Episode 4 Natural Born Winners

What does it take to be the best?

Around the world,

sports steeped in tradition create their champions...

..men who master speed, skill,

endurance, and the will to win.

Four modern sporting heroes are about to

put themselves to the test...

HE GROANS

..Gareth Thomas, Welsh rugby legend...

You don't want to lose. Nobody wants to lose. It hurts.

..Donovan Bailey, the Olympic gold-medal sprinter...

Every single day I get up and I have a goal.

..James Toseland, two times World Superbike Champion...

There's always a will to win.

I hate losing, I've always hated losing,

but I'm not planning on losing.

..and Iwan Thomas, whose British 400m record has never been broken.

I've always been a competitor.

I think I always will have that natural need to win.

They'll travel to the four corners of the Earth...

Wow, look at that.

..to take on some of the world's great challenges.

Whoa!

It's super dangerous.

God, it's like being on death row.

They're about to find out who's got what it takes...

For real, this is combat.

..to triumph against the odds.

HE YELLS

They'll compete to be the best...

I love it. I didn't realise how much I missed it.

..but who will crumble? HE YELLS

I'm not in. You're not in? I'm not in, no.

Ah... Oh, I just want to die.

And who's got what it takes to win?

That is the scariest thing I have ever done.

For their third challenge...

Look at that, three on a moped.

..the sportsmen were in India,

competing in the ancient martial art of Kalari.

Wicked.

As they trained against experts with stick and shield...

That was pure aggression.

..sprinter Donovan's speed helped him in practice...

This is excellent.

Speed and accuracy are what this is all about.

..and Gareth, with one win to his name, fought hard. Ah!

Gareth looks like he's going to take someone's bloody head off.

But, on competition day, when they fought each other...

I knew he'd come at me quite hard.

..James got top marks...

That was really good.

Yeah, I really enjoyed that. It was nice to win.

..which puts the superbike champion on two wins out of three.

The final and toughest challenge the four men face is Yabusame -

Japanese horseback archery.

Rooted in the brutal and ritualistic world of the samurai warriors,

it's still revered today.

Galloping down a straight track at high speed,

using just balance to control the horses,

the archers take aim at targets using the traditional Yabusame bow.

For the sportsmen, it will be a true samurai test,

as they compete against each other.

Who can achieve clarity of mind, and conquer their fear?

MAN YELLS

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

When they arrive in Japan,

the sportsmen will have a week to train in the art of Yabusame.

They'll be expected to ride at speed while holding a bow,

but their training starts in the UK,

where the novices are about to get a lesson in

the basics of firing an arrow while sitting on a moving horse.

Come on, then, guys.

OK, then, hold your bow in the middle,

with the lashings more or less equidistant between your fist,

and secure the arrow to the bow.

Pull, and you'll hear the click.

Beautiful work.

Time to get in the mind of a samurai.

The whole way of living, the whole understanding of it,

is going to be extremely difficult

because it's so completely different to the way we all live our lives.

When it comes to shooting, lift your elbow to make a nice line

between your elbow and down the arrow.

LAUGHTER

I missed completely on my first one.

That didn't go down well,

so I've not talked for about 20 minutes.

Thumb and finger.

Oh, you didn't pull until you heard the click, yeah?

Have a shoot. Hey, beautiful.

We're going to be expected to learn fast, so I think this is

going to be mentally and physically the most challenging for me.

Before we get on the horses,

we're going to learn what to do if we fall off.

LAUGHTER OK, feet out of your stirrups.

The feet out of the stirrups, let go of that, lean back...

Arms in. Arms in!

As you come off the horse,

actually get away from it with a little push of your hips.

LAUGHTER

That's it. Off you go. Lovely.

Ugh!

Just like a thump, weren't it?

Is your crash mat all right?

I've never been on a horse,

and I've never shot a bow.

Come on, Bailey.

Yay. Beautiful. Good. Lovely.

I know nothing about the samurai culture,

other than what I've seen in the movies.

HE SIGHS For Gareth, just getting on a horse

could be his biggest challenge yet.

How are you feeling, Gareth? Are you all right, pal?

Gareth, are you all right, mate?

I'm just silently taking myself to a happy place. Are you?

If you concentrate on your archery more than anything else,

it might take your mind off that you're on a horse.

Donovan said that. Donovan's words were, "Just imagine it's a bike."

Yep. That's great imagination

when I'm sitting on a breathing, living horse. A furry bike.

