:00:05. > :00:13.The London Olympics 2012. 15,000 athletes from all over the globe,
:00:13. > :00:16.sharing one goal - to win a medal. For some those dreams started in
:00:16. > :00:20.the South. In just a few months time, years of
:00:20. > :00:24.dedication will all boil down to their one moment in the spotlight.
:00:24. > :00:29.This is their time. This is their moment. These are their Olympic
:00:29. > :00:33.Dreams. On tonight's programme we meet the
:00:33. > :00:38.Olympic athletes from the South who need your support. From the fastest
:00:38. > :00:41.on land... And on the water...
:00:41. > :00:43.I'll be getting behind their tough- edged skin to find what drives
:00:43. > :00:47.their passion. If you do that you are entirely
:00:47. > :00:50.isolated... The sacrifices they make to be at
:00:50. > :00:54.the top of their game. It's on my mind when I wake up,
:00:54. > :00:56.it's on my mind when I go to bed. And discovering the pressures of
:00:56. > :00:59.competing in the greatest sporting event in the world.
:00:59. > :01:03.I still believe in myself and believe I can go out and compete
:01:03. > :01:07.for a medal. It is a once in a lifetime
:01:07. > :01:11.opportunity. I am going to try and hold my head and really enjoy the
:01:11. > :01:21.experience. Get your flags at the ready. This
:01:21. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:26.Let's go straight in at the deep end. Hoping to make a splash in the
:01:26. > :01:36.diving event here at the aquatics centre its Southampton's Peter
:01:36. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:46.Peter Waterfield one of the world's most experienced and successful
:01:46. > :01:48.divers. A specialist on the 10 meter platform, Peter has medals
:01:48. > :01:53.from the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth
:01:53. > :01:58.Games. And its silver for Leon Taylor and
:01:58. > :02:02.Peter Waterfield. In 2004 at the age of just 23 he bagged silver in
:02:03. > :02:09.the 10m Synchro event. 2012 will be Peter's fourth and possibly last
:02:09. > :02:12.Olympic Games. I caught up with Peter on dry land at his home in
:02:12. > :02:16.Southampton where he spends his free time encouraging a new
:02:16. > :02:20.generation of water loving Waterfields.
:02:20. > :02:25.Lewis is ten, he's the oldest and Marshall is three. Yeah, they are
:02:25. > :02:30.my life. They are what I live for, at the end of the day. Everything
:02:30. > :02:35.that I do is to support them and give them as much as I possibly can.
:02:35. > :02:38.That's Mummy and that's Daddy. I never classed myself as any
:02:38. > :02:42.different to anyone else, you know? I live on a council estate. I am
:02:42. > :02:47.just lucky I found something I am really good at. I like to think
:02:47. > :02:51.that whatever I found in my life I would work hard at it and try to be
:02:51. > :02:55.the best I possibly could. That is what I am doing - I am trying to be
:02:55. > :02:58.the best. Peter trains six days a week at the
:02:58. > :03:04.Quays Swimming and Diving Complex in Southampton.
:03:04. > :03:06.But almost half that time is spent out of the water, in the gym. Every
:03:06. > :03:16.muscle has to be toned, strengthened and conditioned to
:03:16. > :03:20.
:03:20. > :03:24.reduce the risk of injury. You hear the water at 30 miles an
:03:24. > :03:29.hour so you have to train your joints to take that impact. I have
:03:29. > :03:39.had shoulder it surgery. I have been told to do these on both my
:03:39. > :03:44.shoulders to keep the stability in them. Do you still have that fear
:03:44. > :03:50.factor when you are about to go off a 10 metre board? Like a new worry
:03:50. > :03:55.child? Every day. Every day and getting my pool and I get up on the
:03:55. > :03:57.platform and I do a dive that I am uncomfortable with, then you will
:03:57. > :04:01.always scared. It would be dangerous if you were not scared
:04:01. > :04:06.because we take the sport for granted and in this sport you can
:04:06. > :04:10.kill yourself if you make a wrong move. One dive that we do we are
:04:10. > :04:14.spinning backwards towards the board and if you hit your head on
:04:14. > :04:17.the concrete it is game over. You're always scared but it is good
:04:17. > :04:21.because it makes you concentrate more. It makes you realise that
:04:21. > :04:25.something can go wrong but that is part of the fun for me. That is
:04:25. > :04:34.what gets me up in the morning, knowing that I will get a great
:04:34. > :04:43.adrenalin rush and doing something that I love doing. There is another
:04:43. > :04:47.guy, his name escapes me... Hill is it? Is set... Tom Daley!
