And she had a key role in that victory. Hollie took the penalty shuffle that gave Team GB an historic gold against the Netherlands.

Alison Peasegood has been named in the GB Paralympics team to compete at Para triathlon. Alison Peasegood will compete in PTVI which is for athletes with visual impairment, less than ten per cent vision.

Ali Jawad has been named in the Paralympics GB team heading to Tokyo for powerlifting. Ali's been a great guest on this podcast, telling his story over the last six months to today's announcement.

Claire Taggart has been named for the Paralympics GB squad in Boccia. Claire talks brilliantly about the sport of Boccia and what's needed to be good at it.

Sarah Adlington is set to make her Olympic debut in Judo for Team GB. And that's a relief for her. Sarah narrowly missed out on London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 and she articulates what that was like and how at times she felt she was never going to be an Olympian.

Ben Fox is part of the Wheelchair Basketball Squad heading to the Paralympics. Ben has an extraordinary story about how he got into the sport. It was a chance moment which changed his life.

Bombette Martin is a history maker. She's part of the first ever Team GB Skateboarding squad heading to the Olympics.

Shona McCallin has been named in the hockey squad for Team GB to defend their Olympic title in Tokyo.

Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith have been named for Team GB in the mixed badminton, with Lauren also in the women's doubles for Tokyo. However Lauren is upset at the way she feels the players have been treated during a controversial selection process and feels they have not been given the support they need. Marcus won bronze at the Rio Games and was disappointed not to be selected with his partner Chris Langridge this time.I address this with Lauren's instagram statement.

Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe will be part of Team GB in Tokyo as Britain's qualifiers in Artistic Swimming.

Alice Dearing is a marathon swimmer and is part of Team GB for Tokyo. I'm thrilled to see Alice on the team as she's been kind enough to share her journey across the last six months on Destination Tokyo. You can hear her on Episodes 3, 25, 51 and 82.

Hollie Arnold is a heading to her 4th Paralympic Games as part of the Paralympic GB Track and Field squad.

Sam Ward is part of the Team GB Men's Hockey Squad for Tokyo. I chatted to Sam at the Kitting Out Day where he collect bags of kit for the Olympics.

Charlotte Worthington has been selected for Team GB for BMX Freestyle Park. It's the first time this event has been held at the Olympics and Charlotte is one of the stars of the sport with bronze medals at the World Championships in 2019 and 2021.

Adam Dixon is the GB men's hockey captain heading to his second Olympic Games. He's had the difficult job of guiding the team through lockdown and keeping the squad together through this unprecedented 16 months. He's also got married and become a dad.

Jess Piasecki is part of Team GB in the marathon and will make her Olympic debut in the heat of Tokyo. I met Jess at the Team GB Kitting Out day and she was thrilled with the experience.

Dylan Fletcher is heading to Tokyo for his second Olympics as part of Team GB.

Lauren Williams will make her Olympic debut in Taekwondo in Tokyo and her story is one to inspire any young athlete. She's twice European Champion and hoping to add to her overall medal haul this summer.

Ali Jawad is a Paralympic powerlifter who won silver in Rio in 2016. As we've heard over this series, Ali has really struggled with Crohn's Disease which has left him way behind his previous level at the sport. But he's working hard and doing his best to make the Games.

Patrick Huston is heading to Tokyo with the Archery team. This will be his second Olympic Games. Patrick has just won the British Field Archery Championships and he tells me about that side of the sport.

Shona McCallin is a gold medal winner with GB Hockey from the Rio Olympics in 2016. Shona is a regular on the podcast and it's great that she's here on Episode 100.

Laura Gallagher is a GB Trampoline Gymnast, an 8 times World and European medal winner and now a member of Team GB.

Vicky Thornley is heading to her third Olympic Games. The Team GB rower won silver in Rio with Katherine Grainger and also competed in the 8 in London. But this will be her first Games going solo.

Jeanette Chippington is one of the world's most successful paddlers. She's won multiple world championships and is the current Paralympic champion in KL1, when the sport made it's debut at Rio.

Becky Downie has been left out of the Olympic team for Tokyo. The experienced Team GB athlete has had a torrid few weeks after the sudden death of her brother and having a special trial two weeks later to try to secure her place. An appeal failed.

