Best In The World With Richard Parr

World Record Holder, Model and Actress Aimee Mullins is this week’s guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’. Aimee Mullins was born without fibular bones, and had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was an infant. She went on to become an international sprinter, who broke World records and competed at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. She talks to Richard about goal setting, learning from the best and surrounding with people who say ‘yes’. The first athlete to use carbon-fiber prostheses, Aimee discusses how she copes with nerves, what the word ‘inspiration’ really means and how she manages her time. Learn more about Aimee at her website aimeemullins.com and follow her on Twitter @AimeeMullins For more on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ head to

A London 2012 Olympic Champion is our guest this week. Etienne Stott won the gold medal in the Canoe Slalom C-2 event along with Tim Baillie. Clearly very interested in the psychological aspects of sport, Etienne is a fascinating guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’. The British Olympian talks about how long it takes to become competent and then World-class at a technical sport such as canoeing. He also discusses how important it is to meet your heroes early and coping with injuries. Etienne discusses his new partnership with Mark Proctor and his thoughts on the concerns over the water at Rio 2016. You can follow Etienne on twitter @etiennestott and he has a blog: etiennestottcanoeslalomblog.blogspot.co.uk For more on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ head...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cricket fans rejoice! We have our first World Champion cricketer on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’. Aaqib Javed was a bowler in Pakistan’s successful 1992 World Cup campaign. He used that experience to help the Pakistan under 19 team win the U-19 World Cup in 2004 as their coach. He was also part of the coaching team when Pakistan won the T20 World Cup in 2009. Aaqib is currently the head coach of the UAE’s national team but on the podcast hints he plans to leave the post soon. He tells Richard about Imran Khan’s influence as captain of the 1992 World Cup team and his rivalry with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. Aaqib talks about the importance of believing in yourself, being in a good rhythm and having a role model. Richard gets Aaqib’s thoughts on ball tampering, whether Test cricket can return to Pakistan soon and the current global landscape of the sport. For more on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ head to

We’re on the track for this week’s ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’. British sprinter Darren Campbell is our guest, a former world-class competitor in the 100 metres, the 200m and 4x100m relay. Among his achievements, Darren won gold in the 2004 Olympics as part of the men’s 4x100m relay team and Olympic silver in the 200m at the Sydney Games in 2000. Chatting to Richard they cover a whole range of topics including nutrition, building a team and targeting your goals. Darren is also very strong on his views on the doping allegations and controversies surrounding the World of athletics right now. For more on Darren you can follow him on Twitter @campbelldarren and go to pasonline.co.uk and nuff-respect.co.uk For more on the ‘Best...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Paul ‘Silky’ Jones is a former WBO World Light Middleweight Champion and this week’s guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’. Paul is now ‘Knocking Out Obesity’ and tells Richard about his current role as an ambassador for Heart Research UK. He gives some great tips on nutrition on what to eat and what not to eat. The British boxer defeated Verno Phillips in 1995 to become World Champion but as he tells Richard he didn’t get his title belt until 20 year later! Paul gives some incredible insights on using new environments to improve performance, the benefits of home support and visualisation techniques. ‘Silky’ also discusses his relationship with current World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury. You can contact Paul @psilkyjones on Twitter and also learn more about Heart Research UK at

Episode 10 on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ features Gary Hunt. The Briton is a five-time World Series Winner and 2015 World Champion in Cliff Diving. Gary and Richard cover a whole range of topics including coping with fear and overconfidence, the addiction of learning and Rowan Atkinson’s character Mr Bean. In the World of Cliff Diving Gary has been called a “legend”, “unstoppable” and a “machine”. He also talks on the podcast about his love of MMA and his appreciation for UFC champion Conor McGregor. You can follow Gary on twitter @garycliffdiver and keep across his progress at redbullcliffdiving.com For more information on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ check out richardparr.net and follow Richard on Twitter

