Episode 1 Inspire: The Olympic Journey

Owens wins.

Johnson, by yards!

THE greatest swimmer ever.

'The long road to glory.'

The champion becomes a legend.

'It's a journey that requires talent.

'A gift.'

Faultless.

'But always years of hard work...

'support...

'encouragement...

'and belief.

'This is what it takes to be the best.'

The greatest British Olympian.

Gold for Freeman.

'And at the start of this journey - a flash.

'An instant that changes everything.

'Destiny.

'History.'

I am the greatest.

London 2012 will inspire a generation.

'A moment that touches us all.'

That's the world record!

'A flash of inspiration.'

Beautiful!

Welcome to Inspire: The Olympic Journey,

our brand-new monthly programme

where we'll be celebrating a host of sporting heroes.

We'll be meeting the stars of today

and finding out more about the stars of tomorrow

12 months ago, the nation came together, united by sport.

We watched in wonder and awe

at the achievements of a host of international stars.

David Rudisha, Usain Bolt,

Chad le Clos and Anna Meares.

In 12 months' time, those international superstars

will be back on home soil for the Commonwealth Games.

So, for our very first show,

we've come to the host city to take a look around,

and I've found us a pretty good guide.

Britain's most decorated Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy,

shows me the sporting sights of Glasgow.

Throughout the series, we'll introduce the stars of the future.

This month Helen Skelton spends the day

with the 17-year-old swimmer Siobhan-Marie O'Connor.

We hear Anthony Joshua's inspirational journey to success.

And if you want to get inspired,

find out more on how to get active, go to our website:

Dealing with success and failure

are an inevitable part of a sportsperson's life,

and nobody knows more about those emotions

than rower Katherine Grainger.

Three Olympics, three silver medals,

until last summer in London she finally realised her dream

and took gold with her partner Anna Watkins on Dorney Lake.

She now faces one of the toughest decisions of her life.

Does she head into retirement

or carry on for another three years to Rio?

Whether dealing with success or failure, or the decision to retire,

Katherine has found out that the aftermath of the London 2012 Games

can pose some interesting challenges for those involved.

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

The day of the Olympic final is...a day unlike anything else.

This was the once-in-a-lifetime home Olympic final

that we'd never get the chance to get right again.

All athletes in Team GB had different experiences.

Some met their goals in fantastic, glorious fashion,

some devastatingly fell short of what they wanted.

Everyone looked forward in different ways,

but when it all finally had to come to an end

there was a distinct feeling of, "Where do we go from here?"

I'm on my way to meet a good friend,

one of the most naturally gifted athletes I know.

A fellow rower who, until five years ago,

had never set foot in a boat.

You need an awful lot of talent, focus and determination

to become an Olympic champion in that time frame -

attributes Helen Glover has in abundance.

The reason I started rowing was to become an Olympic champion in 2012.

So in 2008 you thought, "2012 Olympic champion"? Yeah.

Not every day did I think that COULD happen.

Every day I wanted it to happen,

but there must have been something in me which thought I could do it.

I'm still, a year on,

getting moments where someone will come up to me and say well done

or say what it meant to them watching it,

and that will really hit home,

possibly even harder than crossing the line did.

They're making history here at Eton Dorney!

They've punched the air.

Great Britain are Olympic champions.

Did you feel a come-down at any point?

I got into my flat and I walked in and put my bags down

and I thought, "What do I do?"

And that evening I had a meal,

I started doing the washing-up,

and that was the first normal thing I had done in a couple of months.

Cos we had lived together on training camp for so long, the whole team,

that, you know, I was looking round, there was no-one to chat to.

You felt lonely? Yeah, a little bit lonely and...

Those first few days, are you thinking, "What do I do with my life now?"

Cos you've just achieved the thing you've been planning for four years. Yeah.

You've ticked the box. And nobody plans the next day. Yeah. Exactly. Nobody thinks past the finish line.

And I ticked the box of the one thing I wanted to achieve in my life

and then I went home, and I sat at home, and I thought...

"What's next?" And I think that, for me,

is what made the decision to go to Rio quite quick.

"What's next? Rio. OK, I can focus on that."

You don't think, "I've already done it. I'm just going to do it again, am I?"