Joe McDonnell is an athletics sprint coach and part of the British Athletics coaching team.

It's 50 days to go until the start of the Olympics which marks the beginning of an extraordinary summer of sport in Tokyo with the Olympics and Paralympics. So how has it been for those involved in the organisational side! One guess!!

Kylie Grimes has committed herself fully to being a Paralympian and these will be her 3rd Games.

Mahama Cho has been named as part of the GB Taekwondo squad for the Tokyo Olympics. This will be his second Olympic Games after a 5th place in Rio.

Matt Bush talks to me about being on the team for the debut of Para Taekwondo at the Paralympics.

Beth Munro has been named in Paralympics GB's taekwondo team for the Tokyo Games. Beth is 27 and from Liverpool and has had a remarkable few months. In her first international competition she qualified a place for the Games and this week has been selected.

Mark England is Team GB's Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Olympics. The Chef de Mission is the person in charge of the team. And there's been a lot of complexity to get to this point ready for Tokyo.

More gymnastics today with chats to the other two athletes selected for the men's gymnastics team for Tokyo.

Here are two of the Team GB Gymnasts named for Tokyo this summer. We'll talk to the rest of the team on the next podcast.

Paralympic legend David Weir talks about his struggles since Rio. The six times Paralympic gold medal winner spoke to Track and Ball podcast and here's a little taster

Not many international athletes have had the opportunity to compete in Japan over the last 12 months. But George Peasegood is just back from the Triathlon World Series in Yokohama.

Under ten weeks to go to the start of the Olympics and we're faced with uncertainty so here are a few thoughts.

Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith are GB's top mixed doubles badminton pairing. And they hope they've done enough to be selected for their second Olympic Games.

GB swimmer Alice Dearing is on the final leg of her preparations as she prepares to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Ian Marsden is a pretty impressive sportsman. He started out as a powerlifter but a spinal injury left him with a disability and that changed his sporting journey.

It's a welcome back to paracanoe's Charlotte Henshaw, who's been charting her Tokyo journey for this podcast.

Here's a chat with the super talented Laura Sugar who's part of the GB Paracanoe squad aiming for a medal in Tokyo this summer.

Emma Wiggs is part of the GB Paracanoe team and is the first guest in a special week of interviews with 100 days to go to the Tokyo Paralympics.

Jack Green made his Olympic debut in London in 2012 with a secret. He competed in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay but what wasn't know about was his depression and mental health issues.

This episode features an interview with Dame Kelly Holmes from the Her Spirit Podcast. Details below. Dame Kelly talks frankly about the mental health issues she has faced and the self-harming she was carrying out in the year before her historic gold medal winning performances in Athens in 2004. She continued to self-harm until 2017.

He's one of the senior members of the GB Athletics squad but he wants to be there with a shot of being part of one of the Olympics new events.

He's been at three Paralympic Games...but as a wheelchair tennis player. This summer David Phillipson is hoping to get to his first games as part of the GB paracanoe squad.

Here are brother and sister Libby and Stephen Clegg talking about their Tokyo aims this summer.

Adam Burgess and Kimberley Woods have known they were going to the Olympics since October 2019. Of course, there's been lots of uncertainty in between, but they're looking forward to making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo.

It's been a remarkable year for Naomi Folkard, the Team GB Archer. Naomi gave birth to her first daughter 11 weeks ago.

In this episode we hear from the great Adam Peaty, the in-form Molly Renshaw and the coach of Derby's Derventio Excel Swim Squad Jamie Main.

"Sometimes it's not about the medals, it's about looking yourself in the mirror and being satisfied you never gave up against some incredible odds." Ali Jawad 2021

This has been quite a week for para-sport and especially wheelchair basketball. Channel 4 and BBC Sport reporter Andy Stevenson talks about the importance of a new professional league for women's wheelchair basketball.

The Archery teams for Team GB and Paralympics GB have been named for Tokyo this summer and amongst them is friend of this podcast Patrick Huston.

For the first time in 18 months this athlete is preparing for a flight to compete...and it's a flight to Japan. Paratriathlete George Peasegood is off to Yokohama to compete in the World Series in May.

