0:00:04 > 0:00:07The Olympic Games come on a grand scale.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11So vast, only the biggest need apply.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Olympic budgets are calculated by the billion.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16So, too, the television audience.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21This is sport subjected to huge pressures,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24to protest global in size.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30And yet the massive is only a compilation of individuals,
0:00:30 > 0:00:31each with a tale.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34This is the story of a small land
0:00:34 > 0:00:36and our part in the biggest show on Earth.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Paulo Radmilovic knew, Lynn Davies knew, Tanni knew what it was like.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52This is all about Welsh winners and non-winners,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55seeking perfection on the day fast approaching,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58the balance of science and the age-old will to win.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I don't run up the hills in winter thinking,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05"Oh, I can't wait to get a bronze," you know.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07That's not the mentality of an athlete.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14And what happens if, on this day of all days, it goes wrong?
0:01:14 > 0:01:16It's not like having a normal job where you can go,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18"Ooh, I've got a headache. I'll do it tomorrow."
0:01:18 > 0:01:20You've got that moment to get it right.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23You know, my heart's going, thinking about it.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25It's just, like, you train all year round for one lap.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Nicole Cooke of Great Britain...
0:01:27 > 0:01:29And what happens if it goes right?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32What may lie beyond the moment of glory?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Nicole Cooke is the Olympic road race champion!
0:01:36 > 0:01:41Nicole's become one of these people that most people do in life,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44they don't cope with success.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51To hit top speed on two legs quickly,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55somebody once worked out that it was best to start on all fours.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Somebody in Wales.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01It is the beginning of a familiar ritual at the start of sprint events,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05the final moments of preparation and stillness
0:02:05 > 0:02:07before the explosive start.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It is perhaps less well known that this began here,
0:02:16 > 0:02:17in Monmouth.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Before the start of the modern Olympics in 1896,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28athletes used to stand before the start of every race.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31But then Tom Nicholas of Monmouth Athletic Club
0:02:31 > 0:02:34began to experiment with a crouched start.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Tom was a 440-yard runner, a Welsh record-holder for 20 years.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41He placed his feet behind the line,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44but then reached out with his arms
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and as long as his feet were behind the line,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49it was within the rules, he said.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50Was it fair?
0:02:50 > 0:02:54In 1889, the Amateur Athletics Association - the three As -
0:02:54 > 0:02:59deliberated long and hard, and voted 6-5 in favour of a change,
0:02:59 > 0:03:00and it remains the rule to this day,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04one of the tiny adjustments that have helped improve performance
0:03:04 > 0:03:06by a fraction of a second. And the change?
0:03:06 > 0:03:10You could crouch, but no part of the body
0:03:10 > 0:03:13could touch the ground in front of the line before the gun.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18The crouch start, made in Monmouthshire,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21used the world over by the fastest humans on Earth.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30When it comes to finding ways to improve performance,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34no sport has done more than cycling, with a strong Welsh connection.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37GB team performance director Dave Brailsford,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39raised in Deiniolen in North Wales,
0:03:39 > 0:03:44GB coach Shane Sutton, an Aussie, but once coach of the Welsh team,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49and Geraint Thomas of Cardiff in the four-man team pursuit,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52part of the team punching a hole through air scientifically,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54beautifully.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01The final of the Olympic 4,000m team pursuit gets underway
0:04:01 > 0:04:06and this promises to be an absolute cracker.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Away they go.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12In anything you do, speed kills off your opponent. We had to get fast.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17We look for a 1% improvement in 20, 25 different areas.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20That's a really full-on approach and in order to do it properly,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24to make it work, you have to work hard at each one of those areas.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27So you have to do it all, or nothing, really. And we go for all.
0:04:27 > 0:04:280.7 of a second.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Denmark are trailing already and the business-like start
0:04:32 > 0:04:37by the Great Britain quartet is very, very impressive indeed.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41What happened in Beijing may have made Geraint - wait for this -
0:04:41 > 0:04:43our greatest Olympian ever.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47You look at Lynn 'The Leap', Nicole, your Colin Jacksons
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and your Ieuan Evanses and you know, you go on...
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Your JPRs and you go on and on and on...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I've got to be totally honest with you.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57I think our boy surpasses all of them.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00He's possibly one of your greatest sportsmen of all time.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04This is a display of the highest order.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Masterclass, sheer masterclass.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10We all just felt really confident.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Training had gone really well in the month or so before.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15We all felt really strong and, all of a sudden,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19with three laps to go, we saw the Danes and we knew we had won it then.