Turn back, and there's a bike.

That's exactly what you've got to do.

OK, they are not small horses.

Put your foot in the stirrup.

Don't worry about going up,

and your leg will come over automatically. There.

Sit gently, that's it.

Bob your foot in there.

I'm wondering how long it's going to be before you breathe.

I feel for Gareth a bit, because he's clearly...

I mean, I don't feel the most comfortable -

it's my second time on a horse - but he's clearly very frightened.

Sit tight. Don't worry.

We're going to go for a little walk. BLEEP, but!

Relax. Sit up.

I can only imagine what he is going through now, thinking,

let alone sit on the horse,

but then have to think about loading the arrows correctly, shooting...

When they arrive in Japan,

they'll face an intense samurai training in accuracy,

discipline and speed...

That was pretty good.

..but, today, the boys are just getting used to riding down

an archery track without holding the reins.

I've only cantered and galloped once,

and that was an experience, but it's doing it with no reins,

because obviously they're your brakes and your steering wheel,

so to do it without that is going to be a bit of a daunting experience.

Step one - shooting at walking pace while the horse is led.

Every slightest twitch that happens within that horse

scares the living crap out of me,

because I think it's going to do something that I'm not prepared for,

so, for me, this is just kind of like chewing barbed wire.

I've just got to, like, really slowly but painfully get through it.

OK, sit up straight. Relax your shoulders.

GARETH GROANS

Ready? All right, Jupiter,

I want three bull's-eyes, my son. Come on, then. Three bull's-eyes.

No pressure. SHE LAUGHS

This is more of a sport where I think it's

a mind battle with yourself, to get over the fear of the horse,

to get over the lack of experience, really,

but then just trust what we're being taught.

Point down, and shoot when you're in the middle. Good. Good!

Well done. Good.

Oh, yeah, get in. Next one. SHE LAUGHS

Good. Oh, good shot.

Gold. Very nice. With a keen eye,

Iwan's marking himself out as an early favourite...

Right, I'm going to bring him to trot,

and then you can get your arrow ready. Ready? Mm-hmm. OK. Yep.

Come on, pick up, come on. Come on.

Off you go. Good.

..but Gareth's already had enough of horses, and has turned pundit.

GARETH: Donovan, he's doing this strange motion.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert horse rider, but if I've seen...

I'd be worried about what he's doing.

OK.

HORSE SNORTS Off you go. Lovely.

The first taste of horseback archery

has done nothing for Gareth's confidence.

Fear is not the word.

The potential of what a horse has, I have an understanding of... Right.

..and I don't want it to do what it can do when I'm on its back,

so the least amount of time I'm on its back,

the least chance it has of...

You've got to be at one with the horse, my friend.

Relax, rhythm, move with it...

The next time they saddle up will be in Japan.

Cheers, pal. Cheers, guys. Yep, cheers, dudes.

Cheers. Cheers to a good trip so far, guys.

Cheers, boys. Cheers, cheers, cheers.

As they face their final challenge,

the men's thoughts turn to life after sport.

You retired the earliest... Right.

..but you've been retired the longest. Yeah.

When this was presented to me,

I thought, "Oh, man, you know, life's been great.

"Playing golf and smoking a good Cuban cigar on the golf course

"is fantastic, but when I was competing, like,

"I felt alive every single day."

STARTING GUN FIRES It's almost 20 years

since Donovan conquered the world.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What drove you, though?

Cos, obviously, to be an Olympic champion,

you've got to have something in there, the fire in there,

to burn brightly, to actually achieve that level.

I was blessed with speed from when I was young.

I didn't really work very hard at it.

What, even when you were champion? Yeah, even when I was champion.

You must have trained most days, and... I trained every day,

but I realise also that I could have worked harder. You know...

But that might have led to injuries, you never know.

Maybe, if you'd done those extra few sessions,

your body would have started breaking more than it did.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Iwan's career was plagued with injury after

just three years at the top.

Well, it happened for me, like, young.

I'd had a medal from every championship by the time I was 23.

You know, I was tipped to be the next best,

and then I started getting injuries,

and I kept thinking, "No, I can get back. One more good season."

And then, for me, the final nail in the coffin,

I wanted to go to the Commonwealth Games in 2006, hopefully win,

and retire, and literally two weeks before

I'm due to fly out to Australia, I tore my hamstring.

I've never been on the track since. Really?

