Episode 15 British Olympic Dreams

COMMENTATOR: Here come Kelly Holmes. The crowd are on their feet. Denise

Lewis, Olympic champion. Rebecca Adlington is bringing it home for

Britain. Great Britain get the gold medal! Yes, yes, yes. Kelly Holmes

is there. What a performance. Absolutely brilliant! Britain takes

# We got to keep this fire # Burning love

# We got to keep this fire # We got to keep this fire burning

on... # As the Olympic Flame continues its journey around the

country, the list of British athletes who have booked a place at

the Games is growing by the day. Several of them will make their

first appearance at the Games, while many others will see it as a

chance to improve on former glories or rectify past mistake. For some,

their sport will be making its debut and for others it could be

the last time it's welcomed into the Olympic family. One sport where

we have had success is boxing - Harrison and Khan, but now a whole

new group are looking to secure their place in Olympic history.

Leon Mann has been to meet one of Nicola Owens, 15 kilos. I was 13

and I wasn't nervous at all. I couldn't wait to get in there.

Nicola started coming down to the gym. Was it your intention to take

her to a boxing session? No, I didn't realise they had that. They

did her own thing. I know she wasn't going to get hurt, because

you have the trainers and coaches, so it was basically something for

the kids to do. It's been touch. The choices we had to make, but

it's very expensive, all the equipment, so it hasn't been easy.

The days of boxing being an Olympic sport for men only are over. Women

boxers will be able to compete at the London Olympics. Is this really

what we want? If women want to box they should be allowed to. I didn't

like to see young girls getting hit. Keen as mustard, they were. I could

see the determination in the girls, but they were lacking the skill.

Within 18 months we have five in the world's top ten at their

weights. In 2008, the European championships, we got seven medals.

How do you feel about it now if love it. Everything you ask of them

they do it. She has this amazing smile and fairly slight frame and

doesn't strike you as someone you would associate with boxing?

has got flat feet and not a good runner and as asthma, but it's

sheer determination and will power. If it hadn't been for boxing, I

think she would have been a little villain? Really? I do. There was a

time not so long ago when it was nearly all over for you. I know. A

really serious back injury when left me in bed for three months.

Really frustrating, because I'm a get up and go person, so at the

time the GB selections were going on and I couldn't train. I went

from being able to do 300 sittups a day and then not doing one. Did you

think that was it? That thought crossed my mind a few times. The

first time I started punching again and I felt so slow and I was a bit

overweight and I just saw everybody else on the GB team flying up and

down. They were punching so fast. I thought how will I get back to how

I was before. I was saying to the coaches, "I'm not ready." I

wondered if I would be ready at this level. They thought I could do

this. She wants to become the Olympic champion and the world

champion. What Nicola does is she works hard to do that. It's because

of the Nicolas that the game is going into another fight. -- Nicola.

I have won a lot of tournaments. I've been boxing for so long. The

Europeans getting gold and silvers at the Worlds. I couldn't have

asked for a better career. What would it mean to have an Olympic

gold medal, maybe about there? would give it a whole shelve. I

knew I was up against it. Five-time world champion. I was confident in

myself, and I thought this is my dream and time and the bell went

and I went out. I did the business. Talk us through the moment you knew

you'd qualified? I don't think words can express how I felt. It

was basically all the hard work and tears and all the ups and downs. It

was all for that moment. The winner of this will set themselves up as

favourite for the gold in London. Do you believe you can beat Ren?

I've done it once already and I can do it again. 2005 there were 70

women registered and now there are 1,000. What do you think will

happen if you win gold? There will be millions! Greenwich park. 183

acres of glorious landscape with Royal connections dating back to

the 1400s. Birthplace of king Henry VIII and home to the Royal

Observatory. It now becomes an Olympic venue to its rich and

famous history. There will be dris arge and show jumping, but it's the

three -- dressage and show jumping, but it's the three-day eventing

that we focus on now and one of our best riders. These are some serious

stables. This horse haven in Dorset belongs to British riding star

William Fox-Pitt. William is already a three-time Olympian. He

made his debut in Atlanta. Won team silver in Athens, followed by

bronze in Beijing four years ago. He's also been world number one

three times and British number one ten times. William, this is some

pad here. I'm very impressed. Tell us about it. What was the

inspiration? Why did you set it up? We were lucky to design it. It's

quite a luxury. Having a facility like this is a massive advantage.

