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Team captain Ray is genuinely disabled, and taking part in the Paralympic Games in Sydney is beyond his wildest dreams.

Ex-Paralympic swimmer Dan Pepper investigates the cheats who won gold and left a devastating legacy for learning disability sport.

Ray Torres used to get beaten up every day at school. He stood out because he had a learning disability. But when his dad gave him a basketball, he found an escape and a kind of friend that didn’t hit him or call him names. He took the ball everywhere - even using it as a pillow.

When Spain started an intellectual disability basketball team, Ray was picked as one of the best players in the country and within a few years he was made captain. And when he found out the team had qualified to take part in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, it was beyond his wildest dreams…

Presenter: Dan Pepper
Series Producer: Simon Maybin

(Photo credit: EPA)

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23 minutes

Last on

Wed 23 Nov 202223:32GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa

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Broadcasts

  • Tue 17 Aug 202101:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Tue 17 Aug 202108:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Tue 17 Aug 202112:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
  • Tue 17 Aug 202119:06GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Sun 22 Aug 202104:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East Asia & South Asia
  • Wed 23 Nov 202204:32GMT
    BBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, Australasia, East Asia & South Asia
  • Wed 23 Nov 202205:32GMT
    BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean, Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
  • Wed 23 Nov 202211:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Wed 23 Nov 202212:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Wed 23 Nov 202221:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Wed 23 Nov 202223:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa