:00:49. > :00:55.That is a great win and another Hello and welcome to East Olympic
:00:55. > :01:00.dreams. On this winter's day, it is really hard to imagine this place
:01:01. > :01:05.in July and August. After years of counting down, we are finally here
:01:05. > :01:13.in 2012 agree -- it really focuses the mind. We will be looking
:01:13. > :01:17.through the eyes of La -- our Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.
:01:17. > :01:27.For gymnasts, it has been a life's work getting this far but it was
:01:27. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:48.What you learn about people in adversity is how strong their
:01:48. > :01:58.commitment is, how strong their resolve is. There is Lewis, there
:01:58. > :02:01.
:02:01. > :02:06.is another poster of Lewis! I am It is November 1820 11, the gym
:02:06. > :02:12.club is packed to the rafters. The majority do not have a care in the
:02:12. > :02:16.world, in contrast to the feel unique FA -- far corner. It went
:02:16. > :02:22.horribly wrong at the World Championships. This mistake cost
:02:22. > :02:26.him the chance of qualifying. have had setbacks in the past and
:02:26. > :02:33.they are very dedicated. They understand about competition and
:02:33. > :02:38.they are motivated by losing as well as winning. These gymnasts are
:02:38. > :02:42.in Britain's elite squad. They have an impression -- impressive
:02:42. > :02:50.collection of medals between them. They have been coming to this James
:02:50. > :02:54.is they were toddlers. Very vivid memories. I remember the foam pit.
:02:54. > :02:58.That is the main attraction when you are in a toddler. I was a loose
:02:58. > :03:03.cannon. I was all over the place. All of the information would in one
:03:03. > :03:07.year and out of the other. I did for fun rather than looking for
:03:07. > :03:15.results. As I got older, I started it get results and I realised I
:03:15. > :03:19.could do something with it. Anima bits and pieces. The -- I remember.
:03:19. > :03:23.They were not amazingly talented. If you would have asked me 15 years
:03:23. > :03:29.ago if they would have been here now, I would have said they would
:03:29. > :03:39.not. All three were spent most of
:03:39. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:45.Christmas training. An Olympic test event is the last chance saloon.
:03:45. > :03:48.They are now putting the finishing touches to their routines. They are
:03:48. > :03:58.trying to help Team Great Britain to qualify for the Olympic Games
:03:58. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:13.will stop it is all or nothing It is looking pretty good. Just one
:04:13. > :04:21.event remaining and they are leading the way. They are nearly at
:04:21. > :04:26.the lender Olympics. -- the London Olympics. Confirmation soon came.
:04:26. > :04:29.have constantly been telling the guys all week, have fun. It is a
:04:29. > :04:37.big, massive competition but if you treat it like that, you will get
:04:37. > :04:43.scared that nervous. -- and nervous. We put in a lot of work over
:04:43. > :04:53.Christmas and New Year. It has really paid off today. Watching the
:04:53. > :04:55.
:04:55. > :04:59.was the form was mum Elaine. He is on posters whenever I look! There
:04:59. > :05:04.is Lewis up there! There is another poster of Louis up there. I am
:05:04. > :05:08.really proud. London is probably his final Olympic Games. He is keen
:05:08. > :05:14.on a career in fashion design afterwards. But he will always be
:05:14. > :05:20.indebted to a sport that shaped his life. My mother is a single parent.
:05:20. > :05:30.I spent most of my time in the Aegean. There is a much discipline
:05:30. > :05:34.
:05:34. > :05:44.and responsibility. -- the gym. harsh reality is not everyone will
:05:44. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:48.make it. We have a our chances -- fingers crossed that he will get
:05:48. > :05:58.fit and he will show them like he did for the Commonwealth Games what
:05:58. > :05:58.
:05:58. > :06:02.he can do and he will make that final team. Regardless. We will be
:06:02. > :06:08.rooting for everyone. Looking around the club, there are plenty
:06:08. > :06:12.of youngsters all hoping to one-day fulfil an Olympic dreamed. For the
:06:12. > :06:19.Real McCoys, the next six months will be about hard work, focus and
:06:20. > :06:27.luck. An injury could wreck everything. It might be an
:06:27. > :06:37.emotional end for some. London and the UK, everyone will really feel
:06:37. > :06:45.
:06:45. > :06:48.Coming at, I will be trying out the brutal sport that his wheelchair
:06:48. > :06:58.basketball and how the flatters region of the country has become
:06:58. > :07:05.the home of Olympic mountain biking But first year is a look at some of
:07:05. > :07:13.our contenders. I have never looked at it as a job, it is a passion.
:07:13. > :07:23.Anything I get from it, any money, it is just a bonus of. -- bonus for
:07:23. > :07:31.
:07:31. > :07:35.Fingers crossed and keep working hard and someone looking down on
:07:35. > :07:45.you giving you a bit of luck, it will all happen and we will get
:07:45. > :08:01.
:08:01. > :08:11.Every day I train, it is steered towards peaking at London 2012. In
:08:11. > :08:15.
:08:16. > :08:21.the final, right there, bringing Outside the Olympic Stadium and in
:08:21. > :08:24.the aquatic Stadium, the hottest ticket in time is the hot --
:08:24. > :08:29.women's beach volleyball. Lucy is hoping to be in the team. The
:08:29. > :08:33.combination of the historic venue at Horse Guards Parade and women in
:08:33. > :08:39.bikinis has proved a real marketing success. But how does Lucy feel
:08:39. > :08:44.about that? Who and would have thought a minority sport would have
:08:44. > :08:54.been one of the bigger sellers at the Olympic Games has earmarked the
:08:54. > :08:55.
:08:55. > :08:59.image of barely cloud women has helped to sell tickets. -- clad. It
:08:59. > :09:09.is a triumph of marketing and sits uncomfortably with the Olympic
:09:09. > :09:10.
:09:10. > :09:15.ideals. You can sink -- and think it is just women in bikinis
:09:16. > :09:19.prancing around but it is the most practical thing to wear. If that is
:09:19. > :09:23.what has attracted them to buying a ticket for the Olympics, that is
:09:23. > :09:27.fine but when they do come and this is the feedback we have, from the
:09:28. > :09:34.average guy coming out of work and watching the volleyball, it is
:09:34. > :09:38.respect. The British weather means that Lucy plies her trade around
:09:38. > :09:48.the world, trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. Her life reads
:09:48. > :09:49.
:09:49. > :09:58.like a postcard. Welcome to the Ukraine. We are up against the
:09:58. > :10:06.Dutch. We are in it Switzerland this week. We are in Moscow this
:10:06. > :10:13.week for the third grand slam of the year. As host nation, we have
:10:13. > :10:18.one guaranteed place but there are three pairs of Women who want it.
:10:18. > :10:22.There are three women's teams playing on the tour right now. It
:10:22. > :10:28.will be one of us three. It will be very tough on whether it does not
:10:28. > :10:38.get to go. There may be comparisons with a watch but the fact is that
:10:38. > :10:39.
:10:39. > :10:49.the women's final is more or oversubscribed than the men's. --
:10:49. > :10:50.
:10:50. > :11:00.Baywatch. I don't know why they don't wear a skirt! This is the
:11:00. > :11:01.
:11:01. > :11:11.white water centre in aperture. -- It is not just for the experts,
:11:11. > :11:16.anyone can have a go. It would be handy to breathe one am going down!
:11:16. > :11:23.This is quite useful to take the battle when you go down with you!
:11:23. > :11:31.We got a chance to try out the course. Birdies and -- even for
:11:31. > :11:35.Britain's number one, it is no event -- easy ride. It is such a
:11:35. > :11:42.difficult course. It is so complicated, so powerful, it is
:11:42. > :11:52.also quite unpredictable. Learning its idiosyncrasies will be an
:11:52. > :11:57.
