Pioneering

Four pioneers from four different sports all of whom trod a path where no path had previously existed. Along the way their determination not only made them legends, but gave all those who came after them the chance to see what success could look like and have something to emulate. Women's professional sport has, for most, only been a very recent thing. Take women's rugby, the professional era which is just for the very elite in the game only started in 2019 It's meant that for many it has been quite common to juggle an elite sporting career with something a little more regular. Unless you are Shaunagh Brown, because whatever Shaunagh does, she does it with style and swagger... so we suspect our chat about her life on and off the field would have been fun even if she'd been in data entry or a tax consultant! Her career straddled the pro era and she hung up her cleats in 2023 which means she's got the chance to add to an already long and interesting CV Women's boxing has only been in the Olympics since 2012... And Sweden's Anna Laurell Nash was there! For many years women boxing was at best frowned upon by many parts of society which added a whole level of pressure to those trying to make it succeed. What makes Anna's story so unusual that she was also pursuing a parallel career in academia. In fact now that she has hung up her gloves she holds a senior role at the Stockholm School of Economics, from where she spoke to us about where he love of pugilism started Hannah Cox is where a pioneering spirit meets running, and exploring, and good old fashioned adventuring! Here's the facts, she recently ran 100 marathons in 100 days in India, a remarkable feet for any athlete, perhaps even more so if they only started running 18 months ago! But for Hannah this is not just a story about physical endurance and mental resilience. It's also about completing a route no one had taken before in modern times and in doing so connecting her present day life with a past she knew very little about The world of ten pin bowling is not just a popular past time, but has a deeply competitive professional league... Before Kelly Kulick no woman had ever played on the professional tour. PHOTO: Shaunagh Brown of England is all smiles during an England Red Roses Training Session 2022 (CREDIT: Catherine Ivill - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

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Pioneering is an episode from Sportshour by BBC.

This episode is 55:20 long.

This episode was published on May 29, 2026.

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