Emily Campbell is a weightlifter I've covered for a few years now.

Tom Sorsby and Adam Dixon are part of the GB Hockey squad who are in Malaysia. They spoke with me from their hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur. They'd been there for six days - part of their quarantine - without being able to leave the room.

So, who's Britain's best ever woman swimmer? Rebecca Adlington won double gold at the Beijing Olympics to announce her international status. She followed it up with two bronze medals in London four years later.

With 100 days to go to the Tokyo Olympics it's a return of two of Destination Tokyo's regular contributors. So who are Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith? They're GB's top ranked mixed double badminton pair.

This episode includes part of an interview between Holly Bradshaw and Paralympian Richard Whitehead that I sat in on for the Track and Ball Podcast. Here are details of that full podcast.

GB Hockey Captain Adam Dixon talks from Malaysia where he's in a very strict lockdown. His hotel room door opens three times a day - for the delivery of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But it's the key to 2 weeks training in heat and humidity and a rare chance to play international competition.

This is an excerpt from British Canoeing's Paddlers' Podcast which you can find here

Richard Whitehead is a double leg amputee sprinter who won gold and silver at the Rio Paralympics and a memorable gold in London in 2012. He's also worked across the world with humanitarian charities.

Our first pod after Easter captures the remarkable story of Steph Davis. Less than two years ago Steph Davis was starting with the masses at the London Marathon. But last month she looked comfortable winning the Olympic trial. She also has a part-time job in finance. So what's the secret?

A chance to reflect on the last three months of the podcast as I head towards an Easter break. I've gone back to January to listen back and learn again.

Former world champion high hurdler Dai Greene talks us through the difference of being a funded and non-funded athlete. Injuries in the last few years have meant Dai has to pay most of his own way. So when it comes to massages, physio etc he has to be more self-sufficient.

Nick Samuels is the endurance athlete who almost ran himself to death. He's also an old friend of the remarkable winner of today's(26th March)Olympic Trials for the marathon, Chris Thompson.

Here's the latest from Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad who's aiming for Tokyo this summer. He's doing so against the odds. He's suffered badly from his Crohn's Disease since winning a medal in Rio in 2016 and has struggled to be the same athlete.

Alice Dearing is hoping to head to Tokyo as part of Team GB in marathon swimming. She's just back from her first competition for 13 months in Doha.

Who is Tom Evans?

Today it's Alistair Brownlee - twice Olympic gold medal winner in the triathlon who's going for a hat-trick in Tokyo.

Sharing his love of the Olympics and Paralympics is the BBC's Nick Hope. THis week Nick won an award from the Sports Journalist Association for his work. And we talk about some of the key stories he's covered this year.

Here's a Paralympian who's written a book in lockdown. Claire Cashmore has written a children's book. It's called Splash and you can pre-order here.

This is fascinating. Some fairly simple exercises we can all do at home - talked through by GB Olympic archer Patrick Huston.

Stef Reid is aiming for a third Paralympics for GB in the Long Jump.

It's bubble time again for badminton's best. This time it's at the 'Wimbledon' of badminton - the All England in Birmingham.

Summer in Tokyo will be hot and humid and a challenge for athletes competing outdoors - especially in endurance events.

Emma Wiggs is part of the paracanoe team training for the Tokyo Olympics. This is an excerpt from a video Emma and I made for British Canoeing this week. You can see the whole video on British Canoeing's Facebook page https://fb.watch/4akkfKtV2H/

James Ellington competed in London and Rio. But the sprinter's career came to a shuddering halt in 2017 when he was involved in a motor bike accident whilst on a training camp in Tenerife.

Trampoline gymnastics is one of the sports that I love to watch. We don't get to see it much until the Olympics comes round. And it's one of those sports that we all become 'experts' for a few days.

For today GB Hockey player and gold medal winner Shona McCallin presents....and she's invited along her squad colleague Emily Defroand.

Here's an optimistic Libby Clegg who's on track to make her 4th successive Paralympics as a sprinter. It's fair to say she's had a hectic and difficult 5 years since winning double gold in Rio in 2016.