:11:57. > :12:02.There are two Major drops, won a third of the way down and another
:12:02. > :12:06.two-thirds. There are two big sections where the water is very
:12:06. > :12:15.powerful and it accelerates and most away quickly. We will spend
:12:15. > :12:19.quite a lot of time practising on them. We are also working on
:12:19. > :12:26.generally the course, the signature is it is so intense, there are so
:12:26. > :12:30.many features. What we try and do is work out ways of smoothing out
:12:30. > :12:39.all of the Whitewater sections so that we can glide and moved
:12:39. > :12:46.together. I have to try and learn to anticipate what he is seeing. I
:12:46. > :12:56.can try and follow him. That is what we are trying to work on. We
:12:56. > :13:01.
:13:01. > :13:07.need to tap into the power of the Realistically, we are one of the
:13:07. > :13:12.best teams in the world. Whichever team from Britain gets selected,
:13:12. > :13:16.they could theoretically get onto the podium. We know that it is a
:13:16. > :13:20.big test. If we are involved, we are definitely going to be aiming
:13:20. > :13:28.to get on at the podium. It is not just a dream. We will make it a
:13:28. > :13:33.reality. Good luck. Their house a lot to qualify for the Olympics,
:13:33. > :13:38.like most of our athletes, in fact. -- that they have still got to
:13:38. > :13:45.qualify. Essex is not known for its
:13:45. > :13:55.mountains but it is all happening this year. Dan Jarvis is a mountain
:13:55. > :14:08.
:14:08. > :14:12.biking commentator. It is his It is not going to be as hot as
:14:12. > :14:16.Sydney and Beijing. This is the place where I first
:14:16. > :14:20.rode a mountain bike. There is a gate down there with an imprint of
:14:20. > :14:24.my face! You could say there is a part of me
:14:24. > :14:29.that is always here. It has been amazing for me to see it and when I
:14:29. > :14:33.was riding here 25 years ago, there was no way I would have thought the
:14:33. > :14:41.Olympics would be here and not only are they going to be here, we have
:14:41. > :14:51.realistically got a claim for the best Olympic scores ever. -- a
:14:51. > :15:01.
:15:01. > :15:11.There has been so much work put into this. It was a big leap of
:15:11. > :15:21.faith for a lot of people. We managed to overcome the doubts. It
:15:21. > :15:22.
:15:22. > :15:32.is an unparalleled spectator course. You can see 80 % of the course at
:15:32. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:41.any one point. It is relentless. The raiders are being punished. It
:15:41. > :15:51.is uphill, downhill all the time. Every course is different. That is
:15:51. > :15:55.
:15:55. > :16:05.what is fantastic about the sport. It is tough, it is fun, it is fast.
:16:05. > :16:09.
:16:09. > :16:19.It is difficult. Most of the tiny you were on a single track. This is
:16:19. > :16:21.
:16:21. > :16:31.tricky. It has claimed a couple of the victims. The real problem is
:16:31. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:42.that it is so relentless. We will have a fantastic race here.
:16:42. > :16:43.
:16:43. > :16:53.Hopefully we can exploit the legacy in the future. We hope to done for
:16:53. > :17:05.
:17:05. > :17:14.gold in 2016 as well. -- to go for Here are some runners and riders
:17:14. > :17:22.hoping to make a name for themselves. The Olympics is the
:17:22. > :17:32.thing that is missing from my career. I am a big believer in
:17:32. > :17:43.
:17:43. > :17:49.perseverance. Surely I would get This is the pinnacle. This is where
:17:49. > :17:59.it all matters. It is the biggest event anyone will ever play in.
:17:59. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:25.This is where I want to play my I am sure I will give most of the
:18:25. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:53.Not many athletes get the chance to As soon as the Olympic Games is
:18:53. > :19:03.finished, the Olympic Park is dusted down ready for the
:19:03. > :19:13.Paralympics. We hope to have some contestants from our region. I went
:19:13. > :19:21.
:19:21. > :19:31.to meet some of them. The team will be selected in April or May. Do not
:19:31. > :19:33.
:19:33. > :19:38.be late for the next meeting. You will be sent straight back.
:19:38. > :19:47.coach leaves a strict but fair regime. This newcomer is beginning
:19:47. > :19:57.to understand that. The Friday session is to prepare for a hard
:19:57. > :20:05.
:20:06. > :20:13.weekend. For Caroline this will be her 4th
:20:13. > :20:23.Paralympics. Amy is hoping that this will be her
:20:23. > :20:24.