I didn't achieve my potential - 100%.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Gareth became the first player to earn 100 caps for Wales,

and retired at 36 after fulfilling his ambition.

When I watch a game of rugby now, I admire what I'm watching,

and people say, "Oh, my God, you must miss that." Ah, here, touch me!

"That 80,000..." Oh! I love this.

No, seriously. I do! "You must sit here..." They go like that,

"You must miss that 80,000 people. You must miss that."

And I'm like, "Do you know what? They are the now.

"I was... I was five years ago." Yup.

ENGINES HUM

After several high-speed crashes and major surgery,

James could no longer physically race,

and he was forced to retire at 30.

For me, losing racing was...was... was like a bereavement.

It was like I'd lost something, someone, really special.

How long... How long did the grieving take?

Well, it's still going, I think, you know? Right.

Like any... Like grieving, you know?

The world champion, at that point in time, was 40 years old, you know,

and I was only 30, so... Right.

Luckily, I mean, I was forced to retire early,

but I was very, very satisfied of doing what I'd done.

All that matters is you can look yourself in the mirror

and you've given it your all.

The four sporting heroes have arrived in Tokyo.

Tomorrow, they'll begin their final challenge.

This is how I expected Tokyo to be - absolutely crazy.

It's just bonkers. It's like I've gone to another planet.

I'm in Mars or something.

MUSIC: Gold by Spandau Ballet

# Gold Always believe in your soul... #

And for once, even Gareth is embracing the culture.

# Always believing... #

I am so not homesick, which for me is crazy,

cos I get homesick before I leave home,

but, I've got here, and it just seems like there's so much to do

that you take your mind off being homesick,

because you're constantly...

There's constantly something happening in front of you.

But the scale of the task ahead is beginning to sink in.

In a few days' time, I'm going to be travelling on a horse at 40mph

and letting go of the brakes, basically,

and trying to get a bow and arrow sorted out.

It's going to be pretty intense.

I think everyone's going to go for gold on this one,

and, you know, no-one as hard as me.

# Always believing. #

Next day, the boys are at the Kamakura Shrine outside Tokyo.

It's their first chance to see Yabusame close up.

Here you are, my first taste of Japanese food.

Thank you.

Once a year, the masters of Yabusame demonstrate their skills here,

in front of a devoted crowd.

Kiyomoto Ogasawara is among the riders today.

He belongs to one of the most revered families in Japan,

and can trace his samurai ancestry back for nearly 1,000 years.

Kiyomoto has agreed to accept the sportsmen as pupils.

They start tomorrow in his private dojo.

Strict traditions surround Yabusame.

HORSE WHINNIES The preparation rituals and dressing

can take up to eight hours.

HORSE SNORTS

Horseback archery wasn't just for battle -

it was a test of samurai warriors' focus and discipline.

APPLAUSE

The speed they came down at was frightening,

and the targets seemed to be so small,

so the margin for error was tiny.

APPLAUSE

I'm watching it and going, "Yeah, I can do that."

The speed thing doesn't bother me whatsoever.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

But the faster they went, then the more impressive it became,

but obviously the more difficult it became.

APPLAUSE

It's an amazing sport to actually watch,

and see how fast it is - see how precise it is.

COMMENTATOR SPEAKS JAPANESE

At the ceremony,

the sportsmen are forbidden to speak to Master Kiyomoto...

Nice to meet you. Yes, we'll be here tomorrow.

OK, no problem.

..but his assistants give them instructions

for tomorrow's training.

It's, like, how many times do you bow?

There wasn't many smiles coming from

the guy who was going to be training us.

I don't think he'll be taking this lightly.

I think they're here to show us how to do the job properly,

and honour them by us giving it everything we've got.

By the end of the week,

Master Kiyomoto will judge his new students

as they compete against each other in standing archery

and horseback archery.

The Ogasawara clan have practised Yabusame archery since 1187,

and training's about to start at the family's Tokyo dojo.

HE SPEAKS JAPANESE

The four sportsmen are about to transform into trainee samurai...

They're real comfy.

LAUGHTER

..but every detail matters.

There's even a right way to fold a sock.

Mate, I feel amazing. I feel like I just want to...

poke your eyes out. Oh, yeah? Discipline. Hey, hey, hey.

Discipline it. Hold it in.

It turns out there's a lot to get through

before the boys are allowed anywhere near a bow and arrow.

