:00:29. > :00:37.families, coaches - all with their The weight is nearly over. We are
:00:37. > :00:47.in an Olympic year. -- the weight. The Olympic Park maybe nearly
:00:47. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:03.finished, but what about the East Over the next 30 minutes, we will
:01:03. > :01:06.introduce you to some of our Olympians. It will be close.
:01:06. > :01:12.will take you to meet their families. We will get a feel for
:01:12. > :01:15.they will to win and find out which East Midlands town has become the
:01:15. > :01:19.Olympic dream factory. In just a few months' time, here in
:01:19. > :01:24.the Olympic pool is where we have our high is tops of the East
:01:24. > :01:29.Midlands gold. Four years ago, as one or Rebekah Adlington stun sport
:01:29. > :01:32.with a double triumph in Beijing. It catapulted her and her family
:01:32. > :01:39.into a whole different world. So what better place to remember what
:01:39. > :01:46.it is all about. This could be the gold-medallist. All my goodness it
:01:46. > :01:52.is. That image is one that will stay with Kate Adlington. A moment
:01:52. > :01:59.in time which made her hold her breath. How did she do that? I do
:01:59. > :02:08.not know. A moment that stopped the sporting world. She is now the
:02:08. > :02:12.greatest freestyle or in history. On August 11th, 2008, early in the
:02:12. > :02:17.morning, out in Beijing the 400 metre freestyle was about to begin.
:02:17. > :02:21.Where were you and what were you doing? In our living room.
:02:21. > :02:24.Completely unable to sleep because we decided that was we were not
:02:24. > :02:31.going to Beijing to watch it, we were going to turn it into a family
:02:31. > :02:34.event. This is going to be interesting. There was an
:02:34. > :02:41.atmosphere of anticipation, all of us hoping that she would do the
:02:41. > :02:49.best she could. There was a bit of a stunned silence to start with. As
:02:49. > :02:54.it started, it was, this is is -- this is that now. It is up to
:02:54. > :02:58.Rebecca. I have talked about the drama of the race. It is huge.
:02:58. > :03:05.I got to nearly four o'clock, I found the biggest coup to none has
:03:05. > :03:11.so far and I hid behind it. I thought this is so tense. All of us
:03:11. > :03:15.by this point were screaming at the television. We were literally
:03:15. > :03:20.slumming it for her. Addington is going to be the gold-medallist. My
:03:20. > :03:27.goodness it is! But it wasn't until her name came up that we knew that
:03:28. > :03:34.she had won. That was a masterful swam. We were just on her feet.
:03:34. > :03:40.Laura was crying her eyes out. Just floods of tears. She was like, what
:03:40. > :03:46.has my little sister done? Rebecca had won Olympic gold. And become
:03:46. > :03:50.the first British woman to do so in the pool for 40 years. It was just
:03:50. > :03:57.the start of things. Six days later she took gold again in her main
:03:57. > :04:01.event, the 800 metres. Our Gold Medal and our new world record.
:04:01. > :04:06.Rebecca Adlington stand up and salute the world. It was a week
:04:06. > :04:12.that state -- changed her will and the face of British swimming.
