Winter Wonderland

Wrap up warm, because this week all our stories are about winter sports. We'll go cross-country skiing in Italy, play ice hockey on the equator and have a snowball fight in Finland! When Canadian cross-country skiers Beckie Scott and Sara Renner lined up for the Women's team sprint at 2006 Winter Olympics, they wouldn’t have anticipated help from a medal rival. But, after disaster struck, it was a Norwegian coach who was there to help. Proving that even the coldest environments can produce the warmest displays of sportsmanship. An Olympic team of one. Shiva Keshavan was the only member of India’s 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. A 16-year-old representing a nation of over a billion. Shiva’s sport? Luge, one of the most dangerous winter sport disciplines with athletes facing speeds of up to 145 kilometers an hour. After winning a silver medal at Beijing 2022, para-snowboard star Lisa DeJong turned her inspiring journey into a children’s book. Drawing on her own experiences, the story shows the importance of representation, resilience and celebrating differences. With the Winter Olympics taking place, we learn about a sport and a team with Olympic aspirations. Yukigassen, a snowball fight tuned into a sport; and Kenya’s Ice Lions pioneering Ice Hockey in a country with just a single ice rink. Photo: Beckie Scott and Sara Renner of Canada celebrate winning the Silver Medal for finishing second in the Women's Cross Country Skiing Team Sprint on Day 4 of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games on February 14, 2006 in Pragelato Plan, Italy. (Credit: Bongarts/Getty Images)

You can listen to Winter Wonderland online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Winter Wonderland is an episode from Sportshour by BBC.

This episode is 49:22 long.

This episode was published on Feb 20, 2026.

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