Episode 15 British Olympic Dreams


Episode 15

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

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

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

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

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# We got to keep this fire # Burning love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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acres of glorious landscape with Royal connections dating back to

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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cancellation of badminton and Chatsworth, so how has that

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

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

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

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

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

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

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to delay their decision because of the cancellation of the horse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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does Shropshire's Much Wenlock, which considers itself the

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

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

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

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

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

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British sailors have toped the medal charts at the last three

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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way it landed was quite shocking. The International Sailing

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Federation announced it would replace windsurfing with kite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Championship. What will kite boarding bring in that windsurfing

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

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

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

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

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

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difference between windsurfing and kite boarding is to get out there

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:22:24.:22:34.
:22:34.:22:39.

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

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

:22:43.:22:53.
:22:53.:23:03.

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

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

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

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

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

:23:20.:23:27.

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

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

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

:23:36.:23:41.

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

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

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

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

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

:24:00.:24:06.

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

:24:06.:24:10.

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

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

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

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

:24:22.:24:26.

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

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

:24:30.:24:34.

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

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

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

:24:47.:24:51.

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

:24:51.:24:56.

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

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she's heading into a record equaling six consecutive Olympic

:25:00.:25:07.

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

:25:07.:25:11.

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

:25:11.:25:15.

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

:25:15.:25:21.

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

:25:21.:25:26.

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

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

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

:25:34.:25:43.

I definitely can understand when people talk about winning a medal

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

:25:48.:25:55.

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

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

:25:59.:26:04.

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

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

:26:09.:26:14.

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

:26:14.:26:18.

being particularly harsh on yourself, or was that really what

:26:18.:26:23.

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

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

:26:29.:26:35.

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

:26:35.:26:39.

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

:26:39.:26:44.

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

:26:44.:26:52.

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

:26:52.:26:55.

Archery combines strength with stillness - except inside the head,

:26:55.:27:00.

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

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

:27:05.:27:08.

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

:27:08.:27:13.

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

:27:13.:27:18.

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

:27:18.:27:21.

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

:27:21.:27:27.

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

:27:27.:27:30.

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

:27:30.:27:33.

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

:27:34.:27:38.

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

:27:38.:27:43.

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

:27:43.:27:49.

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

:27:49.:27:51.

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

:27:51.:27:58.

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

:27:58.:28:05.

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

:28:05.:28:15.
:28:15.:28:28.

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

:28:28.:28:34.

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

:28:34.:28:37.

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