Episode 8 British Olympic Dreams

'Here comes Kelly Holmes, the crowd are on their feet!'

'Good footwork, but again, what a start!'

'Denise Lewis, Olympic champion!'

'And Rebecca Adlington is bringing it home to Britain!'

'Great Britain get the gold medal!'

'Yes, yes, yes!'

'Kelly Holmes for Great Britain, what performance!'

'James DeGale is the Olympic champion!'

'You are absolutely brilliant!'

'Great Britain till it's gold!'

Proud, driven and the ultimate goal.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for an athlete and for a spectator.

We've got a great chance of getting gold, probably the best chance of getting gold

that we've ever had in the road race.

Er, I'm very excited, is that OK?

I want to be able to look back in 10 years' time,

if I don't get the medal I want to look back and, sort of, say,

"I tried", rather than wish I'd tried.

It has been an incredible 12 months for Britain's prospective Olympians.

Some have already secured a spot at the games,

a few coming serious medal contenders,

others are still in the battle to book a place at London 2012.

We're in the Olympic velodrome,

so let's kick off our look back at a year of British Olympic dreams,

with one of the cycling stars of the Beijing games, Bradley Wiggins.

I'm enjoying cycling more than ever now.

I've really found a happy balance of the outside of it and cycling,

and I don't see any reason to stop.

I always thought I wanted to stop at 2012

and I'd be burnt out and walk away from cycling,

but I'm just loving it at the moment, I want to continue as long as possible.

Bradley Wiggins is back on track for 2012.

After two years on the road in Tour de France,

the man who won two gold medals in Beijing's velodrome has returned.

He's preparing to defend Britain's Olympic team pursuit title

on the track at the London Olympics.

Four years was a long time to stick around the track to the next Olympics

and I thought, "Well, it's now or never to, maybe,

"try and to something on the road

"and venture off into the likes of Tour de France and leave the track behind

and concentrate on that, and try and lose a bit of weight, and try and improve climbing."

And actually coming back here now,

I feel a lot stronger having done the Tour de France.

Can you imagine Contador coming down the track

and doing 12, eight standing starts

and just jumping in at a team pursuit

and being the strongest rider after two years on the road?

Brad can do it, that, kind of, makes him very, very unique,

there's nobody else who can do that.

His teammates know Wiggins is something special on the track,

but there are up to 10 other cyclists

battling to get into Britain's world beating team pursuit line-up,

so he has to keep up appearances to ensure he keeps his place.

Luckily for Wiggins,

he finds this almost relaxing compared to road cycling.

The road is so stressful at times, with everything that goes and associates with the road

and this is fantastic, such a positive atmosphere.

Just being able to ride in front of that many people,

not a word of doping and questions about Contador or Armstrong

and it's just fantastic and back to the day job tomorrow.

It's been a real good laugh with the boys.

But Wiggins has become a father of two

and family off the track is now as important to his success.

I was, kind of, thrown into fatherhood, really, at 23

and that was...like a changing point for myself and me wife, really,

and we threw ourselves into it and, perhaps, to start with,

at the sacrifice of my cycling,

but as they got older I started to become more, kind of,

conscious that, you know, what I was doing as a trade and my job,

and that's when I really concentrated on it, knuckled down.

If I could have pushed the delete button on so many occasions,

in memory sense, of what you've achieved in the past,

stop thinking of the past and dwelling on what you've achieved.

You know, like this today,

if you could just forget about it and move onto the next thing,

I think that's just such a great way to sum it up, really.

You know, never dwelling on the past and your victories and that.

You're only as good as your last race and it's always about looking forward

and just keep on achieving, you never stop achieving.

Away from the velodrome, Wiggins celebrated world time trial silver,

but it was Mark Cavendish who is king of the road in 2011.

You know, I'd like to leave a legacy in this sport,

it's a sport I grew up loving.

'The mighty express, Mark Cavendish on the left...'

A Tour de France green jersey and world road race title

among his accolades as Britain racked up the medals on two wheels.

In triathlon, sibling rivalry helped push the Brownlee brothers to ever greater heights.

