Olympics 2012: Through the Lens

.

London 2012 gave us some of the best moments in sporting history.

And Farah is kicking hard!

We watched pictures and listened to commentary, the like of which

we may never experience again.

And the crowd are going mad.

But what was it like to actually be there?

This is the story of the commentators

and presenters at the heart of some of the biggest moments of the Games.

Shoulder to shoulder now as they come up off the crowd to the bend

and they're lining up for the run to the line, who's going to get it?!

These are the sporting dramas - retold with unseen

behind-the-scenes footage from the broadcasters who were there.

Yes, fantastic!

This is London 2012 as you've never seen it before.

27th July 2012.

After months of preparation, the team covering the Opening Ceremony

was ready for a night of television unlike anything we'd seen before.

Good evening and welcome to London 2012.

For Hazel Irvine, commentating with Huw Edwards and Trevor Nelson,

over four-and-a-half hours of broadcasting lay ahead.

Sacre bleu, it's Wiggo.

Hazel and the team were prepared for some of what was

coming from two rehearsals that week.

It was clear that this night was going to be special.

On the Monday rehearsal, that section called Pandemonium,

where it looks like organised chaos, and they forge the rings,

they lit one of the rings up,

and I thought, "Ooh, that's interesting."

Then, on the Wednesday night, they lit all of them up and Huw

and I turned to one other and said, "That is the moment that

"everyone is going to remember for the rest of their lives."

And we knew that you could magnify the intensity of that moment

one hundred fold on the night.

And so it proved.

They are producing something very special,

forging a moment and an image that will live with us for ever.

And yes, against the backdrop of industrial turmoil,

and a cloud of sparks and steam, the Olympic rings are forged.

I think half of the problem about commentating on a big

event like this is that there are moments of wonder that really

don't need you to say anything.

While the commentary team knew

most of the elements of the ceremony in advance, there were still

other big set pieces which - even to them - were surprises.

We knew there was going to be a Bond film,

but we didn't know about Her Majesty The Queen's part in it.

Good evening, Mr Bond.

HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRR OVERHEAD

It was an absolutely fantastic moment.

Remarkable silhouette for us, but now we know exactly who it is.

We do. Our greatest Olympian of all time,

Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave.

When they brought the torch in, we had no idea how that was

going to be achieved, and who was going to do it,

so when Sir Steve Redgrave came in,

we had this amazing line, a guard of honour,

of all the construction workers who'd built the stadium,

that was a fantastic moment.

London is making good on its promise to inspire a generation,

and what better way than this.

And it all added to this surreal feeling, but it was entirely

appropriate with the promise to inspire a generation

and there it was, this new generation lighting this cauldron,

and seeing this thing of beauty just rise up.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That really is a triumph.

Breath-taking in its beauty and its ambition.

With the cauldron sorted, the sport could now begin.

One of the big early stories of the Games took

place in the Aquatics Centre.

In the Men's 10 metre synchronised diving, hopes for an early

gold medal from 2012 poster boy Tom Daley

weren't particularly high.

But as the competition developed, Daley

and his partner Pete Waterfield took Britain

and diving commentator Leon Taylor into uncharted territory.

With four dives to go, they were leading.

And if there was a dive out of those four that in my opinion was

the weakest, the one that if they nailed it, then they were

a cert for a medal, should I say, this was the bogey dive,

and that was round number three. I remember watching them

come to the end of the diving board,

they both turned round in unison,

toes on the end, arms up, one, two, three - go. Whoosh!

Yes! Fantastic...

Whoa! Yes!

That's exactly what they were looking for. This is the one that I was unsure of.

And they absolutely nailed it, and I actually jumped up

out of my seat, typical commentator, shouting and screaming and got

the director in my ear going,

"Calm down, leave yourself somewhere to go," because it was like

they'd won a medal at the Olympic Games

but I knew this was the dive.

If they nailed this, they were definitely going to be in the mix.

How wrong could I be?

Ohh, I don't know what to say.

Fourth-round dive.

Ohh, this is how tricky it is.

Peter Waterfield over, Tom Daley short, and they got torn apart

by the marks of the judges and at that moment, I knew that it was over.

The pair ended up in fourth and out of the medals.