:04:47. > :04:52.Heart throb of the nation Tom shot to fame at the 2008 Olympics. He
:04:52. > :04:56.has since become the youngest ever British World Champion in any sport.
:04:56. > :05:00.He has got all the teenage girls, every time you die if the cameras
:05:00. > :05:06.are on you and the two of them are on year and the camera just sticks
:05:06. > :05:10.with him and you were the other man in this duo. Yes. Every partner he
:05:10. > :05:14.has had has always been the other man. Every partner he will have
:05:14. > :05:21.Will Always Be the other person. Quite rightly. He deserves the
:05:21. > :05:24.needy and stuff that he is getting and the attention. But the Olympics
:05:24. > :05:29.just around the corner, Peter is hoping he can bring gold back from
:05:29. > :05:36.the capital to Southampton. Does it matter more because it is
:05:36. > :05:41.London? Yes. Without a doubt. To go to the Olympic Games anyway was a
:05:41. > :05:45.dream come true for me. To get an Olympic medal is another dream come
:05:46. > :05:50.true. The thought had not crossed my mind that I would ever compete
:05:50. > :05:54.in at the Olympics in my own country. If I am feeling a bit
:05:54. > :05:59.tired like a am this morning and you wake up sometimes and you have
:05:59. > :06:09.not got the energy, what pushes me and makes me find the energy is
:06:09. > :06:14.
:06:14. > :06:23.knowing that I will be competing in London. Next up a genuine medal
:06:23. > :06:28.contender who could be certain of everything on fire.
:06:28. > :06:34.It is the 1,500 metre race at the world championships. An England is
:06:34. > :06:38.in 7th place making a surprise attack.
:06:38. > :06:43.Hannah England has taken the silver medal and nobody thought she was
:06:43. > :06:49.going to do that. Less than a year ago nobody outside of athletics
:06:49. > :06:56.knew her. The Welsh championships changed all of that and now she has
:06:56. > :06:59.her eyes on the prize. Olympic gold. Backing Oxford, time to relive that
:06:59. > :07:02.silver medal. On the final bend in the final
:07:02. > :07:08.straight, it looked as though you had just remembered you left the
:07:08. > :07:10.iron on. You came from 7th. I was waiting and waiting hoping they
:07:10. > :07:14.would drift out and let me come through the inside and then I
:07:14. > :07:19.realised no one would move so I had to go wide and sprinters hard as I
:07:19. > :07:22.could but I felt really relaxed and totally in control. Maybe the rest
:07:22. > :07:27.of them were bit more stressed and had more pressure on them and it
:07:27. > :07:33.came into my favourite. At the Oxford University sports complex
:07:33. > :07:38.Hanna showed me some of a unique warm-up routines. You could do a
:07:38. > :07:48.good Irish jig. If athletics does not work, river dance as your name
:07:48. > :07:51.
:07:51. > :07:55.on. You look silly doing this in a park. Roger Bannister gets away.
:07:55. > :08:01.This is the closest track to where my parents live. I used to cycle
:08:01. > :08:04.here when I was at school. This is where the first for a minute mile
:08:04. > :08:10.happened. Over here towards the back straight you have the church
:08:10. > :08:17.that Roger Bannister always speaks about. I used to run down the
:08:17. > :08:25.straight thinking about that. It is a good atmosphere.
:08:25. > :08:28.Bannister has done it and he is out on his feet. He has achieved his
:08:28. > :08:34.ambition. Roger Bannister never won an Olympic medal and yet in Britain
:08:34. > :08:37.he is as famous as any athlete who ever did. Such was the mystery of
:08:37. > :08:43.becoming the first recorded human to run a mile in under four minutes
:08:43. > :08:49.that his achievement became the deed of legend. Today is a special
:08:49. > :08:54.day for Hanna as the legend himself stops by to order his support.
:08:54. > :09:02.followed very closely. I suppose I feel as though I am in the race.