We're the two lads who can hardly play Monopoly without throwing the board at each other.

I've got a feeling we probably race!

Big Brother world champion again, Jonny, hot on his heels.

Helen Jenkins topped the tree too, in a clean sweep for Great Britain.

Mixed doubles pair Adcock and Bankier were surprise silver medallists at the World Championships,

but another badminton star was Piggy French,

second in the prestigious three-day event.

Meanwhile, our dressage riders set out their stall

with European team gold

and there was hockey bronze for Britain.

There were ups...

..and downs so Britain's gymnasts at the World Championships.

Lewis Smith reached the podium,

but the men's team failed to match the women's squad

in tying down a qualification for the games.

The last chance for the lads is at January's test date.

And amongst the British medal success at the Taekwondo world championships,

one truly heartbreaking story emerged above all others.

Nick Hope joins Sarah Stevenson in Korea.

This has been, like, the worst year of my life.

My mum got ill in January, she got diagnosed with cancer,

like, really tough one for her

and not only that, like,

I found out that my dad's also got a brain tumour as well.

So, both my parents have got cancer.

It's been a hard decision to even be here.

I think it was lovely that my family actually made that choice for me

and said, you need to go

because your parents want you to be there and they want you to fight.

I found it hard to focus in the morning

cos I was worried about not hearing from my mum and dad

and thinking about how they were.

I called home, as well, and my mum cried when she heard my voice.

At first I thought there was something wrong, but she just...

Hearing my voice made her cry, which was really nice,

so I'm going to have to sort myself out today and try and cheer up.

Let me show you what I can't have and it's like torture.

Sarah can't eat yet!

Look, mum, look, I've still got point seven!

And this is what I have to see every time I come to breakfast.

Winning a medal at the World

will make it a little bit easier, I think,

you know, it'll be, it'll bring a smile to my face and all my family's faces,

so I'm doing it for them really.

Because I've just been holding everything in,

I knew when I finished I'd just cry, so, I'm allowed to now, so I'm really glad.

The last few months have been so tough, you know, I think, erm,

for the whole family and, you know, I'm emotional myself here...

He didn't cry on our wedding this much!

'In first place for Britain, Sarah Diana Stevenson.'

It was pretty much back to reality the day after

because all I wanted to do the day after I fought was go home and just be with them.

Get my dad up, give him his tablets, make his breakfast,

tick off which tablets he's had,

see who's taking him to the hospital.

It's like, new world champion, but...

My dad was just, like, so strong and everyone loved him.

Every single photo that you see of my dad, he's always smiling,

like, such a big smile he had.

And my mum, she became an angel really.

My angel on earth and now she's my angel in heaven, so...

they're back together now, so that's something to...

to take a positive from I think.

I was going to World to fight a few girls

and they were suffering from a horrendous disease that,

you know, in the end they couldn't win their battle with it

and I think, "Well, what have we all got to complain about?"

And that's what kept me going

because there's no point in me sitting here thinking,

"Oh, I can't do this, I can't fight, what if I lose?

"What if, you know, I don't fight very good?",

it's like, "So what? I ain't got cancer, have I?"

I'm very proud to be a woman,

I'm very proud to represent this for all the women out there

that have achieved so much this year in their sport.

When my mum got diagnosed and she said, you know,

"I want you to go to the Olympics,

"I want you to do it for me and to do it for me and your dad."

A gold would be perfect, after I finish my job,

you know, at the Olympics, then I'll relax and let go

and, yes, hopefully have some peace then, yeah.

A cracking year for Britain's athletes

began with a golden team display at the European indoors

before Mo Farah showed us the true benefits

of his new training camp in the USA.

Mo has just got two miles of really hard running left,

but at this pace he's going to smash the British record,

and I mean smash it.

COME ON, MO!

He went on to claim world gold

in a season packed with success for some relative newcomers

and the return of some familiar faces,

with heptathlon star attraction Jessica Ennis

turning Sheffield steel into world silver.

Sorry, it's the lens, I can't quite see...

What's the best thing about being Jess Ennis?