SHE SPEAKS JAPANESE

So, basically, hold this incense holder,

and you have to turn anti-clockwise twice,

and then have a quick smell.

Breathe in,

and then put this incense holder to the next person.

I hate all, like, the routines and the rituals,

and sitting down and...

It's like, "Oh, God, just give me an horse and a bow and arrow.

"Let's have a go."

Good smell?

Mmm, yummy.

There's smells in every sport.

There's a smell of, like, Deep Heat. There's a smell of sweat.

There's a smell of mud.

So, when you smell that smell, it's time to switch on.

Whereas, I think in this they use it to try

and calm themselves down, which I'm not sure I, kind of, get,

because I think if you go into any sort of competition,

then you go into it, kind of, geed up, adrenaline going,

so I'm not understanding the smelling part of it.

Formal incense ceremonies were used by the samurai to achieve calm,

and to enhance control in life and battle.

The precise way of the samurai has struck a chord with Donovan.

I have control issues,

and I think that being in a controlled environment,

whether it's controlled by me or someone else,

definitely allows life to be much easier for me.

I guess I'm a little bit of a neat freak.

I have to let go of stuff quite often,

because I'm not very easy to live with.

I do like things done a certain way.

Suits have to be colour-coordinated,

and white shirts stay on the white-shirt side,

and then the colours have to go in sequence.

But the samurai way is more than just a state of mind.

Please bend forward.

Everything, even walking, must be done perfectly.

Gareth is doing really well.

Oh, gracias.

"Gracias"? LAUGHTER

To be told that I have a natural talent for bowing, you know,

opens another door for me, I think.

Backs straight. Yes, great. Oh, I understand now.

The bow to, like, the master has to be right,

so, I suppose, as important as archery is, which...

it's as if they're like meaningless things,

but you learn to understand they're not meaningless -

they're actually quite important.

Gareth, you're doing really well.

Oh, am I? Oh, thank you.

At last, downstairs in the dojo, the sportsmen are given their bows.

But even firing an arrow comes with its own set of rules.

Ichi, ni, san...

They must follow precise steps and observe in silence.

Shot. Perfect. Boom.

I think there's just too many formalities, aren't there?

I mean, it's one thing,

practising on your feet not on a horse,

but you've got to breathe in and out for half the string,

breathe in and out and look at the target.

I like the discipline,

but I don't see why we have to learn all these little finicky things.

And then look here, and then face this way,

and then put left, right,

and then you have a bow.

Finally, Master Kiyomoto allows them to take a shot...

And loose your finger, yeah.

Yep. More? Lift it up.

Lift, push, let go.

Yep.

..but no more than two arrows each.

Are you hating Japan, then?

I'm not hating Japan, no, I wouldn't say that, but I'm hating the rules.

I have never seen you so frustrated and so negative towards a sport.

To be expected to be able to ride a horse at gallop speed

whilst firing three arrows,

I'm like, "Well, you know, teach me that."

I do not want to be three days folding clothes -

I want to be three days riding a horse. Right.

Honestly, I do not want my mum and my wife to realise

I can fold clothes that well, either.

Of course not. Of course not.

The next day brings an early start back at the dojo.

This time, Master Kiyomoto gets the boys straight down to business,

training for their standing archery showdown.

It's definitely game on.

The topknot's going in, and I'm going to be like Robin Hood.

Now the trainees are embracing folding samurai-style.

Are you folding them in half or are you leaving them out straight?

What you do is, the humidity just, kind of,

naturally just lets the creases settle for a minute.

GARETH LAUGHS Oh, my God, JT's back in the room.

James has got it all. Look at him.

He didn't think he'd learned anything yesterday.

He came in, like, "Oh, my God, I just happened to remember

"everything they told me yesterday."

It's like, what a surprise.

He's like the Eric Bristow of the bow-and-arrow world.

Everybody's come today, enthused,

but more with a willingness to learn.

It's been a little bit competitive,

which is always still really good,

because, you know, if JT was going first and he hit it,

then I'd be going, "OK, I'd better get it, the next,"

so there's still that edge of competitiveness within it.

Yeah! Oh.

Oh.

I'm not allowed to smile or nothing, am I? I forgot about that.

But I hit bull's-eye. Didn't I hit bull's-eye? Yeah.

See? Even she's going, "Whoop-whoop."

She's never done a whoop-whoop in her life.

Training for horseback archery begins, like everything so far,

by going back to basics.