For Daley, it wasn't completely over, though.

He'd be back at the end of the Games in the individual competition.

30 miles to the west, at Eton Dorney, on day one of the rowing finals,

Team GB was still waiting for its first gold medal.

All eyes were on Heather Stanning

and Helen Glover in the women's pair.

Amongst the BBC rowing team, there was confidence that the first

gold was on its way...

-All right, mate?

-Yeah, feeling good. Oh, even better with that.

Early morning warm-up!

..but also a significant slice of nerves.

It seems crazy to think about it now,

but on the Wednesday, we still didn't have a single gold medal

to Great Britain's name. It seems impossible to believe

that suddenly the word "crisis" was being mentioned in very low, hushed tones

and so on that Wednesday morning, you turned up and you

thought, you know, barring a plague of locusts they've got to win.

Down to chances of all 13 boats out of the 14 that we've got,

Helen and Heather have the best chance of winning gold.

Any way I look at it, I just can't see them losing,

and that gives me great confidence, but then how can I say that?

The pressure that's on them must be immense.

The job of calling the race fell to Dan Topolski

and former Olympic gold medallist, Garry Herbert.

We knew that the women's pair, Glover and Stanning,

had had an exceptional season

and they could be the first medal,

the first time that we really had to step up to the mark.

Stanning and Glover led from start to finish,

giving Garry the perfect opportunity to go into Olympic overdrive.

This is the final of the women's coxless pairs,

and the British crew can now look down, they can allow themselves

a smile. I wonder what's going through their minds,

if they're allowing themselves to think, "We are Olympic champions!"

The last five strokes, Great Britain, into the record books,

and so fabulously well done. Great Britain are the Olympic champions,

and it couldn't go to two more worthy, worthy women.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning,

we stand up and we salute you.

We did feel that a huge, collective sigh of relief had been breathed

and so I think it was really important that Heather and Helen won,

and we were set fair for what happened afterwards.

For the fourth and final time in Katherine Grainger's long

and established career, she leaves the start line now

in an Olympic final.

Katherine Grainger had won silver in Sydney, Athens and Beijing

but never a gold.

Now, with Anna Watkins, she had one last chance to put that right.

1,500 down. Look at the crowd on the far side.

It's a sell-out here at Eton Dorney,

for perhaps the most important final here

on this whole Olympic regatta.

The British now are away, clear of Australia...

As the race reached its climax, the British pair were in a strong position,

but Garry, who'd provided the words to the three previous silvers,

knew not to get too carried away.

I'm as nervous as anybody for that last 500.

In the Olympic Games, she's been to the 1,500m point

on the three previous occasions, in first...

..so if she gets to the 1,500 in first today, so what?

She's done that.

It's now the last 500 that draws us all in.

But 2012 was to be different.

Grainger and Watkins held on for a gold medal that was four

Olympics in the making.

What we are seeing right now is that dreams do come true,

and Great Britain's Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins

are going to win a gold medal in the women's double sculls.

Up to the line, and while the nation expected, Great Britain delivered.

Olympic champions!

Katherine Grainger is Olympic champion,

and the crowd are going mad.

We try to be as impartial as we can, but I think the BBC gave up

on my impartiality years ago.

In an Olympic final, in the closing 250, if there's a sniff of a medal

on a British crew, I want to be down there, in that boat

and pushing them forward.

They were racing for gold.

We put our lives on the line to race for golds.

Anything else is disappointment.

And disappointment was not to be a complete stranger to

the British team at Eton Dorney.

The toughest moment of the week

came on the final day of competition.

After four hard years, Zac Purchase

and Mark Hunter just missed out on retaining their Olympic title.

I can honestly say I've never had such a response to anything

I've ever done - radio or television -

as the interview with Zac and Mark after that race.

We gave everything, we tried everything.

We wanted to win so badly.

We're just sorry to everybody...

that we've let down.

You've let nobody down.

After the year that you guys have had, you've let nobody down at all.

I was very conscious that if I wasn't careful

I was going to just break down into this blubbering wreck,

and I was thinking... saying to myself...

"How the hell does this end?"

I'm going to let you go, but thank you for all the help

you've given us over the last few years.

-You're silver medallists, guys.

-Sorry, once again.

OK, cheers, listen, take care.

Steve will take them down towards the medal ceremony where

they will receive their silver medals.

Emotions, goodness me, especially when you know these people pretty well.

It's quite hard being here, as well.

I realised there was one race to go.

Right, one more race to go.

And it's the women's single sculls.

Talk about longevity, Steve's the living example of that.

But here we have Katerina Karsten in lane one.

Five medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. Can she make it six?

What an extraordinary record that would be. Garry, Dan.

Safely off air and with Steve back in the presentation area,

John's emotions finally got the better of him.

It's very hard to be dispassionate

and just to ask a clinical question when you're that close to somebody

who's almost in a state of shock, grief, bereavement, almost -

that's not overstating it - it's very hard not to share those emotions as well.

Emotions returned to peak levels once again that

night in the Olympic Stadium.

After Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon...

-COMMENTATOR:

-It's a perfect day.

..and Greg Rutherford leapt to glory in the long jump...

-COMMENTATOR:

-Quick, quick, quick - and it's big!

..the question then was, "Could Mo Farah add a third gold in the 10,000 metres?"

-COMMENTATOR:

-So the 10,000m final underway.

For Steve Cram in the commentary box alongside Brendan Foster,

a triple triumph was perfectly possible, but far from a certainty.

Every lap that went by, I was getting more

and more confident. You can't say that on air, but...

When you get into the last three kilometres, last two kilometres,

last kilometre, by then you're into the part

of the race when you know that Mo is really going to come into his own.

And Farah is kicking hard.

The crowd are lifting him.

Just 100 metres to go.

Has he got enough? He's kicking again!

Mo Farah is going for it! It's going to be a glorious win.

Mo Farah for Great Britain. It's gold!

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

The emotion comes pouring out.

Unbelievable.

Victorious. Happy. Glorious.

I always knew it was going to be difficult for me

to actually stay in my seat.

It was a time to be on your feet,

in perfect unity with the rest of the nation.

I don't think I've ever seen an hour of athletics like that,

it was just amazing.

24 hours later, John and the team were

back in the stadium for the perfect follow up to Super Saturday -

the 100 metres, and the crowning of the greatest sprinter in history.

It's surprising how many words you can utter in ten seconds.

Bolt not quickly out of the blocks, Powell was quickest,

but Bolt getting into his stride alongside Gatlin,

and here comes Usain Bolt. He's pulling away.

He's going to win the gold - 9.64!

The champion becomes a legend!

What do say about Bolt? He's just the showman to end all showmen.

He is remarkable.

If it was a British night last night, it was the world's night

tonight, because that's what Bolt is, but I don't think I've had two

nights quite like this, I've had some high points over the years

but never combined like this. It's been brilliant.

Down in Weymouth, Ben Ainslie's hopes of sealing a record

fourth gold medal were hanging on a Danish thread.

In the final race, Ainslie needed to stay ahead of his arch-rival,

Hogh Christensen, to stay in contention. Whatever the result,

Rob Walker and his team had the task of reporting from the water and,

crucially, getting the first post-race interview with Ainslie.

My role is just to get in and give them an opportunity to talk.

My job is to do the interview that will hopefully hook in the next generation of sailing fans

because when you get into someone that close after they've

done something so amazing, you see this wildness in their eyes,

and if their passion can inspire the next generation of sailors,

well, that's job done.

Your overriding feeling is one of excitement, and privilege that you

are there in that moment,

in some small way helping to convey the drama.

Rob was relying on the race commentary in his ear to find out

whether Ainslie could make history on the Weymouth waves.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Critical for Ben Ainslie that Dan Slater,

his friend from New Zealand, stays ahead of PJ Postma.

It's still so close.

Couldn't get closer than this.

Come on!

We are so close now.

Come on!

Ben Ainslie wins his fourth Olympic gold.

He is the greatest sailing Olympian in the history of the Games.

Come on!

The battle of the bay between Ben Ainslie and the great Dane is over.

With the medal in the bag and the green light from the sailing suits,

Rob and his team moved in for that first interview.

When you're happy, let's go in, let's get in and do it.

You have got to have everybody acting

absolutely on their A-game in order to get the job done.