The best thing in my life would be, obviously athletics,

wedding on the horizon and just the people around me,

great friends and family.

'Over time I've learned that I do have to give her orders.

'"Do this, do this," keep the message succinct

'cos that's how it's best received.'

-That is so typical of you!

-What?!

We're working on something there

-and you moan about something there.

-That's the last thing I feel.

Yeah, it is, think about the first.

-It ain't all about how...

-Yeah, I said that bit was all right.

It's not where you finish, it's where you start.

How much, you know, at the start of each week,

does Tony, your coach, give you a shout on Sunday evening and say,

"Right, this is the plan for the week ahead,"

or do you just turn up and he unveils the horror?

I need to know exactly what I am doing every day,

you know, weeks in advance so I can just get it right in my head

and I have to know what session I'm doing on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

If I just rocked down to the track and didn't know what I was doing

and then he just surprised me with a session,

I'd, yeah, there'd be outroar! I'd absolutely hate it!

Yeah, wait though, hold that a second and then go.

Not a second, even, it's 100th of a second.

Sometimes she needs a bit more convincing, as does anybody,

"Where have you got that from? What's that about? What's that going to do for me?" so on and so forth.

Which you come to understand, when she was 11...

and you got this guy, six foot tall,

it's just fear, so you do what you're told, so you're pretty much teaching.

You get a bit older, you're coaching. Now, in fairness,

she's Jessica Ennis, businesswoman, world champion type of thing.

I used to be able to bully her, I can't any more. I am now the bullied!

There must be a real bond of trust between the two of you?

Yeah, I think there has to be a lot of trust between an athlete and a coach

and just because Tony's coached me for so long

and every year, year upon year, I've improved

and, you know, the programme that he's put together has obviously worked really well,

so I've got a lot of trust

and, you know, I'm just happy, as long as I've got a programme,

you know, I've got complete trust in the programme

and I know that if I follow that and I can train hard then I'll improve.

What was it like when you first met each other?

I guess you were part of a big training group then, were you?

Groups change so much over the years, and when I started,

I was obviously one of the youngest, and there were older girls there,

and people moved on and stopped training and doing athletics.

So, yes, it changed a lot over the years,

but I am the last one standing!

So I think I deserve a medal for that!

Come on, girl! Come on, come on!

'It doesn't spur me on.

'It just makes me angry because I just think, why am I doing this?

'They're blowing a whistle.'

To someone who has never done a session like that, try and describe the pain.

The pain is indescribable.

It builds up in your legs, the lactic acid.

And your arms are tired, you are out of breath,

and your body just deals like it is going to collapse. It's a horrible feeling.

You cannot get your breath back quick enough before the next run.

And then you are building up more and more lactic up on each run.

So by the end of it, you are just dying.

One more, one more, one more.

-I can't.

-You can!

So when you go to the major championships, and you might be feeling anxious,

you can think back to a session and think, I've got that in the bank?

Yes, I always think that.

I think before an 800 metres at a Championships, I'm always

really anxious and really nervous, and that is one thing that I do

tell myself is that I have done all these running sessions in horrible conditions,

but I know that I have done all those sessions,

so I should be able to cope with two laps of the track at the end of heptathlon.

I invite the athletes of the world to

participate in the games of the 30th Olympiad in London one year from today.

Good luck, London!

Summer also marked one year to go to the Games

with a series of exciting test events being staged across the country

as the venues gradually took shape.

We were given an access-all-areas pass.

Welcome inside a very colourful handball arena.

-The British Olympic ball.

-Dorney Lake, Eton.

2,000 metres of lung-bursting effort every race for GB's rowers.

This is our first glimpse inside the new basketball arena.

It is about time I welcomed you to the canoe slalom course

here at the Lee Valley Whitewater Centre.

The Serpentine here in Hyde Park

will be the venue for the open water swimming events.

One person who will definitely be there is Keri-Anne Payne.

She became the first GB athlete to qualify for the games

after her success in the 10 kilometre event in Shanghai.

In the pool, Liam Tancock, Ellen Gandy

and Hannah Miley all reached the podium.