:09:02. > :09:08.That means that I know what you are feeling. How would you describe her
:09:08. > :09:18.style compared to yours? I think her style is probably better than
:09:18. > :09:19.
:09:19. > :09:25.mine. Yes, I mean... How do you mean? It looks effortless and need.
:09:26. > :09:32.My arms are a little bit out of truth. When I started I used to
:09:32. > :09:41.tour the stride and I gradually learnt how to have more of a
:09:41. > :09:51.cycling type of action. When did you go? Was a tad too well-50?
:09:51. > :09:51.
:09:51. > :10:01.over there! I wonder if I should have done more exercises for the
:10:01. > :10:04.
:10:04. > :10:10.muscles of my neck. I think you have got the credentials to win it.
:10:10. > :10:20.You know how to get to a peak and I think that is a very critical thing.
:10:20. > :10:24.
:10:24. > :10:28.You have to be somewhere near a peak at the time of the Olympics.
:10:28. > :10:34.Do you think about the moment that you will be in the Olympics? Had
:10:34. > :10:38.you get to play the scenarios through? Yes, you think about it a
:10:38. > :10:42.lot. He tried to think about it in a positive way. If you're not
:10:42. > :10:45.careful it can become a big burden. It is a once-in-a-lifetime
:10:45. > :10:55.opportunity and I am trying not to let that pressure ruin it for me
:10:55. > :10:57.
:10:57. > :11:01.and I am trying to hold my head and enjoy the experience.
:11:01. > :11:06.The greatest factors determining Olympic success are talent and
:11:06. > :11:10.sheer hard work. What does it take to go one step better? How much
:11:10. > :11:20.does mental attitude a matter? We asked a professor from the
:11:20. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:27.The difference between winning a gold and a silver medal is
:11:27. > :11:33.sometimes just fractions of a second, even in a marathon. Pushing
:11:33. > :11:37.the brain as well as the body can make a real difference. An Olympic
:11:37. > :11:41.gold medal is about finding the best competitor from a pool of
:11:41. > :11:44.perhaps tens or hundreds of millions of runners. With that much
:11:44. > :11:53.competition, being psychologically equipped is essential, especially
:11:53. > :11:57.when it comes to coping with pain. There are a number of myths about
:11:57. > :12:01.breaking through that barrier. The first is that whatever you can
:12:01. > :12:07.conceive, you can achieve but that is not true. Olympic athletes are
:12:07. > :12:11.like the rest of us. Their bodies are limited by biology. The muscles
:12:11. > :12:18.demand sugar and oxygen and the body can only process so much of it
:12:18. > :12:22.at a time. To win medals, elite runners have to learn to do you pay
:12:22. > :12:29.in as a friend and to train to hang out with it and get used to it and
:12:29. > :12:33.trust what is says about their bodies. The most important thing an
:12:33. > :12:38.athlete can do is learn to think positively. It also means that an
:12:38. > :12:48.Olympic athlete learns to view himself as a gold medallist long
:12:48. > :12:52.
:12:52. > :12:57.before the race is won. This is Dorney Lake in Berkshire.
:12:57. > :13:00.It's home to the kayakers and rowers of 2012. But for one girl in
:13:00. > :13:10.Guildford it's the place where she hopes to achieve one of the goals
:13:10. > :13:13.24 year-old Rachel Cawthorn - one of the world's leading kayak racers.
:13:13. > :13:20.Her accolades include holding a world record and the first female
:13:20. > :13:22.British paddler to medal in an Olympic event. When out of the
:13:22. > :13:28.water, she swaps her paddles for knitting needles, enjoying the art
:13:28. > :13:33.of Amigurumi, the Japanese word for crocheting of small animals. She
:13:33. > :13:36.also loves escaping into the world of Harry Potter. But today she is
:13:36. > :13:44.in race mode at Eton Dorney to compete in the Canoe Sprint
:13:44. > :13:48.International Regatta. It is pretty exciting. This is the first time I
:13:48. > :13:51.have ever competed internationally at home. The regatta is an Olympic
:13:52. > :13:57.test event to make sure all the nuts and bolts are in place where
:13:57. > :14:01.competitors will come from around the world to compete for gold.
