Tom Weir and the Special Olympics
Geoff is talking to the post-graduate researcher Tom Weir about the development of the Special Olympics in the eleventh Sport in History Podcast brought to you by the British Society of Sport History in association with the Institute of Historical Research. In a pinoeering research project Tom takes us through the difficult origins of bringing people with intellectual disabilities into the mainstream of participation of sport, with a little help from Superman (Christopher Reeve) along the way. There's also a discussion of the pioneering black rugby players, James Peters, the first known man of colour to win a cap for England in the early 1900s and his French counterpart, Georges Jérôme. Listen in also to find out about De Montfort University's International Centre for Sport History and Culture and its role in supporting Tom's research. You can also look up the World Rugby Museum to find out more about Tom's work there and I really do recommend a visit if you can make it in the run up to the Rugby Union World Cup in Japan later this year.