But the story of the championships was Rebecca Adlington,

who rediscovered the sort of form that made her a reluctant star in Beijing.

It's just bizarre. It's just like, why do people want to talk to me?

I just couldn't understand it.

I just couldn't get my head round the whole interview

and photos and people wanting my attention.

Becky, do this. Becky do that.

And I'm like, why are people interested in talking about me?

I'm just from Mansfield, why are people talking to me?

I was just so baffled.

Adlington coped with the attention which followed her Olympic achievements as best she could.

But Becky could not repeat the brilliance of Beijing in Budapest,

finishing seventh in the 800 metres at the 2010 European Championships.

-You've got bigger things to come.

-So disappointing.

You trained so hard...

'Even if I have a really tough meat like the Europeans last year,'

I got so many nice messages that it just picked me up.

If you look at Rebecca, she is Britain's most successful ever swimmer,

and one of the most successful ever female athletes.

And yet people say, well,

she has not quite won this medal or she has not quite won that medal.

If you look at that in context over a five-year career at the top so far,

this is just an unbelievably high achievement and consistency.

I remember we were just on holiday with the family,

and I have got two older sisters.

My older sister is five years older than me,

so she could swim pretty well by the time I was younger,

and I can just remember hating being the baby because I want to do what they want to do,

and I remember being on holiday,

my mum was blowing my armbands up, and my sisters were in the pool,

and I ran and jumped in the pool without my armbands.

And everyone just stopped,

and I came back up and started swimming and carried on.

Everyone was like, "Oh, my God! she'd obviously doesn't need the armbands!"

Let's stretch this freestyle out a bit more, everybody. Don't get sloppy.

'I started coaching Rebecca at 12.

'First impression really is someone who was totally focused,'

totally dedicated.

Somebody who knew that they were prepared to pay the price, even from a young age.

She wanted to be good, and she was prepared to do anything to be good.

Bill is... We have such a good relationship.

We don't say many things to each other. We are quite like... All right, Bill? Yep.

We can just read each other so well, which is what is so good about it.

He knows I'm tired. I don't have to go up and tell him.

He knows when I'm happy, when I'm sad. He can read that straight away.

That's so sweet!

I was never that big.

I was always big. I swear I was born this big.

Family life is important to Becky.

Her sister Chloe runs a bridal business.

Clothes provide a refreshing change to chlorine.

I value her support massively, along with all of my family.

She's very honest, so it is nice to have Becky involved,

because she'll always tell me what she thinks,

and give me the right opinion.

It is lovely to have her support,

and be able to work together on things.

The support is just amazing that I get from my family.

And I give it to them as well.

I can go over to my sister's and she cooks for me some nights a week,

so I can go straight over to hers and the food is on the table.

Amazing! I didn't, honest to God, think I was going to win

going into the Worlds, and I just wanted to go and race well.

Rebecca Adlington, world champion of the women's 800 metres freestyle.

What a superb swim that was!

I was more relieved than anything else after my race.

I just went, oh! and then the joy came. Yay!

It was nice to get back and see where the rest of the world were at,

and get an understanding of a year to go, how everyone is looking.

A new world record for Thorpe. Absolutely amazing.

I'm Ian Thorpe. I'm five-time Olympic gold medallist.

I think people here can be excited about what's going to happen with the British swim team.

You've got some really talented swimmers, especially amongst the girls.

It is going to be Adlington. What an amazing swim.

Becky Adlington, Fran Halsall.

Is Fran Halsall going to be European champion? She is!

Also Hannah Miley. This is a time that we can really look that there can be some great results,

but they also have the added pressure that this is a home Olympics, and the expectations that come with it.

Hopefully they do well, but not as well as the Aussies!

The Thorpedo became our new best friend in 2011, inviting us

on an exclusive trip to his secret Swiss training camp

as he returned from retirement to competition.

The chances are I am going to fail at this, and I have become comfortable with that.

The new diving combination of team star Tom Daley and veteran Pete Waterfield clicked straight away.

But it was on the water where Britain enjoyed strongest returns in 2011.

And Matt Langridge hits the water.