:14:01. > :14:09.think having this event makes it seem more real. It is very good to
:14:09. > :14:12.get through it to see what it is like, different athletes around.
:14:12. > :14:15.Rachel's journey into the world of kayaking began in her home town of
:14:15. > :14:25.Guildford. She's hoping her accolades will help inspire a new
:14:25. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:34.generation of kayakers. This is the club. This is what I first started
:14:34. > :14:44.learning. Make sure you get enough rotation. I turned up one day in
:14:44. > :14:47.
:14:47. > :14:56.the summer. I try to get in. really wriggle around. Really tight.
:14:56. > :15:06.That's good. We are really excited. Be is a good thing to say, someone
:15:06. > :15:12.from your club, to see her before she competes. Someone to look up to.
:15:12. > :15:15.Someone that makes you think, I can get that far in life. Rachel dreams
:15:15. > :15:24.that soon she may be adding an Olympic gold to her impressive
:15:24. > :15:29.collection of mementos and memorabilia. It would just be like
:15:29. > :15:37.the greatest achievement you could get within any sport. Especially
:15:38. > :15:42.being at home. To raise and feel like you have put everything into
:15:42. > :15:46.it and it comes out like you hope, that is what I would like to do.
:15:46. > :15:49.With the test event under her belt, her eyes are set on the Olympics.
:15:49. > :15:56.Meeting Rachel has really given me an insight into the dedication it
:15:56. > :16:06.takes to become a winner. We will not tempt fate. You do the
:16:06. > :16:12.
:16:12. > :16:16.presentation. Imagine this is the At London 2012, men's and women's
:16:16. > :16:20.teams will be shooting for gold at the new Olympic hockey venue in the
:16:20. > :16:27.Olympic Park. Hockey demands speed, stamina and super-honed hand-eye
:16:27. > :16:34.coordination. The people hoping to fine-tune those skills falls to the
:16:34. > :16:44.coaches. I went to the training ground to meet a man everyone wants
:16:44. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:55.to stay friends with. Hang on! Hold on... Don't let them go that way.
:16:55. > :16:59.You should have got that! You'd better go around... That is it.
:16:59. > :17:05.Jason Lee - GB's hockey coach. A man with the power to make dreams
:17:05. > :17:10.and take them away. A we are in the firing line. They might run into
:17:10. > :17:13.was just to be funny. It is a love- hate relationship. Jason is a very
:17:13. > :17:17.busy man who doesn't mince his words. He juggles his time on the
:17:17. > :17:24.pitch with his other family at home. This is my wife, Laura, we have
:17:24. > :17:28.been married for a long time. This is Jack, in the year Number One at
:17:28. > :17:33.primary school and Chloe is three years old. She is at Montessori
:17:33. > :17:36.primary school. It's a very happy family in it. Jason lives close to
:17:36. > :17:41.the hockey training ground in Bisham Abbey which means he can see
:17:41. > :17:46.the kids off to school before hitting the pitch. It is a nice
:17:46. > :17:55.piece of normality. I often travel in my tracksuit and people look at
:17:55. > :17:59.me oddly. It stands out. Love you... With the family sorted, it's down
:17:59. > :18:02.to business. It's a tense time for the players on the pitch today.
:18:02. > :18:07.Jason will soon select which of this lot will play in the Olympics
:18:07. > :18:10.and which ones won't. Only a third of them will make it through. On
:18:10. > :18:14.the pitch, the players' performance is closely watched and recorded for
:18:14. > :18:23.later analysis. Mistakes made today could result in bitter
:18:23. > :18:26.disappointment. These boys all have dreams, they go to bed at night and
:18:27. > :18:33.tree not winning and scoring that all-important goal. You are the
:18:33. > :18:38.coach. You are the one who will do all of the worrying? I dream about
:18:38. > :18:42.them playing well and having a very worthwhile experience. Our
:18:42. > :18:45.confidence is growing, we have positive experiences, but I do not
:18:45. > :18:49.dream about winning. I probably have nightmares about losing, to be
:18:49. > :18:55.honest. I know stuff about the players that the players do not
:18:55. > :18:59.know. They are not full-time professionals all the time and they
:18:59. > :19:03.are not well-funded. They have to combine a lot of things in their
:19:03. > :19:05.life and sometimes they can become quite emotionally challenged.