It's a great working environment. It's excellent for the horses and

great to train here. What stuff do you have? We have 24 stables under

this barn. They spent a lot -- spend a lot of time in the field.

Ar reign thats and horse walking -- arenas and horse walkinger. I love

that. Good for children. They can burn off some energy. We have a

really good gallop, which is a fantastic bonus to have on your

doorstep. It's keeping the horses feet and getting them fit without

having to travel. You love this place obviously. Is that why you're

doing this? I love horses and working with them. The excitement

that goes with that, it's nearly a disease. It's something that is in

you. I was brought up with horses and to be able to have a place like

this and to be working with them, as I said and training them, and

then competing and hopefully going to the Games on a horse, what

better way to do it? A good disease? Yes. We have had the

cancellation of badminton and Chatsworth, so how has that

affected what you are trying to do it year? It's been a devastating

blow to the whole sport. It's got the year off to a bad start. We can

hardly believe two weeks ago we were under water and it's dried out

and beautiful day here. The season's up and running again,

which is great. I'm the only person so far this year to have done a

three-day event and to have had a good result. Olympic selectors had

to delay their decision because of the cancellation of the horse

trials? They had good intentions of giving us a nice chance of knowing

in May and therefore time to prepare, but that possibility has

gone, so now we are waiting until the middle of June, which is quite

right. They can't choose. We haven't done anything. They haven't

seen some of the horses out in any big competitions. One of my

favourite facts is men and women are equal in this? The horse is the

equal aizer. -- equaliser. It's how you perform. You never look at

another girl and think because you are a man you'll beat her. That's

just rubbish. It's true. No chance. What's your ambition this year with

London 2012, a home Games? I've won a silver and bronze. But I've never

won a gold. So far, you would have to say that the performances

haven't been good enough and things haven't gone to plan and in London

I would and certainly the British team would dearly love to put that

right and stamp our mark on the eventing world. How do you rate

your chances? I don't know what the team is yet, so if we get the right

team to the Olympics, on good form, on the right horses, I think we

have a very good chance. If things go our way, I would be quite

optimistic. From a three-time Olympian to a rising star hoping to

make an impact in her first Games. 19-year-old Jade Jones is already a

youth Olympic champion and world silver medallist, but can they kick

on to senior success in London? the kicks and spins, a lot of

people think it's just kicking each other, but it's so tactical. If you

switch off for a second you're knocked out. It's the adrenaline

buzz that I love. Her attitude to the training and competing is

second to none really. It's a bronze medal for Sarah Stevenson.

Vef similar to Sarah when they came through the ranks -- very much

similar to Sarah, when she came through the ranks. They are age to

get into the zone and -- able to get into the zone. She reminds me

of herself. She gets stuck in like I did. Bit of an animal. She is

like a man in the female division, in the fact she is aggressive.

was always hyper like a kid and bouncing around. People found it

hard to control me, but in school I loved every sport. This is where I

live. I share it with three other girls that also do taekwondo and

it's a laugh and we have a lot of banter. This is the kitchen. This

is the bridge. Fridge. Everyone eats everyone's food. We eat

healthy, but have a treat on the weekend. What is your guilty

pleasure? Ice-cream and chocolates are the worst thing. What is it

like being in the team as a youngster? Do they pick on you

occasionally? In my first year they used to pick on me and take the

Mickey, just the little games and wind me up. Now, I'm becoming just

like one of them now and just the senior. This is my room. I spend a

lot of time in here when I'm tired and bored. I have a lot of pictures

to motivate me. This is the youth Olympics. It's just after I won and

I jumped over the barriers and was with my family. The atmosphere is

great and it's just like a real Olympics. The feeling of winning

was amazing. I was so shy back then and I couldn't believe that I ran

To become the first person to win, like, for Britain, to get a Youth

It meant so much to me just to get to the final, but, I was, like,

disappointed losing by a point, and I think about it all the time, and

it winds me up so much - but at such a young age getting silver,

you've got to be happy. But I keep most of my medals at home.