Oh, ouch. Oh, it hurts my bum.

DONOVAN GROANS

Feeling OK. No, I'm good. OK?

And, although Gareth's giving the wooden horse a go,

the real thing is a very different matter.

My experience with horses, from day one,

have been disastrous for me

because, as soon as I get on a horse, then I get nervy, I freeze,

and I don't enjoy being on a horse.

So I think, you know, I'm not going to do the horseback archery,

because it's way beyond my capabilities of, like,

being able to conquer the fear of it.

Gareth is refusing to fire a bow from a horse, but he will still

take on the others in the upcoming standing archery competition.

The next morning, the former Welsh captain is taking a flight home.

He'll miss the next two days' training.

I don't want to leave the boys,

but I'm going to go back to commentate on the first game

of the World Cup for Wales, which is massively important to me.

It's gutting, and I don't want to leave them.

Potentially I'll come back and they'll be so far ahead,

but I can't turn down the opportunity of going back to Wales

and commentating on the first game of the World Cup for them.

He'll be back in two days' time

to take on the others at standing archery.

100 miles north of Tokyo,

Iwan, Donovan and James have begun training on horseback.

Please.

Master Kiyomoto is wasting no time.

Stand. Stand.

Stand straight. Straight, please. Straight. Straight.

When you're sitting six, seven feet up on the back of a horse...

OK.

..trying to do exercise and aerobics and doing 360s and reaching back,

and reaching around and hugging a horse, it's very difficult...

OK. OK.

..and it's quite scary, actually.

MAN SPEAKS JAPANESE

Here we go, boss.

I can't see now.

LAUGHTER Have I got to spin?

I mean, it's great to be on the horse,

but I am right now at maximum of being on the horse,

and how much I want to learn,

because of my fear of everything going sideways.

After less than an hour, Donovan decides he's had enough.

Thanks for the lesson, but this is where I stop.

HE SPEAKS JAPANESE

WOMAN: Does it hurt too much?

Yeah, and I'm scared, yes.

Hai. OK? All right.

Donovan will focus on standing archery,

and get ready to take on Gareth...

..but James and Iwan press on with horseback training.

Release the left hand, and the right hand, both.

I couldn't believe that,

after, like, two or three circuits, we were trotting.

And both hands.

Then we were cantering none-handed,

and, like, Kiyomoto, I don't know if he was thinking,

"Look, boys, you're either going to get the hang of this in a couple

"of days or you're not going to be entered in my competition,"

or what, but they don't seem to have much mercy, these samurais, do they?

OK, so, get off the horse.

OK. Good boy. HE GROANS

The only thing that scares me is the seat, in terms of -

I'm not being rude -

I won't walk properly for a week after this. It is hard.

I think the game changer is going to be when we get

a bow and arrow in his hand.

Yeah, and it's not just concentrating on just holding on.

You're now concentrating not to hit a kid in the crowd -

you've got to hit a target.

Another day, another dollar.

Me too. On the wooden saddle.

Mine are sore, are yours? Yeah, very.

Next day,

there's one more crucial lesson for the boys before competition day.

As they take aim, archers are expected to shout a ritual cry.

You're kind of shouting, "Light, dark, light and dark."

I think you're trying to hit the target, which embraces the two,

kind of like the Yin and the Yang but, by hitting the target,

you just make the world complete, so it's actually quite meaningful.

In-yoi!

In-yoi! In-yoi!

In-yoi!

In-yoi! In-yoi!

I've heard some things in my time,

but Iwan's, "In-yoi, in-yoi, in-yoi, in-yoi,"

well, I nearly fell off my horse.

Is it a good volume?

A bit too loud, JT, was it?

Even Sensei's laughing at me.

No problem.

He's trying to say I should be more manly, yeah?

IN DEEP VOICE: In-yoi! Like this? In-yoi!

OK, I can do that.

In-yoi! In-yoi!

In-yoi! In-yoi!

This event's definitely the one where we've got to remember

and learn a lot in the shortest space of time.

To learn to ride a horse, to learn to do archery, to learn how to,

"ee-yoi, ee-yoi, ee-yoi," on top of a horse doing 40mph.

I mean, to do all that in a couple of days' training

is going to be pretty good going.

While James and Iwan get back on real horses,

Donovan's getting expert archery training.

Gareth and I are going to definitely take a shot.

We'll...we'll have a...