:19:05. > :19:08.men's team underachieved in the Champions Trophy in Auckland in
:19:08. > :19:13.December, finishing down in sixth place, so the pressure is on to
:19:13. > :19:17.deliver at London 2012. And every player on this pitch wants to rise
:19:17. > :19:20.up to the challenge. Having represented Great Britain twice for
:19:20. > :19:28.the Olympics, Jason understands how desperate these players are to be
:19:28. > :19:34.selected. Some will see their dreams shattered. How difficult
:19:34. > :19:39.will that be? I did not like it to start off with. But I just realise
:19:39. > :19:44.it comes with responsibility. When in charge of large crowds. But it
:19:44. > :19:52.is very personal, they put so much into this. They are on their knees
:19:52. > :19:56.at the end of it. We are excited, it's a fantastic event, can you be
:19:56. > :20:01.excited and feel the same way? try to tell myself that I should be
:20:01. > :20:04.excited. Trying to encourage myself and everybody around me to do the
:20:04. > :20:14.best that we can and make it feel special because what we cannot put
:20:14. > :20:15.
:20:15. > :20:17.into it isn't because of what happens to us. Two weeks after the
:20:17. > :20:20.Olympics finish here, thousands of disabled athletes will arrive to
:20:20. > :20:22.compete in the Paralympic Games. The event was the brainchild of a
:20:22. > :20:26.surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury in
:20:26. > :20:28.Buckinghamshire more than 60 years ago. The movement has changed many
:20:29. > :20:35.lives, including that of one Buckinghamshire woman set to lead
:20:35. > :20:41.out later this year. Clare Strange is captain of the Great Britain
:20:41. > :20:51.Wheelchair Basketball team. London 2012 will be her fourth Paralympic
:20:51. > :20:56.
:20:56. > :21:04.Games. She played her first match for GB in 1998, a year after she
:21:04. > :21:09.was paralysed. I first came, I just watched and cheered and lost my
:21:09. > :21:14.voice and was happy. In the second, I was in the starting line-up
:21:14. > :21:20.because one of my team-mates was injured. I was in at the deep end
:21:20. > :21:25.from the start. It is part of your life, it makes me who I am. I have
:21:25. > :21:27.to do great things that I never even dreamed of. Clare, from
:21:27. > :21:36.Buckinghamshire, always played sport and harboured dreams of being
:21:36. > :21:41.an Olympian. Those dreams were dashed when she was 18. I was
:21:41. > :21:49.riding my horse and he changed direction at the last minute and I
:21:49. > :21:54.hit my head off the teach -- tree- trunk and a severed my spinal cord.
:21:54. > :21:58.In many ways and was lucky because I was airlifted to Stoke Mandeville,
:21:58. > :22:02.one of the local hospitals. In fact, Stoke Mandeville is much more than
:22:02. > :22:09.just a hospital. It's the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.
:22:09. > :22:16.Whenever I saw how the support is accepted, by the paralysed, it was
:22:16. > :22:18.a logical thing to start this sports movement. In July 1948,
:22:18. > :22:21.neurosurgeon Sir Ludwig Guttmann deliberately held the first-ever
:22:21. > :22:31.Stoke Mandeville Spinal Games to run parallel to the opening of the
:22:31. > :22:31.
:22:31. > :22:37.London Olympics. That was the beginning of the first
:22:37. > :22:45.international sports event for anyone disabled in the world.
:22:45. > :22:50.yes... Good. People still think it does Paralympic because of
:22:50. > :22:55.paralysed but ticket sales for London, they have sold more tickets
:22:55. > :23:03.than any other again. It is the attitude that we have to the
:23:03. > :23:06.Paralympic Games. Clare trains in the gym twice a week and on the
:23:06. > :23:12.basketball court another five times. That's 20 hours a week on top of
:23:12. > :23:18.her job. We train alongside the Libyans and do the same type of
:23:18. > :23:24.training. That is what you have to do to get to the highest level in
:23:24. > :23:28.anything, dedicating the right amount of time. Thank you. Another
:23:28. > :23:36.one and a quarter on the first set of him. That adds to the body
:23:36. > :23:39.weight and makes it harder. Even from Des number two, people come in
:23:39. > :23:45.to visit and tell me about everything I could still do but
:23:45. > :23:51.within one month of my accident, I was doing sport again. Because it
:23:51. > :23:53.is part of rehabilitation. It gives you independence. From the wing.