No. I think the question of what is greater than winning at a home Olympics is a big question.

Because, actually, on its own, nothing.

But then again, I think being defending Olympic champion

defending a title, that's got to be exciting, and that's my new exciting thought, I think.

One of the things that makes Helen Glover really stand out as an Olympian

is the fact that she admits from day one of getting in a boat,

her whole purpose was to become an Olympic champion.

That's quite incredible and really quite unusual.

She's still got the hunger, she's still got the drive, and she genuinely loves being in a boat.

And that's why she'll probably be Olympic champion in Rio.

I only wish I had the same clarity about my own future.

Both Helen and I experienced an amazing high last summer,

but I'm all too familiar with the painful emotion of leaving

an Olympic Games feeling bitterly disappointed.

My journey now takes me

to meet an athlete who's endured that very same grieving process.

Dai Greene suffered an injury-plagued winter leading up to London.

The world champion fought hard to regain fitness

but finished just outside the medals.

A year on, I want to know how he's coped with that disappointment.

The moment crossing the line, what's the first reaction, the first emotion?

Yeah, when I crossed the line I was just dipping to the line

so I wasn't sure I was dipping for a place.

And I could see them going up on the board, and thinking...

"Come on, just give me bronze." I knew it wasn't silver.

COMMENTATOR: 'Sanchez takes the gold medal!

'Taylor, Coulson and then Greene...'

Obviously popped up I was fourth, and the disappointment, then, and just thinking,

"Oh, that's it, it's over. I've finished fourth..."

That just sucks. There's no other way to say it, really.

It's just a really hollow feeling of achieving nothing, really.

You've done all that hard work and you have nothing for it at the end.

Could you be proud with fourth?

I wasn't for a good couple of months but then once I got back in training for the following season,

I sat down with my coach and we came to the conclusion that

I can't believe we actually got fourth after what we did.

The whole of Britain was going crazy for the Olympics.

Had you experienced this kind of cauldron of Olympic fever?

I obviously loved what the Olympics did for the country. I can say that easily now.

But at the time, I didn't want to see all those medallists on TV every day.

You don't want to be reminded of Super Saturday,

which was my semifinal night, where I came fourth!

The best way to get over it for me was to get back into training

and start putting the work in for the following season.

Did you always know you would continue after London? Yeah, it was never in doubt.

I was only 27 so I've got plenty of time to continue my career.

It was never going to be the end.

I suspect the disappointment of London won't ever leave Dai,

but what's so impressive is his determination to make amends for last summer.

He's still got unfinished business.

For other athletes, knowing what the future holds isn't so easy.

Retirement can leave a big hole to fill.

But then aiming for another Olympics requires complete dedication

and not much room for anything else in life.

For me, I'm still in that awkward, indecisive phase.

You're aware of a wider world out there.

But the decision whether to say it's the end point for my rowing career finally is a big one.

The thought of never doing that again and never being competitive in a boat is one I don't know if

I'm ready to say no to yet.

Others have said no and made the decision to finish their careers in London.

Victoria Pendleton is one of them.

She retired from a sport that has shaped her life from the age of nine.

So far, I've been able to relate to everyone I've met,

and in some ways, Victoria will be no exception.

But at the moment, she's in a very different place to me,

and that's why I was so keen to talk to her.

I made the decision quite easily.

Because it was already four years longer than I intended to continue,

and then I thought,

"Is there any chance I could do another four years?"

The answer is no. Straightaway! It really was clear, that sense of relief, in a way,

and release once it was finally over? Yes.

COMMENTATOR: Victoria Pendleton's career ends on a silver medal

that draws an end to what has been

a glittering, glittering career.

I was so relieved that I'd finished

and I wouldn't have to go through any of that competition stuff ever again.

If I continued, I would still have that pressure and expectation on my shoulders

and I'd still have to carry it through to the next Olympics.

And it weighed heavy after a while! It really did weigh heavy.

Was there any aspect of, "I've made the wrong decision"?

Of course, when you make a decision like that, and it's pretty full-on,

starting a life from scratch again, you've left the thing that gives you...

It's your livelihood, it gives you a purpose, it gives you kind of a sense of belonging,

and then to let it go and start again from scratch, and think,

"Will I ever be good at anything else?" And is that scary? It is frightening.

But I've really enjoyed just having a bit more time to spend

with the people I love and the people I've neglected for the last ten years!

You know, spending more time with my family and my friends

and being free to do stuff with them like go on holiday.

It's perfectly normal, I think, not to necessarily have a really clear direction.

Just I'm less used to it than most, I guess. As you are! Oh, completely. I'm lost.

Do you have an image of the next dream job

or how you'd want your life to be? Not really!

But the idea of being settled somewhere and have a home that's our home is really important to me.

I would love to be settled somewhere in five years' time and feel...

..kind of on a new path.

I want to be on a new path. But I don't know what that path is yet.

I think for me it's been really interesting to meet three totally different athletes,

different sports, different experiences in London 2012.

Whether it's been good, whether it's been bad,

they've all dealt with the experience, learned from it, and moved forward.

There's a real sense of optimism that whatever comes next, whatever future goals in the same career,

change of career, change of plan, change of life, that for all of us, there is life after London.

So we're here at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome,

one of the centrepiece venues for the Commonwealth Games.

Guess who I might be coming to meet.

And here he is, Sir Chris Hoy!

Who better to take us round the venues?! Do I have to call you Sir?

You don't, but you have to curtsy!

OK, you've really changed! Thank you, thank you!

Great to see you in this, named after you.

It's just such a wonderful tribute. But you won't be here? Yeah, well, I will be here.

But you won't be competing? I'll be here cheering the Scottish team on.

But, erm... Yeah, it's... I'm content in my career,

I'm content that I managed to achieve everything

and way beyond what I hoped to, but I knew it was the right time.

I knew I'd got the best out of myself and I wouldn't be at my best if I'd tried to compete here.

I didn't want to turn up and be... It's really interesting. We've seen a piece by Katherine Grainger,

who's still in the process, deciding what to do.

I did hope to continue and it would've been the dream end to my career,

to be able to race here in Scotland for the last time,

so it would've been fantastic, but maybe a bit greedy!

Just two years younger, maybe. Well, exactly! I know! That's...

When you look out, and you see... I know there's a multisport day going on here,

and you see all these kids trying out different sports and enjoying different sports,

that feels good, doesn't it?

Oh, it's brilliant. And it's not just been staged for us today either!

This is genuinely what it's like. It gets used all the time

and it's busy from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.

It's truly a world-class facility.

I don't think you could think of a bigger honour. It really is.

It's fantastic to think that your name is being linked with this

amazing facility and it'll be part of the future of the sport for many years to come.

So that's... To me, it's as important as winning medals,

as important as your own personal success -

to see that you're actually having some kind of longer-lasting impact on the sport that you love.

Well, Chris might be at the end of his career

but others are just at the beginning.

Last year, Siobhan-Marie O'Connor was the youngest member

of Britain's swimming team at the 2012 Games,

and at 16 years old, she was also part of a team that underperformed.

Well, the selection process has toughened up and the British team are determined

to make amends.

Helen Skelton found out all about that determination

when she spent a day with Siobhan-Marie O'Connor.

It's 8am and I'm in Bath to meet Siobhan,

who has already been in the gym for a couple of hours,

and she's not even halfway through her day.

She's qualified for the World Championships in Barcelona,

so there's plenty of work to be done.

I get here for 6.30 and then we'll have an hour circuits in the gym.

And then straight from there, we'll get in the pool

and do a two-hour swim.

British Championships, where she swam the time needed

to qualify for the upcoming World Championships.

I knew it was going to be tough because Great Britain have

such a strong 200 medley selection for the girls,

I knew there would be a lot going under the time,

so I just had to dig deep on that last length.

I managed to secure the time, so I was really happy with that.

It's an impressive achievement, since the whole squad faced

a tougher qualification process as a result of British swimming's failure to deliver at London 2012.

Three medals is not where we should be and it's not good enough.

We targeted six or seven, and to get three was very disappointing.

22.4...

We're going to take a much more selective,

smaller group to the World Championships.

What it means is, if you qualify for Great Britain,

you're probably already good enough to be a semifinalist or finalist.