0:05:19 > 0:05:213.53.314!
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I cannot believe what I'm seeing!
0:05:24 > 0:05:28It's an astonishing world record.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33The British quartet are the Olympic champions.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Being ready in mind and body,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45so you can rise to your occasion.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50The whole Olympics is...
0:05:50 > 0:05:52It's like nothing else on this planet,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55but when you make a final and, dare I say it,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58a track and field final, which is always a sell-out crowd,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02there's always a great atmosphere, always a lot of pressure, it's amazing.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03You don't just turn up and run.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07There's a big protocol before you actually step onto the track.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10They take away your mobile phones, they check your advertising,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14they check your spikes, your kit, that you're wearing the correct...
0:06:14 > 0:06:16There's a lot of stuff you have to go through.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18You then see your opposition for the first time.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20That's when the mind games start playing.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22I'll try and get inside the head of the opposition.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25I'll be staring at the Americans. You'd start eyeballing them.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It's at that stage when, you know,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29you're literally getting your kit off,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33you're getting ready, then you walk onto the track and that's it.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35You're on your blocks, you're ready to go.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42I just remember my body, of how it felt. It felt like a race car.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45It was alert, alive, ready, you know.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Millions and millions of people watching it on TV,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51most probably a quarter of the world, watching you.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56You've made it there. The nerves, the atmosphere. I can even smell Atlanta.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59If I close my eyes, I can remember the feeling.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02You know, my heart's going, thinking about it.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It's just, like, you train all year round for one lap, for 44 seconds.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10It's everything. That one lap is what you train for and if it goes right, it's brilliant.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13If it goes wrong, in the relay you've let yourself down,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16you let your teammates down. You've let the nation down.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20The final of the 4x400 metre relay, 1996.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24The first lap always difficult
0:07:24 > 0:07:26and Thomas has gone blasting away.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30He's run right away from the American, Lamont Smith, already.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32He's really tearing away down the back straight.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34We decided I would go first leg
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and then it was going to be to Jamie on second,
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Mark on third, and Roger Black,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41who got silver in the individual, on the last leg.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Thomas has run a very fast 300.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Great Britain and America locked together.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Jamie Baulch goes now.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53I remember watching him go round and he had a very good leg.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55And then it was my turn.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Quite a funny story, actually, which people don't really realise.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01As I was going around that bend in the Olympic final,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Alvin Harrison runs past me, he goes, "Oh, yeah, baby! Oh, yeah!"
0:08:04 > 0:08:07He's talking as he's running and I'm looking at him, thinking,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10"I can't believe this guy's talking as he's running.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12I thought, "You cheeky..." you know.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14So with 300 metres to go, I went for him.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16I ran past him and went, "Beep-beep," like Road Runner!
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I love that moment because it just shows you,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25at the highest moment of my career, you can still have fun.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30America take gold, Great Britain silver, Jamaica bronze.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35As a team, we ran so well. We smashed the European record.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37We ran 2.56 which still stands as a European record
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and we got a silver medal.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42But to be honest, it felt like a gold medal cos the celebrations...
0:08:42 > 0:08:44We were so proud.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45Second in Atlanta.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50But what about going one better in track and field?
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Well, David Jacobs from Cardiff won a gold medal in the sprint relay
0:08:54 > 0:08:57in the 1912 Stockholm Games.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59But for an individual gold,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02there's just the one, only one, so far.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06And for it, we have to go back to the very first time live pictures
0:09:06 > 0:09:08from the Olympics were relayed here by satellite.