:04:12. > :04:18.work so hard and it finally paid off. -- I work so hard. I am so
:04:18. > :04:25.pleased. Great Britain has our new swimming heroine. Her name is
:04:25. > :04:30.Rebecca Adlington. Rebecca started swimming at the age of four,
:04:30. > :04:34.alongside her two sisters Laura and Chloe at the council-run pool. By
:04:34. > :04:40.the time she was at secondary school, she was already winning
:04:40. > :04:45.competitions. So much so that when she was 14, her mother was forced
:04:46. > :04:49.to give up work to keep up with her training demands. If you are there
:04:49. > :04:54.one that is driving them, you're not going to do it. They have to
:04:54. > :05:00.drive you. It has to be their commitment and desire to be the
:05:00. > :05:07.best they can be. So she never pushed Becki but she has always
:05:08. > :05:15.there to help. This one is Rebekah's. We have Becky stocks she
:05:15. > :05:22.has a way. Well she is that training camp. The dogs are part of
:05:22. > :05:27.team Adlington. They and her family keeper grounded because her heroic
:05:27. > :05:33.son Beijing made her a household name. And overnight celebrity. --
:05:33. > :05:37.an overnight celebrity. She has learned how to handle it. It is
:05:37. > :05:42.well-documented that things have not always gone the way she has
:05:42. > :05:47.wanted them to go since Beijing. But she was only 19. It was a
:05:47. > :05:52.massive learning curve. I am just disappointed that I couldn't
:05:52. > :05:59.improve. What you see is what you get with Rebecca. I am proud that
:05:59. > :06:05.she is still the same person now it that she was before. Over the last
:06:05. > :06:12.four years, Betty has then been given the all be, the freedom of
:06:12. > :06:22.Mansfield and had a pill named after her. -- Rebecca has had. -- a
:06:22. > :06:27.swimming pool. How are you feeling? Nervous. Defensive. Everyone says
:06:27. > :06:32.you should qualify, but it does not happen like that in sport. It is
:06:32. > :06:37.task in hand and we're going to do everything we can to help support
:06:37. > :06:41.Rebecca in that call up to next March. Rebecca is the current
:06:41. > :06:48.British Commonwealth world and Olympic champion. She couldn't have
:06:48. > :06:52.been in better shape. She knows that we will love her no less or no
:06:52. > :06:57.more, irrespective of what happens in London. She knows that. But I
:06:57. > :07:05.just do see that there is Rebekah the doctor and Rebecca the summer.
:07:05. > :07:12.It is nice to have balls. Is nice to watch what she does what she
:07:12. > :07:17.does and it is lesson of the other side of her as well. -- nice to
:07:17. > :07:21.have. What a great family. Watching them
:07:21. > :07:26.you can see why. It has been a mad world for them but it is a world
:07:26. > :07:31.that so many hundreds of athletes would do almost anything to be part.
:07:31. > :07:36.Not just Olympians. The Paralympics has been set personal bests in
:07:36. > :07:39.successive games on these shores. It is why the London Paralympics
:07:40. > :07:45.will be the biggest ever has. Richard White it wants to be part
:07:45. > :07:50.of its summer she has which from marathon running to sprinting. --
:07:50. > :07:56.of it so much he has switched from. He is a world champion and world-
:07:56. > :08:02.record holder. An elite athlete with a training routine to match.
:08:02. > :08:12.And he is the face of TV at campaigns. Richard Whitehead is
:08:12. > :08:15.
:08:15. > :08:22.Britain's Blade runner. There is one its Women gallows. Mother and
:08:22. > :08:27.father's albums say it all. Right from the start, sport has been a
:08:27. > :08:31.driving force in his life. The lad from Loudon was born without legs
:08:31. > :08:36.and has spent a year of his childhood using wooden prosthetics.
:08:36. > :08:46.But despite the challenges he was always pushing the boundaries.
:08:46. > :08:47.
:08:47. > :08:52.power of sport help me get by. They help me understand what life is all
:08:52. > :08:58.about. I was not given a silver spoon. I was not given everything
:08:58. > :09:04.on a plate. I have had to earn the respect I have now. It was hard at
:09:04. > :09:08.the beginning. But his approach everything, I can do it. There were
:09:08. > :09:13.times when I was struggling in certain areas, may be mobility was
:09:13. > :09:20.because of the prosthetics, there are the memories that Eubank in the
:09:20. > :09:25.pit and those boxes. You store for the Times that a tough now. -- that
:09:25. > :09:30.you put away. It has made me the person that I am. Now his daily
:09:30. > :09:35.routine is that other prospective Paralympian champion. Richard is
:09:35. > :09:42.the current world record holder in the 200 metres and has this ability
:09:42. > :09:48.class. But it was marathon running a really got him started. The only
:09:48. > :09:53.to care up -- duly took it up and 2004. But since he has completed 24
:09:53. > :09:59.races, running up African mountains and setting a series of landmark
:09:59. > :10:04.for disabled athletes. My 2004 race was the hardest thing I have ever
:10:04. > :10:08.done in sport. At 26.5 miles it is a long way for an able-bodied
:10:08. > :10:16.person to run, never mind a double leg amputee and that has never run
:10:16. > :10:20.a mile before NRA's. Richard uses his experience to motivate others
:10:20. > :10:25.with his talks taking him from schools to big business. And an
:10:25. > :10:29.association with the American army charity wounded warriors. Even when
:10:29. > :10:35.he goes to America to talk to the soldiers but have lost arms and
:10:35. > :10:43.legs, not of it lot of people could do that. There has to be back
:10:43. > :10:48.connection. Children just follow him like the Pied Piper. So I want
:10:48. > :10:53.to be like Richard. But now his main focus is the Paralympics.