From a tiny Fflint, having done all of this, you go home and see how

everyone wants me to do well. I always think about that when I go

and fight. The Europeans weren't overly happy about the bronze. How

do you feel about it now? I was disappointed, but I come back and

thought about it. I was fighting for a reason. That girl is better

than me. She qualified for the Olympics. I switched off and didn't

play my game. I was like, I wanted to do dead good and show off for

the Olympics, but that's not me. That's not what I do sort of thing

so I'm glad it happened, because now it changed - I totally don't

care what it thinks. People say, "You're only young. You have plenty

more Olympics." But no, this is the one I want to win it at. This is

London - it's never going to happen again, so to be standing on that

podium with the National Anthem playing would be amazing. Just as

every athlete competing at London 2012 will have their own story, so

does Shropshire's Much Wenlock, which considers itself the

birthplace of the Olympic Games. Back in 1850 the town doctor

Pentathlon set up the Wenlock Games. Years later he invited the Baron

Pierre du Coubertin to watch. It went on to inspire the Baron who

founded the modern Olympics in 1896. Here are a few British rowers to

Into the record books. Great Britain are the Olympic champions.

British sailors have toped the medal charts at the last three

Olympics, and it was no surprise to see three-time gold medallist Ben

Ainslie leading off the torch relay at land land. Great Britain had

success four years ago, but this time out, preparations for the team

have been anything but plain sailing as Graham Bell finds out.

The sport of windsurfing has been rocked, plain and simple. Less than

three months to go before the Olympics, Great Britain's wind

surfers were left in shock by decision to drop the sport from the

Rio Olympics. It was a massive surprise. It wasn't expected.

way it landed was quite shocking. The International Sailing

Federation announced it would replace windsurfing with kite

boarding for this year's Games. The world's best windsurfers were

dumfounded. I don't think anybody was ready for it this time. There

was no build-up that suggested there might be a decision at this

point, and it's shame because it has been in the Olympics for 30

years. It's kind of taken the shine off it and wind surfing is just

going to be discarded. The Olympics is the Olympic, but everything else

feeds it, and without the top level you don't get all the grassroots

stuff, so the funding for all the under 17, junior - all around the

country will be slashed. Heavy criticism has been fired at the

vote which saw 19-17 in favour of kite boarding. It's politics. I

don't understand theins and outs of it. I just know it's a shame. We're

going to try to do everything we can to try get windsurfing back in.

I always planned for this Olympics. I don't need anymore motivation. I

want to win. If I am going to win at an Olympic Game it's going to be

this one. I think I have a good chance to come back with the gold.

It's just about every day improving my game and making sure I am in the

strong and in the bay and in the harbour and in the shifty courses.

That's my key focus at the moment. If everything can go well in London

and just keep a cool head and enjoy it, it could all go my way. I have

proven I can win before. Hopefully, this summer I can do it. Both Nick

and Briongl have a good chance of improving on their previous bronze

medal performances. After this, the search will be on for kite borders

of equal talent. Steph is a four- times kite boarding World

Championship. What will kite boarding bring in that windsurfing

couldn't? I believe one of the things they sailed on is they

didn't have a minimum wind speed they could go in. We can sail in

light winds. We can launch off anyby. We look spectacular. We get

plaining in six knots. We operate close to the beach, which is what

they wanted, with high impact. the best way to find out the

difference between windsurfing and kite boarding is to get out there

Well, the steering is a bit like riding a bike - just pulling the -

pulling the handlebars from one side to the other. You can feel

when it's actually in the power zone. And by figure of eighting it,

you just increase the amount of Straighten that front leg. Good.