0:09:08 > 0:09:1115 seconds to go, ten seconds to go,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14before we go to our satellite for today's events for Tokyo.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17This picture is coming to you from Hamburg
0:09:17 > 0:09:20or it's coming from Tokyo via Hamburg, any second now.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22It should come up. Please.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23There we are.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35Japan 1964 - just like home for a long jumper from Nantymoel
0:09:35 > 0:09:38at his first Olympic Games.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40It was the rainy season, it was late October,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42very late for the Olympic Games.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46They're normally held in July/August, as they will be in London.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48So the conditions weren't very good for athletics.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53The winter building up to '64 was one of the coldest, wettest,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56windiest ever in Wales, and I think that gave me
0:09:56 > 0:10:02a mental toughness, and an ability to compete in real tough conditions.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Lynn 'The Leap' was up against two of the best - American Ralph Boston
0:10:06 > 0:10:09and Russian Igor Ter-Ovanesyan.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12During the competition, we were struggling.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17There were headwinds, the wind was gusting, driving rain.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19And I suddenly realised that I could,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22if I just managed to wait for the wind to drop,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24I could actually jump over eight metres,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and the leading distance at that stage was seven metres 80,
0:10:28 > 0:10:29which was quite ordinary.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33So I stood on the runway, waited for the wind to drop, sure enough,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38a little bit of luck, which you need in the competition, it dropped.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39I seized the opportunity.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Makes the board, terrific height, and a wonderful one,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48over eight metres again.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51And he's looking really excited.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53He must know that was a great one.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55His fifth jump.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59It was unbelievable that I'd beaten my heroes.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01These two guys I'd looked up to and now
0:11:01 > 0:11:06I was standing there with the gold medal and these two guys I'd beaten.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14And at the end of the day, this is what the Olympic final is all about.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18It's about the person who can recognise the opportunity
0:11:18 > 0:11:21when it is arises, expect the unexpected,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23and seize that opportunity when it arises.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26And that's what I did.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Winning that gold medal does make a huge difference to your life.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32You become a celebrity and somebody that all around the UK
0:11:32 > 0:11:34knows who you are.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42If Lynn Davies had seized his moment on the day,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47is it different when you go to the Olympics as, day in, day out, the best?
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Is it different when your event is the most technical but you only have the one chance?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Colin Jackson from Cardiff.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03His first Olympics were in Seoul 1988.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06He was 21 and already the fourth fastest
0:12:06 > 0:12:09110 metre hurdler of all time.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I'm a fairly good competitor.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17I've got quite a solid technique and I'm fairly quick, so...
0:12:20 > 0:12:22His first Olympics, his first final.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Blake got away well that time.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28It looked very early.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Jackson going well in lane one.
0:12:30 > 0:12:31Kingdom in the centre,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Jackson fading a little,
0:12:33 > 0:12:34as Kingdom come through.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35Kingdom will it,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Jackson will get silver.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Kingdom wins it, Jackson second
0:12:39 > 0:12:40and Campbell in third.
0:12:40 > 0:12:4412.99 and Colin Jackson's got the silver.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Did you think that you could beat Kingdom?
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Most definitely. I went in going for gold and I'm coming home with silver.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I'm not too disappointed as I put a lot of good guys behind me.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58He hasn't stopped smiling since he walked into this stadium.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00It was a really great feeling.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It really set up my career. It started me with great promise
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and I was looking forward to the prospect of four years to come.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09Two years later,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11he became champion of the Commonwealth,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Now he was ready for Barcelona.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Tony Jarrett up with him in second place,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18and then Nigel Walker...
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I was in immaculate shape.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Preparations were absolutely awesome and I was ready to go.
0:13:24 > 0:13:301992 - it started to go wrong in the heats and he was in pain now.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I struggled even getting into the blocks.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36The final of the 110 metres hurdles.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Jackson got away well, so did McKoy.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Jackson going well, McKoy leading.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Jackson going well and Dees going well.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46And Colin's struggling now, he's gone.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49McKoy leading at the moment, Mark McKoy of Canada.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52McKoy wins it, he's the Olympic champion.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I think Dees got silver. Jackson run right out of it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57And McKoy has realised his dream.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00And, Colin Jackson, well, when it really came to it,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02hadn't quite got it.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05It was really awful because I'd worked really hard
0:14:05 > 0:14:07to become the Olympic champion
0:14:07 > 0:14:11and then my training partner seemed to just take it from under me.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13But that's the nature of the beast.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15That's life, that's what happens in sport.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18It took a very long time for me to get over it, really.
0:14:19 > 0:14:20But he did get over it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23The 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27And it's Jackson going away!
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Two to go.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Jackson takes it, Jarrett gets the silver.
0:14:32 > 0:14:3312.91, a world record
0:14:33 > 0:14:36that would stand for 12 years.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Seville, 1999 - the World Championships again.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Colin Jackson is the champion of the world!
