Close knit

This week we take a tour of England highlighting the stories and legends from every part of "This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." to borrow a quote from William Shakespeare! We start in the deep South West and the port city of Plymouth, birthplace of Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth diving champion Tom Daley. The poster boy of the London 2012 games; his debut came four years earlier in Beijing aged just fourteen. Now retired he lives in Los Angeles - very handy to watch the next games - with his husband and two children. Since hanging up his trunks Tom has become famous for knitting. In fact once he starts talking about it, it's rather difficult to get him talking about anything else! To the Midlands, represented by former Premier League footballer Dion Dublin. Aside from playing for Manchester United, Coventry City and Aston Villa, Dion also represented England in both defence and attack! Yet for a younger generation he's better known as host of the BBC Television show "Homes Under the Hammer"about buying, renovating and then selling properties purchased at auction. So before talking about the upcoming World Cup, does Dion fell he is more famous for football or for flogging houses on the telly?! We head to Liverpool in the north of England to meet double World Heptathlon Champion Katrina Johnson Thompson. Heptathletes are a different breed, competing over two days in 7 different events, unsurprisingly it can take a toll on the body and Katrina, or KJT as she's known has had more than her fair share of setbacks. After competing at four Olympics her only medal was a silver in Paris two years ago. So how does she balance the need to push herself to the limit, without taking it too far and causing her body to fail? it's one of the most iconic achievements in sporting history. In 1954, the late Sir Roger Bannister - a doctor living Oxford - became the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes. At the time this was one of the greatest prizes in athletics. Photo: Tom Daley of Team Great Britain knitting before the Men's 10m Platform Final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (CREDIT: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

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Close knit is an episode from Sportshour by BBC.

This episode is 59:06 long.

This episode was published on Jun 5, 2026.

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