We'll definitely have an individual competition about that one,

but, yeah, I'm looking forward to the archery, for sure.

With just 24 hours to the competition...

Tall posture, elegance,

in-yoi, in-yoi...

Got this. We've got this.

..James and Iwan are now hard at work on the practice track.

In-yoi!

MAN SPEAKS JAPANESE

In-yoi!

Oh, poo.

HORSE SNORTS

And riding at speed is starting to bring back

long-buried memories for James.

I've not been on a motorbike for nearly five years now,

cos the wrist is so bad and, being here in Japan,

on a horse, it's just ignited that fire in my belly,

to wanting to go fast and have that excitement again.

Over the last five years I've been suppressing it,

cos I was annoying myself, I was needing it all the time,

but, here in Japan, it's been quite nice

opening that little box up again,

and wanting to go really, really fast,

and, I'll tell you what, these horses,

they're fast enough to give me that buzz.

Master Kiyomoto is confident that James can handle

a much faster horse.

James-san, how about this horse? No problem? Yeah, really good.

HE SPEAKS JAPANESE Try your horse? Yes.

Yeah, I'd love to.

The new horse is one which Master Kiyomoto himself

rides in competitions.

It's a huge step up.

Watching Master Kiyomoto just then, on that horse,

you really see first-hand that

you're riding something with its own mind.

He's a cool customer anyway, isn't he?

You know, just in general, you can see that he's a cool dude.

That's why he's good at what he does - you need that calmness -

and now going, looking back, with the discipline,

with the folding of the clothes, with the scent smelling,

and all the rest of it, watching him on that animal just then

makes me realise what that all is about,

because that's what the horse is feeling.

The horse is feeling that calmness,

feeling that control, and feeling that skill.

So, for you, stop this horse, back.

Back? Yes. OK.

OK. OK.

It's important. Yes. Very, very important.

I can see in your eyes. JAMES LAUGHS

KIYOMOTO CLICKS

Oh, BLEEP!

BLEEP, he's fast.

HE GIGGLES

I'm just frustrated with myself,

because he's a little bit ahead of me,

and, like, even on the fastest motorbike I ever rode,

it was never ahead of me - I always wanted to go faster -

but this fella's got me.

For the first time ever, I'm wanting to go slightly slower.

Master Kiyomoto has decided -

tomorrow James will ride the faster horse

as he goes head-to-head against Iwan in Yabusame.

Meanwhile, Donovan's taking every opportunity to

sharpen his technique.

It's competition day.

Crowds are gathering at the country park

where Yabusame demonstrations are always a big draw.

Master Kiyomoto has arranged for Iwan and James

to compete on the park's professional track...

..but the first challenge is a standing archery shoot-off,

and it looks like Donovan's the surprise favourite.

I try and pull her left, but she's staying very close to the right.

My feet are going to hit the post.

Obviously I'm a bit jittery cos it's competition day,

and I want my horse to be finely tuned. I need her to be.

HE CLICKS

I really want to do this today,

and I don't want anything in my mind.

Like, yesterday I felt great.

Today, all of a sudden, I'm feeling weird about

the centring of the horse, so, hopefully he'll fix her.

OK, so you want to just...

James is warming up, with four hours to go,

but there's news about the horse he was planning to ride.

OK. OK, OK.

So, it's competition day, and I've just found out that my usual horse,

which was a complete nutcase anyway, has got a cold,

and now I've got a brand-new nutcase to ride,

who's a little bit quick off the mark.

Yesterday I said I didn't want to go any faster, didn't I?

And, all of a sudden, erm, I've got to go quicker.

A last-minute change of horse could be risky.

Master Kiyomoto wants James to have a test run first.

Go.

Good.

That is the scariest thing I have ever done, ever.

Riding 220mph, jumping out of aeroplanes,

going in the Red Arrows -

that is officially the scariest thing I've ever done.

The race face has got to definitely come on now.

I'd closed the box on this feeling.

I didn't want to open it again,

but this has just upped the ante a bit, for sure, yeah.

Mate, two rides left, that's all you've got to think.

Two runs. Yeah, yeah.

Two competition runs, get through it,

pray to the samurai gods,

and have a whisky.

You'll be all right, mate.

Oh, there they are. Hola.

Hola! Coma estas?

Hey, hey, you go here.

Gareth's back from Wales just in time.

Nice to have you back. All right, bud?

Are you all right? Yeah. Welcome back.