0:14:42 > 0:14:46The only one he's not won yet is the Olympic gold.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49He came fourth in Atlanta in 1996.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52In 2000, he became the only Welsh athlete
0:14:52 > 0:14:55to compete in four consecutive Olympic Games.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Sydney - his last chance to win that elusive gold.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I won the world title the year before and I was looking forward
0:15:09 > 0:15:12to going into the Olympic Games and winning it.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Away this time and Colin got away well, so did Garcia.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Garcia slightly ahead now,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Johnson making some headway in the centre.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Colin's hit some hurdles and is floundering.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Garcia comes away and Colin won't win this one.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Garcia of Cuba comes through to take it,
0:15:25 > 0:15:26Trammell gets the silver
0:15:26 > 0:15:29and Jackson was closing down in the final stages.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31There's nothing you can do now, is there?
0:15:31 > 0:15:33It's just over and how do you feel?
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Yeah, obviously, I'm very disappointed with the actual performance.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38I made many mistakes during the race
0:15:38 > 0:15:42and basically paid the penalty for that.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Looks like I'm the World Championship man but not the Olympic man.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Colin Jackson - one silver that never turned to gold.
0:15:51 > 0:15:57Here's a question - which is worse, to get to silver and no further,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02or to touch gold and have it taken away, down to silver?
0:16:02 > 0:16:05For that, we have to go back to Wembley 1948.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Ken Jones was a member of the sprint relay team at the London Games.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14The American team finished first but were disqualified.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Britain were upgraded from second to first,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19only for the Americans to appeal, successfully.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Ken and his team-mates had to hand their gold medals back in,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and settle for silver.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28There was consolation, though, on the wing for Wales.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32In 1953, he scored the try when last we beat the All Blacks.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Ken Jones collects and sprints over, touching down on the way.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43This cruel business of performing under pressure.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48The Helsinki Games of 1952, and John Disley, born and raised
0:16:48 > 0:16:50among the high peaks of Snowdonia.
0:16:50 > 0:16:5312 men line up for the steeplechase,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56almost two miles long, and lots of obstacles to jump.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Britain's big hope, schoolmaster John Disley,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03is lying fourth, number 194, all in white.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04Can you remember the race?
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Very well.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10I'd made up my mind that a German was going to win, called Gouda.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15I didn't know he'd had flu four weeks before.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17And so I followed him for half the race.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Gouda with flu was the wrong man to follow.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Up ahead, the Cold War superpowers were setting the pace.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Kazantsev and Ashenfelter are almost level.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29The American, an FBI agent, has been trailing the Russian all along
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and the race lies between them.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32Disley, up in third place,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35is too far behind to make any difference to the outcome.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Jeff Dyson, my coach,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41got himself down from the Royal boxes, or wherever he was,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44down to the edge of the track and shouted at me to "wake bloody up!"
0:17:44 > 0:17:48He did wake up and finished third.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Though British fans were naturally disappointed that Disley gained only a bronze medal,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57it was still a great achievement by one who only took up steeplechasing two years ago.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00The last day of competition at the Helsinki Games.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Britain still hadn't won a single gold in any sport,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06and it looked as if it was going to stay that way.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09The first round of the team show jumping.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10Sir Harry Llewellyn,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13whose family had once owned coal mines in South Wales,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17was on board - or nearly on board - his beloved Foxhunter.
0:18:17 > 0:18:2116 and three-quarter faults. It was all over.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Unless...
0:18:23 > 0:18:24That was an extraordinary event
0:18:24 > 0:18:28because it all depended on the second round.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33Harry and Foxhunter shook themselves off and set out again.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36They seized their one last chance,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39used all the pressure to their advantage and sailed clear.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42From wreckage to perfection, from fifth to first.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43And he's done it!
0:18:43 > 0:18:46It's our first gold medal at Helsinki,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51won as the curtain is about to be run down on the 1952 Olympics.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54You can't imagine the feeling of...
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I mean, you know, whenever we succeed now at cricket or anything,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59you can imagine...
0:19:00 > 0:19:03how wonderful it makes so many people feel,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07so proud of their country, all this, that and the other.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10No, it must have been absolutely amazing.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14What happens if, in your event,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18you are up against the best in the world, the best by a mile,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22that however fast you run, somebody else can run faster?
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Or if you suddenly know you cannot win because, out of the blue,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29somebody else does something truly remarkable?
0:19:29 > 0:19:35Ooh, it's an enormous one! My goodness me, it's an enormous one!