The RIB driver is crucial in that role

because he has to be able to read the water.

He said, "Wait till he tacks." Now we're in.

The first thing unfolding in your mind is, "Can we get him in shot?"

You do have to be aware of the practicalities.

What unbelievable scenes.

Ben Ainslie is saluting the crowd with the Union Jack.

And this mild-mannered man has a tear in his eye.

We are watching someone who has just become

the greatest sailor in history.

Ben, can we pull you in for a chat?

I know there was some banter because people said I was hugging him and slapping him on the back.

In fact, I had my hand round the other side of his life jacket

because it was the safest way to try to keep him in shot.

Ben Ainslie, you are the greatest Olympic sailor in history!

-Yeah.

-I think he just said, "Yeah,"

and sort of closed his eyes and looked a little bit bewildered, to be honest,

which, in that moment, may have made it look as though

'I was more excited than he was, but I think, one or two questions in,

'he had to stop because he had tears in his eyes.'

..This was the time to do it, at home, in front of a home crowd.

I'm just so glad for all the people who've supported me

over the years, my family and...

And that was the moment for me,

where I thought, "This guy is ice cool, but there's a personality

"and a warmth in there," and it was fantastic for us to be able

to see the fact that the enormity of what he'd done had even allowed

him to express, in those brief few moments,

a little flicker of emotion.

At the Aquatics Centre, Clare Balding was hosting both the swimming and diving.

For her, one of the most memorable moments happened

out of the wet stuff.

I think there are some moments where you are lucky,

to some extent lucky, and to some extent, you take the chance, you take the risk,

and when Chad le Clos beat Michael Phelps in the 200 fly,

there was this guy upon the top balcony going absolutely wild.

'There's his dad. Oh, well done, sir.'

Oh, don't start crying now, cos you'll set me off.

-Is that Dad up there?

-Yeah.

So I said to Mark, "Go and get him. We've got to get him."

So Mark went over and said to Bert,

as we then found out he was called, "Would you come and do an interview?"

And Paul Davies, who was directing, said,

"Calm down, Clare," because I got excited and pulled my microphone off

and said, "Quick, come back to us," and he said,

"No, Clare, put your microphone back on, sit Bert in the chair,

"I'm coming to you now."

And Bert just went...

My word, what a performance.

Unbelievable! Unbelievable, unbelievable!

"Unbelievable! It's unbelievable. Look at my boy, he's beautiful!"

I've never been so happy in my life.

It's unbelievable, look at him! And he's beautiful!

Look at him, he's crying like me!

I love you! Oh, my God! Every time I see my son, I'm happy.

-Is this live?

-This is live, yes!

-Sorry, sorry!

I thought, "Hold the microphone there, just hold the microphone. This is brilliant."

I know from talking to people since,

they remember that moment almost more than they remember results,

because they knew in their hearts that's how they'd feel if their

son or daughter had just done what Chad did.

On the final night of action in the Aquatics Centre, there was

unfinished business in the diving.

After coming close to a medal in the synchro, Tom Daley had one

last chance in the final of the individual 10 metre platform competition.

In true dramatic style, Tom Daley's first dive happened to be

one of his most difficult dives.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Back two-and-a-half somersaults,

two-and-a-half twists, in the pike position,

hopefully as good a start as he provided in the semi.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

No, it's not so good. It's not so good. He's getting massive

home support. His take-off, you could see...

He's getting frustrated.

I don't know what he's saying, maybe the flashes put him off,

but he lost it all on the take-off, actually.

You can see all the flashes now, that is incredibly off-putting

for a diver. This is in super-slow motion, so all those flashes

happen instantaneously, in the 1.6 seconds it takes,

and that's what caused Tom to error.

Let me talk you through this. It happened to me once before.

If you perceive that something untoward has happened, that puts you off, you can make a protest.

Of course, we have got no audio, so I'm having to go,

"Well, this looks like what's going on,"

I'm doing a bit of lip-reading and trying to fathom

exactly how the conversation is going.

Oh, he's allowed a re-dive. Here we go.

So Tom now needs to compose himself.

The crowd will be asked not to take photos.

So 75.6, there's your marker. That's what he did first time round.