Our first guest of 2016 on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is Ben Askren. The American is an MMA star who is currently the ONE Welterweight Champion.   Before going into Mixed Martial Arts, Askren won the NCAA Division I Wrestling championship twice and competed in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.   Ben talks to Richard about his goals for 2016, the importance of social media and what it’s like training WWE turned UFC star CM Punk.   Ben also discusses his success at yet another sport: Disc Golf.   Askren is controversial, confident and outspoken so this is one episode you won’t want to miss!   You can contact Ben on twitter @Benaskren and follow his ONE Championship journey at onefc.com   To stay across information for all future podcast episodes go to...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our final guest of 2015 on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is five-time World Sailing champion Ian Williams. He’s the only skipper in World Match Racing Tour history to achieve the feat.  The Briton has been shortlisted twice for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year award. Before taking up sailing full-time Ian was a lawyer working in London. In his chat with Richard, Ian explains which skills from his previous profession have helped him in his sport. That includes managing his team and gaining sponsors. Ian also gives some tips to young sailors and for adjusting to jetlag. To keep up to date with all of Ian’s activities you can follow him on twitter @Williams_Racing and on his website www.williamssailracing.com. You can also keep across the World Match Racing Tour at wmrt.com and on twitter @worldmrt....  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s elite athlete on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is swimmer Nick Gillingham.   With over 17 championship medals Nick has been a World Record holder, World Champion and double Olympic medalist.   He tells Richard if there is anything better than winning and how to learn from defeat.   What he’s learnt from other athletes such as David Beckham and Michael Phelps   The British swimmer talks about the importance of visualisation, performance analysis and goal setting.   He also recounts when he was awarded his MBE from Queen Elizabeth II.   You can contact Nick on twitter @NGSwimAcademy and @MBENick. Plus check out swimoptimum.com and you can email swim@nickgillingham.com.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s superstar athlete on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is World Cup winning goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. He played in goal for Germany in their success at Italia 90. He was the first goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup final. He also was between the sticks when Real Madrid won the 1998 UEFA Champions League. Now a pundit with the television network Bein Sports in the United States, Bodo gives his views on all football topics past and present. He talks about the importance of camaraderie and teamwork to be successful, how he used to meditate and why Germany continue to produce World class goalkeepers. The former Cologne stopper also discusses whether as a teenager you can study for your exams and train to be a professional sports star at the same time. You can contact Bodo on twitter @Bodo_Illgner.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

David Campese is a Rugby World Cup winner. He was voted player of the tournament when he won the event in 1991 with Australia. David was capped 101 times by the Wallabies and he scored a then World Record of 64 tries. On this week’s ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’, David talks about the time he spent with the late All-Blacks legend Jonah Lomu, the importance of making mistakes but learning from them and his pre-match routine. The Australian also tells Richard the importance of executing the basic skills of rugby correctly. And you can find more details on that with his apps on his website: davidcampese.com. He also talks about how he uses and gets in to trouble with social media and his twitter is: @davidcampese11.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Team GB cyclist Andy Tennant is this week’s guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’.   He won gold at the 2012 World Championships in the Team Pursuit and is currently training for next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics.   To prepare Andy is riding with the Wiggins cycling team alongside former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins.   The 28-year-old talks from his training camp in Tenerife about what it’s like to ride with Wiggins, the difficulties of travelling, Velodrome techniques and his love of coffee.   He also discusses healthy eating and speaks highly of the Team Wiggins nutritionist David Dunne (@Dunne_Nutrition on twitter).   You can contact Andy on Twitter @tennanto and you can send any feedback about the show to @richard_parr on Twitter or head to the website www.richardparr.net.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is Jamaican Paralympian Alphanso Cunningham. Alphanso won a gold medal in Discus at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Eight years later, he claimed gold in Javelin at the London games. In 2013 Alphanso became the Javelin World Champion and the F53 class World Record holder in Lyon. As well as being an elite athlete, he also has a day job as an Orthopaedic Technician in Kingston. Alphanso talks about the difficulties of training and gaining funding in Jamaica, the time he has spent with Usain Bolt and how he relaxes. You can contact Alphanso Cunningham on Facebook. His twitter is @acflames23 and you can view his pictures on Instagram: thepeoples_champs.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is two-time World Hockey Champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Ellen Hoog.   The Netherlands player is an expert on nutrition and has recently written a book: “In Perfecte Conditie”. It has 36 workouts and 45 recipes.   In her spare time, Ellen does some modelling including a swimsuit shoot in 2013 for `Sports Illustrated’.   Ellen has a really fun chat with Richard talking everything from pre-match preparation and rituals, whether you should have a cheat day and plays the new feature ‘Five Favourite Things’.   She can be contacted at her website: ellenhoog.com and her Twitter is: @ellenhoog.   You can send any feedback about the show to @richard_parr on Twitter or head to the website www.richardparr.net.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our first guest on the ‘Best in the World with Richard Parr’ is 1995 Rugby World Cup winner Chester Williams. Chester was the only black player in the South Africa team that won the tournament on home soil in front of Nelson Mandela and united a nation. That event was made into the movie ‘Invictus’ starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. Chester talks about working for three months on the movie during filming and what he thought of the actor playing him. He speaks about that historic victory in 1995, his friendship with Mandela, growing up in apartheid South Africa, how he got into the sport, his coaching career, time management, nutrition, and much more. He also says he is ready to become the next Springboks coach. You can send any feedback about the show to @richard_parr on twitter or head to the website www.richardparr.net.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.