:20:24. > :20:34.first Paralympics. She keeps me going. If I am down I go to a knee.
:20:34. > :20:36.
:20:36. > :20:46.-- quoted a me. In the lost a leg when she was 14.
:20:46. > :21:00.
:21:00. > :21:08.Kidd can be mean. Now I do not 2011 was the best ever for this
:21:08. > :21:18.team. They won medals at the European Championships and at their
:21:18. > :21:36.
:21:36. > :21:40.under 25 World Cup. But what counts The hardest part of my job will be
:21:40. > :21:50.to pick the team for 2012. It will be a tough decision but it will be
:21:50. > :22:00.the right decision. The team will site itself. It will be cruel at
:22:00. > :22:00.
:22:00. > :22:09.Easter to decide the final team. You can never prepare yourself. In
:22:09. > :22:16.your mind you think you're going to be selected. When it comes down to
:22:16. > :22:25.it it is scary. This is arguably the toughest Paralympic sport. It
:22:25. > :22:35.can be brittle. You do not know what it is like until you try it.
:22:35. > :22:45.
:22:45. > :22:53.There is so much contact. Before my friend had seen the game may be
:22:53. > :23:01.thought it was lame. It could be the perfect story for this pair if
:23:01. > :23:11.they were picked for the Paralympic team. Let us hope the streets of
:23:11. > :23:24.
:23:24. > :23:30.One other biggest medal hauls at the last Olympics was on the water.
:23:30. > :23:40.Nick is a world champion who has been to three Olympic Games. Maybe
:23:40. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:54.It is the biggest event of my life. It will be huge. It is on home
:23:54. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:14.It is on my mind when I we cap and when I go to bed. -- when I wake up.
:24:14. > :24:15.
:24:15. > :24:24.I am looking forward to it. Weymouth Bay has become the second
:24:24. > :24:31.home to Neck. It is good conditions today. It means I have to work flat
:24:31. > :24:41.out. There is nobody else training here today. Everyone is here in the
:24:41. > :24:52.
:24:52. > :25:02.summer but it is as here in the It takes dedication, training twice
:25:02. > :25:06.
:25:06. > :25:13.a day, six days a week. It is a once and a lifetime chance. It is
:25:13. > :25:21.special. They will be a lot of pressure on myself and the other
:25:21. > :25:31.British sailors. From the challenge of the open water to the calm of
:25:31. > :25:31.
:25:31. > :25:41.the lake here in Peterborough. This is where the windsurfing adventure
:25:41. > :25:42.
:25:42. > :25:52.began for Neck. His parents still live nearby.
:25:52. > :26:01.brothers were windsurfing here with three or four other people. Nick
:26:01. > :26:05.wanted to join in. He was a quiet and shy child. He took to it.
:26:05. > :26:14.boys would dress in their wetsuits and come down here and spend a few
:26:14. > :26:24.hours every day. The enjoyed it. The did not want to go anywhere
:26:24. > :26:26.
:26:26. > :26:36.else. Did he show an early flair for windsurfing? He dead. -- he
:26:36. > :26:52.
:26:52. > :27:02.showed an early flair. He certainly I love it. I have always loved that.
:27:02. > :27:02.
:27:02. > :27:07.It is like nothing else. On these shores he has been untouchable for
:27:07. > :27:12.15 years. He has been its British No. 1 since 1998. He has won world
:27:12. > :27:22.titles and European titles. London will be his 4th Olympics. He won
:27:22. > :27:30.
:27:30. > :27:36.bronze in Athens in 2004. One of the team told him he had won bronze.
:27:36. > :27:46.Barry asked him to do something. That was the picture that was in
:27:46. > :27:53.
:27:53. > :28:03.the newspapers. A double Olympic medallist.
:28:03. > :28:03.
:28:03. > :28:13.She will be behind him. Do you dream of winning gold? Every day. I
:28:13. > :28:14.
:28:14. > :28:21.try not to think about it. What will be will be. But that is the
:28:21. > :28:31.driving factor. It is the pinnacle. If you want to be the best you have
:28:31. > :28:32.