How are you feeling about today, bud?

I don't know if I'm going to be able to tame this horse,

or even feel like I'm going to get control of it

before I have to do the event,

and I've had to open a box that I shut two or three years ago.

Just being so fully focused, then,

switching off about everything else and everyone else...

Yeah, yeah, it's, erm...

It's... You know, BLEEP, hang on.

HE SIGHS

Mate, I don't know if you should do this, bud.

I'm all right.

Has it freaked you out that much?

No, no, I just, just, just missed the emotion a bit, you know? Really?

But it's a good thing, I reckon, bud.

I loved it when I felt the emotions that I'd missed.

It's not often you'll be able to

feel them again in real life. I know. I know.

Yeah, this is the first thing that's...

really sparked that old, old feeling off.

Everything's ready.

For the first time in Japan,

the boys will be competing against each other.

For the next few hours, they'll be samurai.

It's just all of a sudden very real.

Is it going to be like India,

and everything steps up a little notch when it becomes a competition?

But the old ticker's going now, if I'm honest with you. I'm scared.

I found it very, very difficult to, erm...

to do something so difficult and so dangerous.

I've spent quite some time now calming down from what I used to be,

and I found it very...really difficult to turn that back on,

and it's shocked me, big time.

I'm all right, actually.

I'm excited and nervous for JT and Iwan,

cos I think they're doing the real testing thing.

I'm ready, and I'm going to give it what I've got.

Round one - all four sportsmen will aim to be the best

at standing archery.

Gareth.

Next, James, please.

Iwan.

Good shot, D.

Gareth, please.

HE GROANS

HE GROANS

Unlucky, mate.

Next up, Master Kiyomoto's favourite, Donovan.

HE EXHALES

Probably for the first time, I'm a little disappointed in myself,

because I'd hit that shot 10 times, 15 times,

20 times in the last 48 hours.

Now it's down to Iwan.

About time, innit? It was quite nerve-racking,

actually, getting up there. It's just you and the piece of wood.

You've got to really focus,

and I was really taking deep breaths before,

I was just, like... trying to compose myself,

but I just thought, "Right, this is my opportunity. I can win it."

I tried to relax, and got it, and it was just like,

"Well, I think that means I've won it."

But Master Kiyomoto has one last archery challenge for Iwan.

LAUGHTER

HE INHALES

HE EXHALES

HE SIGHS

At the end, an Ogasawara master steps up to show how it's done.

LAUGHTER Oh, yes!

That's how you do it, man. Class.

It was amazing, so, it just shows you,

you know, what can be done when you focus the mind,

and channel all that energy, and that's what he did. Awesome.

Round one's over, with Iwan in the lead.

Now he's going to take James on, as they attempt the Yabusame track.

I think I'm going to need a little bit of luck on this one,

but I've just walked up on the horse for a good five, ten minutes,

so I've been on the horse, you know,

and I felt like, you know, got a little bit more connection.

They'll have two runs each of the full-length track.

Master Kiyomoto will be judging their hits on target

and their samurai horsemanship when he decides the overall winner.

I don't want to look.

I don't wanna look, either. I'm shaking.

Oh, my God.

Come on, JT. Come on, JT. Oh...

James scores a hit, but misses the second target.

Well done, James. It's going such a speed, man.

Absolutely stops there - like, back there -

and it's pulling up there, and it doesn't want to stop. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Do you see the difference in the horses? Right?

Your horse stops three steps after the signal. Yeah.

It's like, ping, uh, uh, OK.

Yeah, there's the speed.

In-yoi!

In-yoi! In-yoi!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Iwan manages to hit twice.

HE SIGHS AND HORSE NEIGHS Well done, bud. Good girl.

Come on, JT.

Oh, God.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Look at it, out of the block. Oh, my God.

On his second run, James misses twice.

Wow. JAMES EXHALES

You know, to go at the speed he went -

it was just phenomenal, I think,

to have the bravery to sit on that horse without his hands.

If anyone could be prepared to do something,

like, to the limits like that, then it's JT,

and I think he showed amazing courage to do it.

In-yoi! In-yoi!

APPLAUSE

Good girl, good girl.

Thank you, thank you.

Oh, thank God it's over.

Oh...

I got four out of four, and it was more than that for me,

it was just the fact that, phew, I finished, nothing's broken...

I think Sensei would be quite happy with

what he's done with us over the last few days.