:10:53. > :11:01.Lottery funding lets them access first-rate facilities. But just in
:11:01. > :11:04.his second season on the track, there is plenty of adjusting to do.
:11:04. > :11:11.These are the ones that are based for track work. It is important
:11:11. > :11:21.that I get my running technique right with those. There is less
:11:21. > :11:26.
:11:26. > :11:31.contact with the ground with the spikes. As an athlete you used to
:11:31. > :11:35.running. I am at am not used to this kind of speed work and the
:11:35. > :11:41.effect has on my body. challenge is to put this world
:11:41. > :11:51.records so far out of everybody's touch. We want to be waiting for
:11:51. > :12:02.
:12:02. > :12:07.their opposition to arrive. There is not much point in them to come.
:12:07. > :12:11.I have to train hard today. I have to eat well in the morning to set
:12:12. > :12:17.me up for the day. You might be wondering why Richard is not
:12:17. > :12:22.attending the marathon at London 2012. The answer is decant. The
:12:22. > :12:26.longest event that caters for his classification as the 200 metres. -
:12:26. > :12:29.- he cannot. In New Zealand he became world champion and he has
:12:29. > :12:39.since broken the world record. But this summer will be the biggest
:12:39. > :12:40.
:12:40. > :12:44.race of his life. It is not just Fermi. -- it is far my family and
:12:44. > :12:49.friends and for every one that has supported me over the 35 years that
:12:49. > :12:56.I have been here. I will get into that stop line in my best shape. If
:12:56. > :13:06.Viacom eight, I have done the best I can. But I will not. -- if I come
:13:06. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:25.I am Sam Holden. My Olympic team is to win a medal as a team and make
:13:25. > :13:31.the overall final. I can remember the day after their -- after we won
:13:31. > :13:40.the bid for the Olympic Games. For most of us may have been working
:13:40. > :13:45.with some of the older guys for 20 years. It is definitely getting
:13:45. > :13:53.more tense. I am Katie. My Olympic dream is to be with the squad that
:13:53. > :13:57.goes to the Olympic. There are about eight players from Leicester
:13:57. > :14:02.who are taking part. It is a massive achievement for our club.
:14:03. > :14:07.Hockey in England is massive. In her club games we get mums and dads
:14:07. > :14:13.coming to watch. To have thousands of people there to watch you in
:14:13. > :14:16.your sport would be incredible. name is Rebecca and my dream is to
:14:16. > :14:20.compete in the shot putt. I cannot wait to give something back to
:14:20. > :14:30.everybody who has supported me and to take part in front of a home
:14:30. > :14:33.
:14:33. > :14:38.crowd and have all my friends and I am a director of swimming at
:14:38. > :14:45.Loughborough University. My Olympic dream is for every British swimmer
:14:45. > :14:51.to come away from London 2012 knowing that a great job has been
:14:51. > :14:55.done. I am sure we will put on a great spectacle in Britain and all
:14:55. > :15:00.the visiting nations and on TV around the world we can do these
:15:00. > :15:07.things and it is something good for us. It is good for the nation and a
:15:07. > :15:12.feel-good factor will come out of it I am sure. We can put on the
:15:12. > :15:21.greatest show but in the end the glory comes from medals. Here are
:15:21. > :15:31.our ones to watch from the East Midlands. On deep track Andy Turner
:15:31. > :15:44.
