Steven Beacom tells weird and wonderful stories of Ulster’s greatest sporting legends

Did you know we have an Olympic Bobsleigh gold medalist from Ulster? His name is Robin Dixon – first cousin of the infamous Lord Lucan who introduced him to the sport.

Did you know we have a blind multiple World Champion water-skier named Janet Gray, who has overcome the most challenging difficulties imaginable to excel at her sport?

We all know ‘Yer Maun,’ multiple World Champion Motorcyclist – King of the Roads - Joey Dunlop, who is, “more popular in Northern Ireland than an Ulster Fry.”

But did you know that he almost died, along with his brother Robert, when the fishing boat carrying some riders and their bikes sank on the way to an Isle of Man TT race?

These are just a few of the tales of our sporting heroes, in Steven Beacom’s book, ‘100 Ulster Sporting Legends.’

For this week’s The I on the Ball, proudly sponsored by Blackhill Energy, we spoke to Steven about his new book and some of the wonderful and uplifting people, stories and anecdotes in its pages.