0:19:35 > 0:19:38That surely shatters the Olympic record.
0:19:38 > 0:19:421968 - after Bob Beamon's flight through the thin air of Mexico City,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47the defending Olympic champion Lynn Davies knew he could not win.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50When Beamon jumped, there was a huge roar from the crowd
0:19:50 > 0:19:54who were watching, so we knew that something spectacular had happened.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Good gracious me! He was up in the air for an age, it seemed.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00An incredible opening leap by Beamon.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04The Mexican officials had slid the telescopic viewing device
0:20:04 > 0:20:08to the end of the rail and lined it up with the pin in the sand.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12And of course, he had out-jumped the Olympic measuring device,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14so they had to bring a steel tape over.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16And we looked down at the steel tape
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and eight metres 90 came up on the steel tape.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23He had broken the world record by a massive 55 centimetres.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Lynn was now chasing the impossible.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33In the final, his best jump was almost a metre behind the American.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36He finished in ninth place.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38When Beamon went down and did 29.2.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41As far as I was concerned, I lost interest in the competition.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43If I can't win, I'm not interested.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45It may be a selfish attitude
0:20:45 > 0:20:48but if I'm not in there with a chance of winning, you know...
0:20:48 > 0:20:50A silver and bronze didn't mean anything after that.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Other Welsh athletes
0:20:52 > 0:20:55have had to be realistic about their medal prospects.
0:20:55 > 0:21:01In Atlanta 1996, Michael Johnson was king at not only the 200 metres,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03but also the 400 metres.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06And Iwan Thomas breaking through at this level.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Gets them away first time,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11flashbulbs going all over the stadium.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Black is chasing Johnson and he's closing slightly,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16but Johnson responds.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Johnson going away down the back straight.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Iwan Thomas with a big run on the outside.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23The guy was amazing.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26I once found myself being in awe of him during a race.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28And it's Johnson.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Black now goes into second place,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Harrison on the inside
0:21:32 > 0:21:34and on the near side, Thomas.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I went round the top bend and was near him, and remember looking at him, thinking,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"Yeah, his running style is weird but, God, don't he look good!"
0:21:41 > 0:21:43And then before I knew it, he'd gone.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45By watching him, I'd not concentrated.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46I think I came seventh in that race,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49because I was watching Michael Johnson thinking, "You're amazing."
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Johnson away and clear.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57The time - 43.49, a new Olympic record.
0:22:00 > 0:22:0112 years later,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Newport's Christian Malcolm found himself up against
0:22:04 > 0:22:06another wonder runner of the day.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08At the last Games in Beijing,
0:22:08 > 0:22:13he made the 200 metre final, up against Jamaica's Usain Bolt.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Bolt in the 100 and the 200
0:22:15 > 0:22:18was taking athletics into a new universe.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21It's gold for Usain Bolt and a new world record!
0:22:21 > 0:22:25I do not believe it. Absolutely brilliant.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I remember crossing the finishing line and looking at Kim Collins.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30He looked at me and he just went...
0:22:31 > 0:22:34It was just a surreal moment, cos I looked at the clock and I said,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36"19.30?" I thought, "Nah, clock's wrong.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"That's not right. That is not right."
0:22:39 > 0:22:41But when you see Bolt just run off
0:22:41 > 0:22:44to the background, you hear the crowd announcer, the crowd going crazy...
0:22:44 > 0:22:49Usain Bolt has taken two gold medals and two world records.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51..everything seems to hit home then
0:22:51 > 0:22:54and you start to realise that history's been made.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Usain Bolt - two gold medals and two world records.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02The process of winning.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Form, fitness, illness, your mood on the day, the weather, luck.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11If there is a common factor, it is simply the will to win.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15For what? For the moment? Because it'll change your life forever?
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Is winning everything it's supposed to be?
0:23:18 > 0:23:20And what do you do after it?
0:23:27 > 0:23:32For six years as a professional rider, Nicole Cooke went uphill,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35down her home Vale of Glamorgan to be among the very best
0:23:35 > 0:23:38road race cyclists in the world.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42She had been world junior champion,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Commonwealth Games champion in 2002.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46She knows she's got the gap.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49She's going to win the gold medal for Wales, no doubt about it now.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55This was her first year as a professional.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59She went to her first Olympics in 2004 in Athens...
