Generation Inspiration? A Newsround Special Newsround Specials

He's going to get the gold!

The pride of Great Britain -

Jessica Ennis is the Olympic champion!

It was a summer like no other.

Have you ever seen anything like that?

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

seemed to touch all our lives.

But bringing the Games to London was meant to be about more than

just one incredible summer of sports.

As the banners everywhere reminded us,

it was about inspiring a generation of young people across Britain

to get into sport and make it a big part of their lives.

So has London 2012 really made a difference to kids' lives?

In this programme, one year on, I'll be trying to find out.

I'll be meeting the high-kicking...

freewheeling...

BMX-riding kids

whose lives have been changed for ever by the Games.

I'll explore the highs...

If I didn't watch the Olympics,

I don't think I'd be doing what I'm doing.

..and lows...

The message from our school is - legacy, what legacy?

We've seen nothing at all.

..to find out if a generation truly was inspired by London 2012.

Sport completely changed my life for the better.

I was born with cerebral palsy

and I thought sport was something that I just couldn't do.

It wasn't until I was 16 that I discovered wheelchair basketball

and for the first time, I could play on a level playing field

with other sportsmen and realise my full potential.

And that's what last year's London Games did for other kids.

Like Yasmin.

I'm Yasmin.

I am 13 years old.

I live with my mum, my dad,

my brother and my two dogs, Zulu and Tula.

I was born with cerebral palsy, which means that my legs don't work.

I can't walk and, like, some fiddly things, like, my dexterity

isn't as good as other people.

I thought people with a disability couldn't really do sports

because, like, something like football is not practical.

Like, I'm in a wheelchair,

I can't stand up and go hitting a ball around.

The Paralympics definitely changed my mind.

It was totally awesome because it showed you that people with

a disability could do sports even though they had a disability.

Hannah Cockroft and David Weir definitely inspired me.

You don't think, "Oh, they're disabled."

You just think that they won or did really well.

You didn't think of their disability.

After never having played sport in her life,

Yasmin's been inspired by the Paralympic champions

to try out wheelchair racing for herself.

I've got a chair which, like, has three wheels.

It's, like, really lightweight.

So it's, like, easy...easier to push.

And it goes faster than a normal day chair.

Wheelchair racing is a lot more fun than the regular exercises

Yasmin has to do to help her cope with cerebral palsy.

With sport, you are doing exercise but you are having fun doing it.

And it's really helped her to stay in shape, too.

I'm a normal 13-year-old who likes wearing make-up and stuff like that,

so being in shape is very important,

like it would be to any other person.

It's not as easy for me to lose weight,

and also track racing really helps me with that.

Yasmin trains at this London club every week,

and has started taking part in races.

And she's already won her first medal.

It was my first race and I beat my personal best by 18 seconds.

I got presented the medal by David Weir. It was really cool.

He shook my hand and he was, like, "Well done,"

and he gave me the medal.

A year on from London 2012 and sport has made a massive difference

to how Yasmin sees her own disability,

and how it is not going to hold her back.

Since the Paralympics and doing my own sport,

it made me realise that I can do stuff in life.

Like, there still is the boundaries, like, I can't do some stuff,

but there is more stuff that I think I can do, or can try to do.

Stories like Yasmin's are what London 2012

was supposed to be about

and the people in charge of bringing the games here

promised a lasting sporting legacy.

To understand what this means, we have to go back eight years

to the summer of 2005.

London was one of five cities competing to host the 2012 games,

and it wasn't even the favourite.

The bid was led by former Olympian Sebastian Coe,

alongside David Beckham and a host of other sporting stars.

To help win the bid, London promised to use the games to get

a generation of young people into sport.

SEBASTIAN COE SPEAKS:

It worked.

We got the games, and there were massive celebrations back in London.

As the stadiums started going up,

there was lots of debate over whether it was all worth the money,

and whether the Games would deliver.

But in the summer of 2012,

from the moment the opening ceremony bounded into life,

deliver they did. And how!

The Games gave all of us some unforgettable moments

and really seemed to create a sense of pride and enthusiasm

across the country.

A year on, and the focus is now on whether the success of the Games

inspired more young people to get involved in sport.

So has it created a sporting legacy?

The official picture we have so far is mixed.

Figures for England show that since we won the bid back in 2005,

there are 1.4 million more over-16s playing sports.

Some sports, like athletics and cycling,

have recorded a big boost in numbers.

But others like swimming and tennis, have actually seen numbers fall.

Although the overall trend since 2005, has been upwards,

a dip in the number of people playing sport

in the last six months,

shows that the legacy is far from guaranteed.

There are no recent figures to show the number of CBBC-age kids

getting involved in sport,

so, here at Newsround, we've commissioned our own survey

to try and get a better picture.

Over half the kids surveyed said they play more sport now

than before London 2012,

but 42% said they did want to take up a new sport

but were not able to, with one of the main reasons for this

being a lack of places to play.

Getting the right facilities in place

is going to be really important in bringing more kids into sport,

especially in poorer inner-city areas.

It's a big part of why this deprived area of East London

was chosen to be transformed into the Olympic Park.

And for kids like Nathan, it's right on their doorstep.

My name is Nathan, I'm 14 years old, and I'm from East London.

And this is my area, and that is the Olympic Stadium, right there.

Before, when I was younger, I used to ride down here with my friends.

It has changed massively because of the Olympics.

Nathan and his BMX-mad mates have grown up riding bikes

around the streets of Tower Hamlets -

one of the poorest parts of London.

But the 2012 Games have begun

to improve the sporting opportunities for kids here.

I think it has made a big difference to the kids' lives.

They've made things like skate parks.

The facilities are much more better.

In the next five years, £250 million is being pumped

into facilities and clubs all across the country.

It's already having an impact on Nathan.

He's now part of a BMX club

that trains at one of five new tracks

only built because of the London Games.

My club is called Bow Boys BMX Club.

And today that Bow Boys are unveiling their new kit,

which the kids designed themselves.

Nathan, what do you think of the tops?

I think it's actually good, because, like, it's bright,

and the flame is hot, innit?

So it can represent us, because we're really good on bikes.

Giving the kids facilities where they can practise their tricks

is vital in inner-city areas like Nathan's.

There's a problem here with kids falling into gangs,

and the club helps these guys steer clear of trouble.

The club's really important because if we weren't at the club,

then we'd be on the street. It's given us - me and my friends -

and the members of the club of the club somewhere safe to BMX,

and, like, guidance.

This club really helps because it keeps a lot of people

away from trouble. No-one really messes about here.

I like hanging out with my friends. It's a place to clear your head.

Some people just hang around in streets and that,

with nothing to do.

But when you come here, it's like we're a team

and we help each other out, and we never get into arguments.

And if the kids here ever do fallout,

or fall off their bikes,

it's Nathan's job as club captain to step in.

It's my role to make sure people are not misbehaving

or doing anything they're not supposed to.

-It's Darren.

-Is he all right? No, no-one go.

-No-one go.

Nathan's role as captain has made a big difference to his life,

even away from the club.

I think Mum's very proud of me.

BMX club has been really important for Nathan

because, being a captain, he's in charge, that's a leader.

And if his brothers and sisters are doing something wrong, he steps in.

Leah, be careful. Don't lean back too much.

The thing I like about BMXing is that we can ride around

with our friends, learn new tricks,

and show them to other people that don't know about it.

Being part of the club has opened up new opportunities for the kids here,

and it's made Nathan realise that he really can aim high in life

and achieve his dreams.

We went to Manchester BMX track and got to meet some Olympic BMX riders.

They told us how they started in a BMX club like us,

and then they progressed.

So I think it was very inspiring

because we can maybe do the same one day.

Getting the right facilities in place is important,

but, for kids, schools will continue to play a big part

in bringing them into sports.

This school is only a mile from the Olympic Park

and some of the kids here were part of the opening ceremony itself.

What did you actually do as part of the opening ceremony?

We was picked to walk around with petals,

and we walked in front of the countries' teams.

We all saw all of the celebrities lining up behind,

like, Usain Bolt, we saw him, and he was waving at us.

Yeah, it was a really good time for me, yeah.

You were like a great part of the opening ceremony.

If Mo Farah can do it, why can't I?

He has just given me the faith that if he can do it

anyone else can do it.

The children here really were inspired by the Games,

but their teacher is worried that changes

made by the government to the funding of school sports has led

to the loss of specialist coaches,

and that not enough is being done now

to build on the success of the Games.

The legacy is all about getting kids involved in sport.

Is there enough being done in schools?

The message from our school is - legacy? What legacy?"

We've seen nothing at all.

Just before the Olympics, we lost a lot of specialist sports coaches

and where they've gone there's now a hole.

There is so much talent out there but it doesn't run itself,

you need sports coaches,

you need people involved going in and working with the young people

and giving them the next step, so we don't lose what happened last year.

The government say they are putting new funding into school sports,

and that their plans will be more effective

than the old ones at getting kids involved.

But one thing's for sure, if we want to build on the long-term success

of the Games to find the gold-medal winners of the future,

it's going to be important to find and develop kids

from all walks of life.

Since 2012, the extra funding given to sporting bodies,

is trying to make this happen for the most promising youngsters,

kids like Abigail.

My name is Abigail, I am 14 years old

and my ambition is to get gold in the Olympics.

I have been doing taekwondo for ten years.

I train at my local club in Liverpool.

Since the Olympics, you've seen more and more kids coming in

and trying it out and saying, "I want to be in the Olympics."

SHOUTS

The Olympics inspired me, because if I keep going

I could get medals too.

You make new friends, like, all the while, like.

If I didn't watch the Olympics,

I don't think I'd be doing what I am doing.

After Jade Jones won Britain's first-ever Olympic taekwondo

gold medal at the 2012 Games,

the sport has seen a big increase in its funding

to bring on their most talented kids.

A group that now includes Abigail.

I got noticed by the GB Team when I was quite little.

They spotted me and they spoke to Peter

and said what a great talent I was,

and that I could go far within taekwondo.

But to get to the top takes hard work and lots of it.

Abigail runs every morning before school

and trains four nights a week as well as weekends at her club.

As the youngest member of the Great Britain junior squad,

she also trains with the elite academy.

This is the home of GB Taekwondo.

The Olympic team train here every day, twice a day,

and they only have a Sunday off.

So that's why we get the facilities on Sunday, to come up and train.

It is inspiring because, just basically

because of all the people who have trained here and done so well.

It's like you want to follow in their footsteps.

And Abigail has recently taken a giant leap towards her goal -

she's just been selected to compete for Great Britain

at the Junior European Championships.

When I found out, I had tears in my eyes,

because I didn't believe that I was going to actually get in there.

-Well done, babe.

-Thank you.

And that success has started to make a difference to her confidence too.

When I was going through junior school,

I used to be, like, really quiet,

until I started taekwondo

and I've just got more confident in myself.

At the end of this bout, Abigail is the clear winner.

I won 14-1.

I was trying out the new techniques that we were working on today

and I scored with them, so maybe they can work now,

so hopefully I can do it like that

and bring back a medal from the Europeans.

The road to the Olympics is tough,

but Abigail is determined to succeed.

And she knows she can rely on the support of those closest to her.

My family and my friends all say that they're proud of me,

and what I'm doing and that I shouldn't give up

because I can achieve something that I want to achieve.

If I hadn't found sport as a kid,

I would never have achieved half of the things that I did.

It changed my life, and it has been inspiring to see it change

the lives of the kids that I have met.

Whether it has done that for a whole generation,

it's probably too early to say.

But if we ever start to doubt that the power of sport

can change people's lives,

there will be a permanent reminder right here

in this corner of East London.

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