:15:44. > :15:54.was an medal winner last year. Lisa Then Simon Terry made his Olympic
:15:54. > :15:57.
:15:57. > :16:03.debut back in 1992. On his day he could be special. Liam is world
:16:03. > :16:13.champion in the 50 metres but that is not included in the Olympics. He
:16:13. > :16:22.
:16:22. > :16:32.is good at 100 as well and we think She is back to fitness after an
:16:32. > :16:37.
:16:37. > :16:43.operation and she is probably our Rebecca Adlington will have a heap
:16:43. > :16:53.of pressure on her but she has the temperament and talent to win gold
:16:53. > :17:00.
:17:00. > :17:09.These are our athletes in search of glory. Just getting to the Olympics
:17:09. > :17:15.can be a titanic struggle. Take Badminton. Chris Adcock is battling
:17:15. > :17:25.another former silver medallist Nathan Robertson for just one place
:17:25. > :17:36.
:17:36. > :17:43.They were out of it and they have come back from know where. How do
:17:43. > :17:48.the athletes feel now do you think? Very nervous and a little stressed.
:17:48. > :17:55.It is like preparing for the biggest exam of your life. Home
:17:55. > :18:01.advantage can be a very big deal. That puts the pressure on your old
:18:01. > :18:07.partner for that one spot. I know but it is great to see the young
:18:07. > :18:13.badminton players coming through and performing. I would never write
:18:13. > :18:23.off Nathan but Chris has a world silver medal now so who knows.
:18:23. > :18:28.level of support has always been improving and it is Grade just now.
:18:28. > :18:32.Yes, I am very jealous, we used to have to fight for physio and weight
:18:32. > :18:41.training, it is this little percentage that can make a
:18:41. > :18:46.difference between winning gold or not getting a medal at all. As she
:18:46. > :18:52.was seeing, the level of support available to Olympians these days
:18:52. > :18:56.has been utterly transformed. Lottery money does a lot more than
:18:56. > :19:04.let an athlete concentrate on their sport, it can pick an entire
:19:04. > :19:13.network around them. The British Institute of Sport is one example.
:19:13. > :19:23.It has earned the name the dream factory. Blog Berra has sport
:19:23. > :19:28.
:19:28. > :19:33.through its roots. -- Loughborough. We are the envy of the world.
:19:33. > :19:39.Something very special happens here which is a good job actually
:19:39. > :19:47.because as an Asian we had a lot of catching up to do. The Australian
:19:47. > :19:57.model had a huge impact on their performance at those Games. -- as
:19:57. > :20:00.
:20:00. > :20:06.at Nis in we have a lot of catching up to do. -- a nation. When you put
:20:06. > :20:16.them on the start line you know they are in the best shape they
:20:16. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:24.could ever be. This man plans to be on the Olympics starting blocks. It
:20:24. > :20:34.will be his strengths and his technique which will put in the air
:20:34. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :20:45.but there is a whole team behind him. -- put him there. The hard
:20:45. > :20:53.work starts long before he even gets in the pool and so does the
:20:53. > :21:00.science. You might look at an athlete exercising and you think
:21:00. > :21:04.something is happening but unless you measure it is just a guess. As
:21:04. > :21:10.hard as you can with the first three and then we will just
:21:10. > :21:20.continue. Certainly it gives the athlete confidence if they know
:21:20. > :21:25.they are doing a good job and produce personal bests. Physio is
:21:25. > :21:35.about maintaining muscle and tendons but it is about more than
:21:35. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:45.that. It is like the psychology couch. It is quite a relaxed
:21:45. > :21:49.atmosphere and that is what we need to get an effective treatment. It
:21:49. > :21:59.is also when they start to talk and mourn and all be different things
:21:59. > :22:00.
:22:00. > :22:10.come out. We do hear a lot. What sort of things, can you tell us
:22:10. > :22:16.
