Sporting Spotlight
19 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 10 years ago -Each week Breifne Earley talks to a different sports star from across the Irish sporting world. Including Olympians, Paralympians, World Champions, International athletes and the hottest sporting prospects for the future.
Each week we put our guest to the Spotlight Sweat our own Sports Quiz to see which star knows the most about Irish Sport. Each guest also gets to demonstrate their musical taste by selecting the closing song of the show.
Sporting Spotlight is broadcast weekly on Dublin City FM on 103.2 in the greater Dublin area, and online at www.dublincityfm.ie every Friday at 7:30pm (GMT - Irish Time)
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Episodes
Episode 32 - Jim Breen - Founder of Cycle Against Suicide
November 15, 2013 20:41 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThe founder of Cycle Against Suicide, Jim Breen, takes his turn in the sporting spotlight this week and chats to Breifne about his own love of sport , particularly rowing, growing up. They also chat about the album, Simple Things, which was released by a collection of Irish artists which was released today and went straight in at number one in the iTunes downloads charts. Jim also outlines how Cycle Against Suicide came about and the involvement of so many familiar faces, including Bressie...
Episode 31 - Gary O'Hanlon - Athletics
November 08, 2013 20:58 - 27 minutes - 24.7 MBThis week's guest on the show is one of Ireland's top marathon runners. Clonliffe Harrier's Gary O'Hanlon chats to Breifne Earley about disliking athletics until he started to win races at fourteen. The car accident that nearly ended his running career at seventeen and his return to competitive action almost fifteen years later, egged on my his Amphibian King colleague Kevin English, before winning a bronze medal in the Irish Cross Country Championships in 2012. Winning four marat...
Episode 30 - Rob Costello - Endurance Runner
November 01, 2013 21:20 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBThis week to celebrate the Dublin Marathon, Breifne chats to Rob Costello, a veteran of 20 marathons, about how he got into running in his mid twenties. He talks about playing social football through college and deciding to join a group from work in a marathon in Barcelona, how a 100km race is 'only two and a half marathons' and suffering in 42 degree heat during a 100 mile race attempt in the Western States Endurance Run in the USA. He has completed twenty marathons across the glo...
Episode 29 - Stephanie Roche - Women's Football
October 30, 2013 23:29 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis week Stephanie Roche is in the Sporting Spotlight talking about her sporting career with Peamount United, Dundalk City, Raheny United, Stella Maris, and learning her craft with Valeview Shankill, Cabinteely and Tony Pouchs Wicklow Academy. Starting from playing with the lads on her estate she developed into a Senior International and playing in the UEFA Women's Champions League & Bus Eireann Women's National League with Peamount Utd. She outlines the major influences on her c...
Episode 28 - Avril Copeland - Adventure Racer
October 24, 2013 21:34 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis week Breifne Earley has Ireland's premier female adventure racer Avril Copeland in the spotlight. She talks about her initial sporting career as a senior international hockey player focused on reaching the Olympics, before pursuing a love of country music and finding herself rubbing shoulders with her favourite artist Garth Brooks living in Nashville, Tennessee. While there she found herself drawn to the new world of adventure racing and after attending a training camp knew it...
Episode 27 - Cliodhna O'Connor - Ladies Gaelic Football
October 24, 2013 21:15 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBThis week's guest is Dublin & Naomh Mearnog Ladies Gaelic Football netminder Cliodhna O'Connor. Having won an All Ireland and two all star awards with Dublin over a ten year career between the posts for the Jackies. She chats to Breifne Earley about getting her break at senior level after injuries and emigration gave her an opportunity and she's never looked back. Cliodhna mentions growing up through Naomh Mearnog with a great group of girls who all graced the blue jersey in either...
Episode 26 - Kevin O'Brien - Cricket
October 24, 2013 00:13 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis evening Breifne chat's to Irish Cricketer Kevin O'Brien who faces his turn in the Sporting Spotlight. He chats about growing up in a cricket crazy family and how he progressed from a kid playing with his brothers for his local club Railway Union to hitting the fastest one day world cup century in the victory over England in 2011. He talks about the tragedy surrounding the death of the Pakistan coach after their encounter in the 2007 World Cup as well as the progress of Irish C...
Episode 25 - David O'Sullivan - Football
October 23, 2013 23:50 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis evening's show features the top goal scorer in the entire Airtricity League this season, David O'Sullivan of Longford Town. We talks to Breifne Earley about playing schoolboy football in Wicklow and getting his first bite of the League of Ireland cherry with Bray Wanderers and Sporting Fingal only to fall foul to injuries. The rise, fall and re-rise of his career from Wicklow, Wayside Celtic and international honours at the World University Games and Gerry Smyth's Intermediate...
Episode 24 - Laura Reynolds - Athletics
October 23, 2013 23:37 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBThis evening's show will feature London 2012 Olympics Walker Laura Reynolds. The Leitrim athlete who qualified for the Olympics and went on to secure a top twenty finish. She talks to Breifne about growing up in Leitrim, getting into athletics in primary school, community games before getting selected to represent Ireland at youth level. She discusses the process in selecting athletics over her other sports during her teen years including basketball and gaelic football. Laura discu...
Episode 23 - Darragh McDonald - Paralympic Swimming
October 23, 2013 23:15 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBThis evening's show will feature London 2012 Paralympic Swimming Champion Darragh McDonald. The Wexford teenager who burst on the scene at the Beijing Paralympic Games winning a silver medal before trading up for gold in the S6 400m Freestyle four years later. Darragh will be talking about his early success at just thirteen years of age in Beijing, the expectation which comes from such early promise, dealing with mixing his secondary education and full time training. We'll also be ...
Episode 22 - Chloe Magee - Badminton
October 23, 2013 23:05 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis evening's show will feature Chloe Magee Ireland's top female badminton player who competed at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. She outlines how her parent's influence got her into the sport at a young age, and moving to Sweden to coach badminton after her leaving certificate was the catalyst in directing her towards the Beijing games. With her success in Beijing, where she became the first Irish woman to win a badminton match at the Olympic Games, she decide...
Episode 21 - Mark Kenneally - Athletics
October 23, 2013 22:53 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis evening's show features marathon runner Mark Kenneally who competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He talks about his love of athletics, how he'd love to be a sprinter, moving out of cross country onto the roads, dealing with injuries and how he ended up qualifying for London ahead of expectations. Mark also talks about hitting the wall in the final stages of his debut marathon.
Episode 20 - Stephen Martin MBE - Hockey
October 23, 2013 22:15 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThis week's guest on the show is Stephen Martin MBE, an Olympic gold medallist in Seoul in 1988 with British Hockey, and current CEO of the Olympic Council of Ireland chats to Breifne Earley about his sporting career. From playing many sports through his school days winning national titles in hockey and golf and progressing to play hockey at international level for both Ireland and Great Britain over a long and distinguished career winning Olympic Gold (Seoul 1988) & Bronze (Los Ang...
Episode 19 - Camila Speirs - Eventing
October 23, 2013 21:38 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis week Breifne is joined by Irish Olympic Eventer Camilla Speirs who is discussing her Olympic success and disappointment, growing up on horseback, finding an Olympic level horse. How being in the presence of royalty doesn't phase her and it's all about the eventing disciplines of Dressage, Cross Country and Showjumping.
Episode 18 - James Cluskey - Tennis
October 23, 2013 19:15 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis week Breifne is joined by Irish Davis Cup star James Cluskey who chats about his tennis career, studying in the states and the major influences on his sporting life. He chats about his life on tour on ATP Challenger and Futures events, and his ambition to play in grand slams and pushy parents!
Episode 17 - Ailis McSweeney - Athletics
October 23, 2013 18:55 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBIreland's fastest woman, Ailis McSweeney, joins Breifne to chat about growing up in Cork, joining Leevale during her school years and dealing with the disappointment of injury setbacks. She discusses meeting her husband, All Ireland winning Dublin Captain Bryan Cullen, and how having two athletes in the family can only help both in their application of their training and dietary plans.
Episode 16 - Gerry Duffy - Endurance Athlete (2/2)
July 05, 2013 14:21 - 43 minutes - 24.2 MBGerry Duffy is put in the Sporting Spotlight to look at his sporting life and times. From a starting point of being five stone over weight, he started to run and eventually started to partake in triathlons and marathons. He progressed to a point where he decided to complete a 32 Marathon Challenge in all 32 Irish counties across 32 consecutive days, and with Ken Whitelaw he completed this goal in 2010. His next target was to complete 10 Iron distance triathlons in ten consecutive da...
Episode 15 - Gerry Duffy - Endurance Athlete (1/2)
July 05, 2013 14:10 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBGerry Duffy is put in the Sporting Spotlight to look at his sporting life and times. From a starting point of being five stone over weight, he started to run and eventually started to partake in triathlons and marathons. He progressed to a point where he decided to complete a 32 Marathon Challenge in all 32 Irish counties across 32 consecutive days, and with Ken Whitelaw he completed this goal in 2010. His next target was to complete 10 Iron distance triathlons in ten consecutive da...
Episode 14 - Susan Moran - Basketball
July 01, 2013 17:20 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBThis week’s guest in the Sporting Spotlight is one of Ireland’s top basketball players Susan Moran, a stalwart of Irish teams over the year, she chats to Breifne about her career, starting to play basketball in school in Tullamore, moving to Philadelphia to play with St. Josephs in the NCAA Championship. She discusses her time playing in the Women’s NBA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as her coaching role with St. Joe’s. She reminisces about her time in a green jersey and...