It is going to be a photo finish!

Executed with such class.

Great Britain will have it on the line.

Yeah!

The first names on the Team GB squad list for 2012 went to sailing,

with Ben Ainslie the star of the show.

Well, that is until he tangled with a TV crew at the World Championships,

ruling him out of the list of successful Brits.

Another Beijing gold medallist, Dr Tim Brabants,

has much to do to resuscitate his Olympic campaign,

as he slipped behind rival and cross-channel canoeist Paul Wycherley in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Ed McKeever flew the flag for Britain at the World Championships.

And our boxing teams showed their fighting spirit.

Nicola Adams skirting events outside the ring to be crowned European champion

as well as a record-breaking medal haul for the men at the European and World Championships.

Now, boxing could be a key sport for Britain at the London Games,

as their four-medal haul at the World Championships in Azerbaijan recently proved.

Despite it being only his first trip to the Worlds,

Anthony Joshua was one of the big success stories.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the ring,

representing England, Anthony Joshua!

My style? Assassin on the outside, and a warrior on the inside.

Very much a mummy's boy.

But to see him in the boxing ring,

a totally different person!

I thought, is he going to be serious enough to box?

But then you see a different side to him when he got in sparring,

and that friendly side goes, and he is Mr Nasty.

Silver medal, Joshua Anthony, England.

It is surprising.

I was ranked number 46 in the world before I went,

which I thought, fair enough.

It is amazing to be ranked number two in the world now.

I was just one point away, so it is an amazing accomplishment.

-Steve O!

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm proud of you.

The Finchley ABC.

Where the hard work started.

My gym where I train, where I get down and dirty and put in work.

This is the beginning. My heart and love.

I've never trained someone with so much power.

He has broken my wrist, so I know he can punch.

And just that will and that... He just won't give up.

What all great fighters have got.

I'm sure everyone will advise me,

and I advise myself to keep my feet on the ground as well.

Especially my family, the people that care, my coaches.

When he comes in the gym, he is not a star, he is just another boxer.

And if he starts thinking he is a star,

he is soon told and put into line.

How good could he be? How far can he go?

As long as he lives right,

doesn't get carried away with what everybody is saying,

knuckles down in the gym, he'll go to the top.

I see him going as far as Lennox Lewis.

I'm very proud.

Very, very proud of what he has achieved,

although I still say to myself, why boxing?

When I watched the fight.

But I am very, very proud of him,

and I think he has achieved quite a lot in a very short space of time.

How often have you allowed yourself to visualise standing atop

that gold medal rostrum?

What, at the Olympics?

This is the first time, when you asked me, just then.

That is the first time I have pictured myself standing on

the gold, on the number-one podium, holding a gold medal.

That is the first time I have actually envisioned it.

What does it feel like?

It feels like what I should be doing!

It feels right.

Throughout 2011, when our Olympic hopefuls were busy with

intense preparation and training,

we made sure we were there behind the scenes with them,

and it certainly gave us something to talk about.

Hi, my name is Richard Alexander, and I am part of the England hockey team.

And we will go through and see what the lads are up to.

-So this contraption here dries horses?

-Yes!

Father, coach, inventor and helicopter pilot?!

That pays the bills!

The thing about tweed is that it is a strong look wherever you are.

We are just outside Pete's place. It is a bit like BBC Cribs.

Let's go in and see what is going on.

I have to say, I am going to blame this all on Christopher.

It's none of my fault!

You do not get the smell on camera.

THEY CHANT

There will be more British Olympic Dreams in January,

when we return to BBC One with a winter youth Olympic Games

special on the 28th at one o'clock.

Then Ore and I will be back on your screens in mid-February

with more from our Olympic hopefuls

as the countdown to the Games begins in earnest.

Well, what a year for British Olympic Dreams.

It has certainly been a memorable 12 months, and next year?

That is going to be unforgettable! See you in 2012.

We play things like ladies over here!

Yeah, I am going to be quite smiley now!

I was hoping for just the one foot slip there, just for the camera!

If you don't mind, I'll just watch.

No, definitely. It is -170 degrees.

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