:22:16. > :22:23.now? No. We are taking some measurements which we often do when
:22:23. > :22:31.they are doing hard pieces. It is a good indicator of how well they are
:22:31. > :22:35.fuelled. How we use that data has changed and our understanding of it,
:22:35. > :22:45.especially looking at individual athletes. We are able to use the
:22:45. > :22:51.
:22:51. > :22:57.data are effectively to monitor their training. Very fast turn! 20
:22:57. > :23:00.years ago we were jacks of all trades. Now we have all these
:23:01. > :23:10.bestiality is there. Behind the scenes do you think we in Britain
:23:11. > :23:17.
:23:17. > :23:23.have become world leaders? Yes. If we are not we certainly should be.
:23:23. > :23:26.I came from a club with a coach, that was it and then coming into a
:23:26. > :23:31.system like this you have everything and it helps you so much
:23:31. > :23:38.more as an athlete to develop and you know you have had that edge
:23:38. > :23:46.over some other countries. So many sports get their inspiration here
:23:46. > :23:50.from the elite level to the students. It is going to be tense
:23:50. > :23:54.in the lead up to London 2012. The athletes are getting really excited
:23:54. > :24:03.and putting up a lot of pressure on us to make sure we get then be
:24:03. > :24:09.exact environment that they want. It is that environment which makes
:24:09. > :24:13.this place special. We are so proud of athletes that by the time they
:24:13. > :24:18.get to the starting blocks we know the amount of hours and pain they
:24:18. > :24:24.have put in to get there. Knowing we are a small part of that is
:24:24. > :24:34.really good, it is a really good feeling. I can prepare my rest --
:24:34. > :24:44.best for the races and put it in on the day. We might be scientists but
:24:44. > :24:52.
:24:52. > :24:58.we still loves sport. -- love sport. A my name is Dan Reeves, I am a
:24:58. > :25:04.paralympic discus thrower. I have had so many friends and family get
:25:04. > :25:10.tickets to the Games. I'm really want to put on a great show for
:25:11. > :25:15.them and to do the country proud would be a great honour. I am an
:25:15. > :25:21.Olympic gymnast and my Olympic dream is to try to improve on my
:25:21. > :25:31.Beijing possession and to help the team as much as I can. --
:25:31. > :25:35.
:25:35. > :25:45.possession. -- position. For us it is a very special Olympics, we will
:25:45. > :25:50.not have a home once again. Olympic dream is to win a medal. It
:25:50. > :25:54.is something which would embrace all of my training, everything I
:25:54. > :26:01.have ever worked on. It would be so nice to have one. It would mean
:26:01. > :26:07.everything. I was 4th last time in Beijing and that was really hard to
:26:07. > :26:11.be so close yet so far. It is just unbelievable really that I can get
:26:11. > :26:21.that chance to do that and represent my country in front of my
:26:21. > :26:27.
:26:27. > :26:33.country. It is a dream come true as There is nothing quite like an
:26:33. > :26:39.Olympics. A whole Olympics happens once in a lifetime if you are lucky.
:26:39. > :26:47.For six years for our athletes getting there has been everything.
:26:47. > :26:53.Now, for six months, they will think only of a success. There is
:26:53. > :26:58.the champion. He looks absolutely superb. They are not the only ones,
:26:58. > :27:04.we have seen how their families, coaches and supporters do all they
:27:05. > :27:09.can to put these men and women at the top. Now, though, in this
:27:09. > :27:18.Olympic skier of 2012 it is about their talent and perhaps a little
:27:18. > :27:24.bit of luck. So many Olympic dreamers. For some of them, he in
:27:24. > :27:34.London, in just a few months, their dreams will come true. We will be
:27:34. > :27:38.
:27:38. > :27:43.with them every single step of the way. Being in 2012 is pretty crazy
:27:43. > :27:50.but it is exciting at the same time. You cannot even dream about it, it
:27:50. > :27:55.will be absolutely amazing. To be going to the Olympics is phenomenal.
:27:56. > :28:04.We are excited about putting on a short and doing the business really.