HORSE NEIGHS I think we've showed him that

we have got something inside of us, you know?

If we're born with that competitive spirit,

or whether it's pushed into us at a young age,

I don't know what makes a successful person successful -

it's drive, and ambition, and determination and everything -

and myself and JT, today on those horses,

we've had to dig a bit deep to find that.

It's the last event, so, like, I'm buzzing.

Master Kiyomoto still has to judge which sportsman best embodied

the spirit of the samurai.

Who should win?

Well, you know what, if I'm going to go by all the rules...

of accuracy and hitting the targets, then certainly Iwan had his day,

but my emotional vote would certainly be JT,

just because he did something that none of us are capable of doing,

with extremely limited practice.

What he did today...

I mean, I'm sure that if you gave JT, you know,

a couple of other days on that horse,

he'd be able to do the same thing that Iwan did.

Mate, I am never, ever going to go near a horse again in my life.

That is it. Done.

I can't say that. That was a buzz.

HE SIGHS

In-yoi! In-yoi!

Do you know what?

That horse reminds me of my old self.

I used to be a coiled spring just like that

and, you know, waking up and having the opportunity to achieve

everything that you want to achieve in life, and be a world champion.

There's selfishness, there's determination,

there's an absolute need to succeed -

to lift trophies and be on the top of the podium,

and hear your national anthem, and ride for your country,

and I think that's why it's difficult for sportsmen to retire,

because everything else seems quite slow.

And, in the real world,

nothing gets close to needing to focus,

concentrate, be selfish and determined like riding a motorcycle.

ENGINES ROAR

Yeah, what is that?

ENGINES ROAR

ENGINES ROAR

Right on cue.

What is there not to love about it?

I have missed it since retiring.

I've really missed it,

and it's been really difficult and, erm...

Later that evening,

Master Kiyomoto calls everyone together for a final meal...

Thank you.

..and he wants to give his judgment on how they've all performed,

and who has come out on top.

Thank you. Thank you. Oh, there you go.

Thank you.

Oh, good, good. Wow.

I was really, really chuffed to get the sword.

After really sticking my neck out on that horse,

it was probably the proudest moment of all the sports.

Thank you very much.

I feel, today, for the first time, I was a competitor again,

and then to be told you've won the battle but not the war,

it's just like, what more could I personally have done

to have impressed today?

Gutting, this evening, if I'm honest.

I want to thank everybody, because riding your horse today

brought the same emotions back as I used to love in my old job,

so I want to thank everybody for bringing these emotions back.

It wasn't just the sword, it was the reasoning why I'd won.

I think Master Kiyomoto saw my old race face on,

and how much I focused,

and I think that was more the samurai tradition.

Kanpai. Kanpai. Kanpai.

Kanpai.

The summer's world tour of sport is over.

Kanpai.

Donovan's never done better than last place...

It's been an amazing experience.

I recognise that, you know, I have nothing to prove.

You know, I was at the top of my sport for many years,

but certainly my competitive days are, you know,

I can put them to rest right now.

..but taking part spurred him on.

I'm starting to see the abs coming back again,

so I'm definitely going to hit the gym to get back to the original me.

Gareth took victory in the oil wrestling in Turkey,

and he got back in touch with his desire to win.

The enjoyment of competing was amazing.

To, you know, to do sports that we've never done before,

and to be able to feel that want to win again,

to feel that desire to beat the person that's going before you,

was beautiful.

It was like a beautiful feeling to have.

In India and Japan, Iwan came a close second,

but he's finally accepted his winning days may be over.

It's been emotional.

All the challenges have physically pushed me - I knew they would -

but I think they've mentally pushed me as well,

and they've cemented the feeling that,

or the acceptance that,

I'm not the Iwan Thomas of old, and that's all right.

But, when it came to embodying the will to win,

with three clear wins out of four,

superbike hero James Toseland emerged the clear victor.

This whole thing's been a real adventure.

I knew it would be, but not to this level.

To realise I can come back into a competition

and turn the old spark back on, and enjoy it...

I never thought that I would reach the heights of excitement

and thrill and adrenaline that I used to do on a motorcycle,

but I did, and the boys have been great to do battle with.

I've really enjoyed it.

Going forward from here, I'm...

I'm going to challenge myself even more.

That's it. Come on, pal. Bring it in.

Yes, my man.

Here we go. Yes.

We glance at blurred patio doors

Horses nibbling the edges of fields

And we know each other for a while