:23:53. > :23:56.Clare Strange! Great Britain finished eighth at the last
:23:56. > :23:59.Paralympics in Beijing. At 32, Clare has already got world and
:23:59. > :24:07.European Championship medals and she has won the World Cup. Next up,
:24:07. > :24:14.Paralympic gold? There is so much more to the Paralympic Games. Baker
:24:14. > :24:22.that any other event. In some ways I cannot wait but in other ways I
:24:22. > :24:25.want longer to prepare. I just have to do the hard graft. In just six
:24:25. > :24:35.months, athletes in Weymouth will be battling it out on the water for
:24:35. > :24:37.
:24:37. > :24:43.that all-important Olympic gold. A windsurfer here will hope that his
:24:43. > :24:47.home waters will count. Hoping to beat his bronze and Athens. With
:24:47. > :24:57.the wind in his sail, it's Nick Dempsey But Nick is hoping all this
:24:57. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:07.hard work will pay off. I am doing the interval session. Six
:25:07. > :25:11.repetitions of five minutes on and off. The first 30 seconds or the
:25:11. > :25:18.total sprint and then just hanging on for the pace for the remaining
:25:18. > :25:27.4.5 minutes. The heart rate within the first seconds gets up to about
:25:27. > :25:33.92% of the maximum. You are working flat out. Today is a hard session.
:25:33. > :25:36.Nick narrowly lost out on a medal, finishing 4th. And just recently he
:25:36. > :25:39.failed to qualify for the medal race at the World Championships in
:25:39. > :25:44.Perth, finishing down in 13th place overall. The pressure is on. I had
:25:44. > :25:51.been doing this since I was seven years old, it is a long time and I
:25:51. > :25:57.love it. I think it is the speed, the freedom, you can go whenever
:25:57. > :26:01.you like. It is always different. It is like nothing else. I left my
:26:01. > :26:06.sea legs behind on the day of filming, but Nick and I share a
:26:06. > :26:09.passion for a sport that doesn't require a sail. I am really in
:26:09. > :26:18.trouble here. And clearly Nick doesn't need any wind assistance
:26:18. > :26:25.with this one. Great shot. 2012. It is huge, how does it feel for
:26:25. > :26:31.somebody ahead of an event that nobody will ever forget? Yes, it is
:26:31. > :26:35.the biggest event of my life. Of all the British sailing team. For
:26:35. > :26:39.sure, it is on my mind when I wake up and when I go to bed. I just
:26:39. > :26:49.have to keep all of those thoughts positive and really look forward to
:26:49. > :26:52.
:26:52. > :26:58.it and make sure I am training as hard as I can. You're up already.
:26:58. > :27:03.Exciting stuff. Tremendous to be part of? Massive exciting, I am
:27:03. > :27:08.lucky because it is coming at the pinnacle of my career and hopefully
:27:08. > :27:18.I can perform well and deliver on those expectations. And deliver
:27:18. > :27:18.
:27:18. > :27:28.this birdie? I doubt it! That is a good strike, it had everything.
:27:28. > :27:29.
:27:29. > :27:32.Pressure! Not easy. It has taken a bounce to the right. There is one
:27:32. > :27:41.person Nick can rely on for support. His wife, Olympic medalist, Sarah
:27:41. > :27:46.Ayton. If I am having a lapse, and I need something of a kick-start,
:27:46. > :27:52.she is the one that is there to help me. To make sure that I give
:27:52. > :28:02.100%. Having her every day is an asset. To she pull rank on you and
:28:02. > :28:09.say, look, there is my gold medal. It is quieter, now! No pressure.
:28:09. > :28:16.That is a top shot. There you go. That is what happens. These sports
:28:17. > :28:23.may? The competition? They thrive on it all the time, even in golf?
:28:23. > :28:27.Good way to finish. Another victory for Dempsey. Thank you! Not one
:28:27. > :28:37.that you will remember as well as maybe some of the important ones.
:28:37. > :28:37.
:28:37. > :28:41.They do not... My golf still needs some work. That's about it. A