Now please turn your flashes off, everybody in the crowd,

and give this boy a chance.

Yes, go on!

Well, extraordinary, I don't know who's writing this script,

whether Danny Boyle has got in on the act,

but you could not ask for more drama for the opening dive.

That is exactly what we're looking for.

With the photographic controversy out of the way,

five further dives stood between Daley and a medal.

Tense times in commentary box.

Four more like that, please, Tom.

Yes!

Cue eruption!

Here he is, going again.

Yes, get in, that's the one that he wanted.

That's the one that we've got.

Good luck, Tom Daley, the country is behind you.

Oh yes, it's a good one. He can't do any more than that.

The crowd are on their feet.

Tom Daley has done absolutely everything he can.

In his final effort, American David Boudia completed a dream night

of diving and denied the favourite,

Qiu Bo from China, the Olympic title.

Tom's bronze was confirmed.

For Leon, the reactions of the top three,

though, bore little resemblance to the colour of their medals.

The camera shot would be on David Boudia, who's just won

Olympic gold and he is in shock, then it cut to Tom

and the celebrations of Tom and his team-mates, splashing around in the pool -

absolute elation,

and then it would cut to Bo, Qiu Bo, and he is crying in the shower.

Look at Bo, he is distraught.

Look at Daley - elation, Olympic bronze medallist.

There's the gold medallist, Boudia. He was a class act - a diving master-class.

Daley, bronze, amazing, well done, Tom.

The pressure that must have been taken off him,

the relief that he had fulfilled his potential, and all the hard work

had paid off, under all the circumstances he'd been under,

and he was, actually, an Olympic medallist.

In the Velodrome, after six days of racing,

Team GB had won six gold medals on the track.

Now, in the final event, Sir Chris Hoy was aiming not just to win

the keirin, but to become the greatest British Olympian ever.

For Hugh Porter, calling the race with Chris Boardman,

the British success was producing a welcome problem.

I think I ran out of superlatives a long time ago. It's just

a matter of reusing all the superlatives I can think of.

I don't think that that's a crime,

because what we're seeing here at the Velodrome is unprecedented.

The one memory I'll never forget was as they were on the line,

I can remember I said something along the lines of,

"Look out, boys, this is my turf - enter at your peril."

There's David and Carol. Carol can't bear to look.

I don't think we can, either.

Away we go, it's eight laps of the track. Now, can Sir Chris Hoy,

Braveheart himself, seal this gold medal?

When I'm calling these events, I just think to myself,

"I want to call it right, first,"

that's the first challenge of a commentator - get the winner right.

Final two laps to go, and Sir Chris Hoy has already ignited the burners!

Chris Hoy is on the front, Awang of Malaysia is second wheel, and Levy

of Germany's third at the moment.

Mulder on the inside, he's tucked in fourth, here comes Hoy. Hoy hits the

line with one lap to go, and the challenge is coming here from

Levy of Germany. They're shoulder to shoulder, shoulder to shoulder now

as they come off the crowd at the bend! They're lining up for the run to the line! Who's going to get it?

Chris Hoy gets the gold medal

here in the keirin! That's his sixth gold medal!

He becomes the greatest achiever ever - the greatest British Olympian.

His tally - six golds and one silver.

Sir Chris Hoy is the Olympic champion for the keirin.

The real McCoy - Chris Hoy!

Dad's happy and so is Mum.

Hugh had now described all seven of Hoy's medals over four Olympics

and for this, the final one at home in London,

the occasion got to everyone.

Absolutely amazing, and then on the podium when, well, he was tearful,

the big fella had a tear in his eye.

His emotions are taking over here.

I must admit, I had a lump in my throat when I was describing the presentation of the medals.

I don't think I will ever forget that.

Hoy's two 2012 golds were among 29 in total won by Team GB.

Overall in London, there were 65 British medal-winning stories to tell.

65 magical Olympic moments described in detail.

65 heroes who contributed to a rather special summer

we will never forget.

'What unbelievable scenes.

'The stadium erupts.

'What we are seeing right now is that dreams do come true.

'Look at this! That is absolutely unbelievable.

'You could not ask for more drama!

'That is exactly what we're looking for.

'The champion becomes a legend.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd