Dominance

Winning is great, but hard work. Never loosing is much rarer and almost impossible. This week four elite sport stars who didn't just win, they dominated. But how, and what sets them apart, what got them to the top and what made them stay there! We've had some big numbers on this show when it comes to medals, but no one comes remotely close to Jessica Long. The American swimmer has won an astonishing EIGHTY-FIVE medals at World Championships and Paralympics. FIFTY- FOUR of them gold! Jessica's story is one that has seen her overcome some of the most difficult physical and mental challenges anyone could face, but through them all she continued to dominate her sport. From being the youngest ever Paralympic gold medallist aged just 12, to a potential farewell at her home games in Los Angeles. But now a defining moment away from the pool. She's about to become a mother for the very first time! American professor of Linguistics Deborah Tannen once wrote "The effect of dominance is not always the result of an intention to dominate" and that's true of our first guest. Canada's Camryn Rogers is the reigning Olympic and World Hammer throw champion and in a few months time she will defend her Commonwealth title. Her dominance in the sport is in stark contrast to her life growing up with her mother in Canada where times were hard. Really hard. Including a year where they lived in a car. Talking to us from her home in Texas, Camyrn talked about all her successes, and the struggles to get there. Hamish Kerr is a man who has jumped to the top of the podium and has hung around. But I guess that's the whole point of the high jump. To get as high as possible and hang there long enough to clear the bar. At 6 foot 5 inches tall Hamish could have played basketball but instead focussed on track and field and boy how it's paid off. He is the current Olympic, World and Commonwealth Champion. And there are some indoor titles in there too just for good measure. Chatting from his home in New Zealand he told us about the impact his dominance of the sport is having on his life, and it's goes way beyond the track. Eddy Merckx dominated cycling. Back in the 1960's and 70's the Belgium won FIVE Tours de France, FIVE Giros d'Italia, and even a Vuelta a España, so it was going to take something quite remarkable to break that dominance. Out of nowhere, that's exactly what happened when he was punched in the face by a spectator during a mountain stage of the Tour De France. The incident marked the start of the decline of a rider so dominant he was nicknamed "The Cannibal". British cyclist Barry Hoban, who passed away in 2025 was riding alongside Merckx and reflected on the day PHOTO: Jessica Long of the United States competes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games (CREDIT: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

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Dominance is an episode from Sportshour by BBC.

This episode is 58:10 long.

This episode was published on May 22, 2026.

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