0:24:00 > 0:24:02..and everything was going well.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06So, Nicole Cooke, as they approach the summit of the climb,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08is beginning to lift the pace here.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13But then...that's Nicole not making the right turn.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15She would finish in fifth place.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Can Cooke get on terms?
0:24:17 > 0:24:19And the answer is, no, she can't.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20Oh, on the line!
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Disappointment in Athens, but everything was leading to Beijing,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28her year of years, 2008.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29200 metres to go.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Nicole Cooke of Great Britain, the 25-year-old from Wales,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35is looking here to land the gold medal.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And it's Johannson of Sweden that's challenging.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Cooke is still at the front.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Oh, Cooke takes it!
0:24:41 > 0:24:47Nicole Cooke is the Olympic road race champion. The gold medal is hers.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51I thought she was going to buckle but she's won it.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55The first Welsh woman to win an Olympic gold for 96 years.
0:24:55 > 0:25:01Fame and celebration, and since then...not so much.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Nicole's become one of these people,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06they don't cope with success.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11You know, in our sport or whatever sport, or whatever you do,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13if you get beat, what do you do?
0:25:13 > 0:25:17You get up the next morning, you start training again,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and you change, because you know you have to change.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22But you train and you change.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27When you win, most people, they can't cope with success.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30You know, there were so many steps along the way where
0:25:30 > 0:25:35you could look at any little phase of my career and say
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I could have done that better,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39but who was there to advise me?
0:25:39 > 0:25:41No-one had ever done it before.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44No other British rider had become world number one.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46No other British rider had won a World Cup.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48No other British rider had won the Tour de France.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51No other British rider won the Giro d'Italia.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54And no other British rider had become Olympic champion,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58world number one, so, you know...
0:26:00 > 0:26:03If there was a book written on how to do that...
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Well, I would have been very happy to have it, but there wasn't a book,
0:26:07 > 0:26:12so I had to do the best I could and, yeah, it's part of the journey.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Nicole has made the road race team for London.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Is she a contender again?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19We shall see.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22This man is.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23Dai Greene from Llanelli.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28He has to handle the pressure of going into the London Games as the favourite.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32The reigning world champion in the 400 metres hurdles.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Dai Green's in third place, second,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38he goes up, it's down to the sprint.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39- Can Greene get there?- Yes, yes, yes!
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Culson versus Greene. Greene gets there!
0:26:42 > 0:26:45It is a gold medal for Great Britain.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48It's a gold medal for Dai Greene.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51He has produced a quite wonderful run.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03He'll go into London having been world champion,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05so he's one of the favourites to win.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07The great thing is he can handle that.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11Of all the athletes in London who can handle that kind of, you know,
0:27:11 > 0:27:12"You should be winning this, Dai,"
0:27:12 > 0:27:17he is the guy who, I think, can cope with that label of being a strong favourite.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20We've been here before.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22It's these hurdles, so technical.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25They can trip up the best.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27It's difficult to be at the top of your game every day,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30and you have to be at the top of your game once, one day
0:27:30 > 0:27:33in every four years for the Olympics, so that just shows how hard it is.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35And if someone as good as Colin Jackson,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37who dominated the event for so long, can pick up a silver,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40then that shows how difficult it is to get a gold.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The Olympic final is one moment in time.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46It's not like having a normal job where you can go,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48"Ooh, I've got a headache. I'll do it tomorrow."
0:27:48 > 0:27:50You've got that moment to get it right.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55All through the year when you're training really hard, you think,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58"It's the Olympics. It's going to be so big, the biggest competition ever.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01"I can't wait for it." Then about two weeks out, you think,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04"Just another race," because you don't want to lose sleep
0:28:04 > 0:28:07that this could be the defining moment of your career.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10It will undoubtedly be the biggest race in my career.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12It's great for motivating the months beforehand,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15but once we get close to it, I'll just be thinking,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18"It's 400 metres, its ten hurdles, it's that basic,"
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and that's what you have to think of.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23And we'll be thinking of you, Dai,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27all of you who are about to compete in London 2012,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30grappling with the tiniest of margins,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33and the heaviest of sporting pressures,
0:28:33 > 0:28:34in the name of producing
0:28:34 > 0:28:38the performance of a lifetime at the Olympic Games,
0:28:38 > 0:28:40all of you, who are the story
0:28:40 > 0:28:45of our small land at the biggest show on Earth.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd