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Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

Fatima Whitbread

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

Global

Society & Culture

4.63.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2023

⏱️ 67 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode contains discussion of sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Fatima Whitbread is a former javelin world champion, double Olympian and former world record holder. This week she was honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at Sports Personality of the Year 2023 for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. Fatima was abandoned by her mother as a baby and spent her first 14 years in care homes. She faced neglect, physical and sexual abuse. In her teens, she discovered a passion for javelin and was coached by Margaret Whitbread, a former GB thrower. Margaret and her husband later adopted Fatima, and described her as "completing the family unit".

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode contains discussion of sexual violence and listener discretion is advised.

0:07.5

This is a global player original podcast.

0:20.8

Hello and welcome to Full Disclosure, a podcast project that lets me spend more time than I'd ever get on the radio with interesting people.

0:28.8

Although this week, I think for the first time ever, I have spent time on the radio with my guest, and now we're doing full disclosure.

0:35.7

Fat and Whitbread, welcome.

0:37.0

Thank you, James. I'm really delighted to be here and I'm looking forward to this podcast.

0:42.0

It's a privilege to have you, not least because you're box fresh from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards

0:48.5

where you picked up the Helen Rollison Award for achievement in the face of adversity.

0:53.7

You know, I was mighty proud about that.

0:56.0

You know, having been a past winner in 1987.

1:00.7

And a runner-up the year before.

1:01.9

I've done my research.

1:02.6

Yeah, you knew that.

1:05.0

So to be receiving this award, the Helen Rollington Award,

1:08.5

was quite special for me because Helen and I were friends

1:11.1

anyway. Of course. And yeah, I'd obviously been Helen's first interview for, you know, an international

1:17.1

athlete. I just finished the World Championships and won, and I got a call from Helen. She said, oh,

1:21.6

she said, I wonder if you don't mind. She said, if I can, you could be my first interview. And I said,

1:26.9

of course not. And yeah, so it was

1:29.0

wonderful that she gave me this opportunity through the Helen Rollison Award to, to get my message

1:34.9

out regarding our young children, which is what I'm doing now, children's advocacy really for

1:40.1

children in the care system. Because, I mean, all winners of that award have faced adversity.

...

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