You're doing amazing! This is effectively my second day, and

already I'm riding. I'm tacking The first couple of days does feel

like you're beating yourself up, but once you pick it up, it's just

- it's so fast. It's brilliant. I can see why it's so popular. I can

see why so many people have taken it up, and I don't know why I

haven't done this years ago. I should have done this two, three

Earlier in the show I mentioned Greenwich Park would be hosting the

equestrian Olympics. That arena behind me will make up one-fifth of

Do you feel as though you're in good shape for an Olympic year?

will be when the time comes. Right now, obviously, I am working hard

and not feeling in great shape, but I've still got a couple of more

months until the competition season. So yeah, I should be. Last year, I

was already in quite a good position within the squad, so I'm

quite confident that I'll still get selected for some World Cups.

the semifinal, I had quite a tough day. I really wasn't feeling on

form. I was quite sluggish in the pool and had to work really hard in

the combines. I was quite worried in the high tides - it doesn't

matter. If you want it enough, you can get it, and I want it so, so

badly. Everyone was fighting, fighting, fighting for that Olympic

spot, and I made it. I always knew in my heart I'm good

enough to win a goad medal. It's easy to say and easy to believe it

and easy to dream it, but actually, it's really, really hard. I wanted

to go to the Olympics since I can remember. Everyone says it's their

childhood dream, but it really was mine, and I can't believe I've done

it, and it's my first ever individual gold medal. You'll be

the Olympic favourite now. I doubt very much. You're the world

champion. I have a lot of work to do before London, and I can't wait

to start doing it. You are the modern Pentathlon world champion,

and you're going to the home of the Olympic games. I know. I can't

believe it. I actually don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just

quite overwhelmed by it all. That's archer Alison Williamson

carrying the torch there. She was just ten years old when she claimed

silver in the Wenlock Olympian Games here in 1981. This summer

she's heading into a record equaling six consecutive Olympic

Games. Eddie Butler went to meet her at Lords. Six in archery is a

lowly fare, not enough to cause a stir, but for Alison Williamson

it's a special number. This will be her sixth consecutive Olympics.

That takes her back to Barcelona in 1992, her first appearance as a 20-

year-old. My body feels older, but I feel the same. I have probably

improved in the way I handle the pressure, and I think I am probably

more relaxed and enjoy it more. high point, so far, came in her

I definitely can understand when people talk about winning a medal

being a real relief you dream of it and plan for it, but then when it's

actually reality, it is a bit surreal, and I also - also when I

realised I'd won, it was a big relief, yeah. The bronze meant that

at the last Games in Beijing there were high hopes. It was not to be.

I should have done better. I do feel like I have kind of - you know,

I've let the other two down, and I was mediocre, at best. Were you

being particularly harsh on yourself, or was that really what

you felt? No, I did genuinely feel that at the time. I was the most

experienced on the team. You know, I should have done better. But, you

know, I've talked to a number of different people about this, and,

you know, I realise now with time and reflection that you're just

doing your best on that day, and it wasn't good enough. And so to

London where the setting for the archery could not be grander, Lords.

Archery combines strength with stillness - except inside the head,

where strange thoughts churn. trying to, you know, clear all the

sort of distractions in your head and just concentrate - really focus

on doing that - executing that good shot. I have different strategies

at different times, so - sometimes it might be singing - you know,

singing a song. Sometimes it could be simply counting backwards in

sevens from a hundred. Are you realistic about your prospects or

do you say, actually, because I've done five, I'm in with a shot at

this? I think everyone comes here thinking that they've got a shot at

it, you know? I don't think anyone goes to the Olympics thinking, oh,

I'm just coming to get knocked out in the first round, or I'm just

coming to make up the numbers. You come here with a dream, and it's,

you know, standing on top of a podium. Well, that brings us to the

end of another British Olympic Dreams. Our next edition will be

our last before the Games, bringing you an unrivaled cast list of

Britain's top medal contenders from That special final edition of

British Olympic Dreams will be on So it's goodbye from Much Wenlock,

the town and, of course, Wenlock, the Olympic mascot named in its