It means the swimmer has got to be hard enough to cope with

that pressure at the trials, which means when they go to

the Worlds or the Olympics, they can cope with that pressure.

With Siobhan, you know, she went to the Worlds and the Olympics,

she has experienced it now, and for her, the next thing is to make the finals and the podium,

because I firmly believe she is capable of a podium position.

Competing at a home games is arguably one of the most valuable experiences

a young athlete can have, but in Siobhan's case,

the challenges she faced in qualifying for London are perhaps just as important.

Her dream was almost cut short

when she missed out in her preferred event at the first Olympic trials.

Fortunately, there was a second chance.

After a few months of intensive breaststroke training,

It was a puncher's chance.

I don't think many people thought it was going to happen,

but this was going to be my last chance -

I just trained so hard, focused everything on breaststroke, and it all fell into place, really.

That one minute of that race changed my life.

COMMENTATOR: Spofforth hands over to Siobhan-Marie O'Connor.

What a great opportunity for her.

Having made the breaststroke, I had an opportunity for the relay,

so I got to swim in an Olympic final.

When I missed out at the first trials,

if someone had told me I would be swimming in an Olympic final

a few months later, I would have said, "No way!"

But it all fell into place and it was incredible.

Despite her age, she's got amazing experience already at the top events.

17 years old, being an Olympian already, is amazing.

She has come on a hell of a lot in the past couple of years.

You know, I think she has really matured in her performances as well.

Alongside competing at the top and improving her mental strength,

Siobhan has been working on her physical strength, too,

and most days that means at least three hours in the gym.

These sessions obviously help your physicality,

but it seems it helps team morale.

You are all having a laugh in here as well as sweating! Definitely!

In the pool, you have got your head down and you can't really speak to people,

but in here we can chat to each other and have a bit of banter.

CHEERING AND LAUGHTER

Sorry!

For you, then, how does it compare? Do you prefer being in the pool,

or how do you feel about doing the weights?

I know have a lot I can improve on in the gym,

because I'm like a fish out of water!

This is really important. With John and stuff,

I'm hoping to get a lot stronger and fitter.

Siobhan deals with an intensive training regime -

she's taking an A-level and regularly goes abroad for training camps and competitions.

At 17, that's a lot to handle,

so living at home with her family gives her the support she needs.

She's off tomorrow, so this is our Sunday dinner.

Are you all going out to Barcelona? Yeah. Who gets the most stressed?

Definitely Mum, she can't watch it.

If I hear that she is winning, I'll look up and I'll cheer her on.

Otherwise I have my head in my hands or in my bag.

I can't... My nerves!

Siobhan is very competitive when she races, when she trains.

Especially in swimming.

They train so hard, day in, day out, and she sacrifices so much -

gives up sleepovers, parties, you know, sort of boyfriends.

So you know how much they sacrifice, that's why...

But it's the same for every parent, they want their child to do well

because they know how much they have sacrificed.

For you, the Worlds is the thing on the horizon, that is what you are

training for, but how often do you think about the Commonwealth Games?

How often do you think about Rio? People must ask about that, post-London. Definitely.

The good thing about swimming, there is always something

at the end of the year, even when it is not the Olympics and Worlds.

Glasgow is a good halfway point between the two Olympics,

to see where you are. You always think about it,

because that is the next big thing which is coming up.

If you've been inspired to get active, go to our website

to find out more, or find us on Twitter.

Thank you! After you.

This part of the city has been undergoing regeneration

for some time, hasn't it? Yeah.

This is a part of Glasgow that really suffered

with the closure of shipyards and industrial work.

Yes, there's Celtic Park, Parkhead, just over there.

The opening ceremony. Yeah. Any idea what it will consist of?

I've no idea! You're asking the wrong man! Favourite Scottish band?

It's going to have The Proclaimers in there somewhere, isn't it?

HE LAUGHS

If it does, I didn't know! I'm not letting the cat out of the bag!

It reminds me of Manchester before the Commonwealth Games in 2002,

the amount of work that was done to regenerate that part of the city.

It's a similar area, and you see how Manchester was transformed,

so I'm sure it will have a similar effect.

The athletes' village is nearby, isn't it? Yeah, it's 85% finished.

The houses and flats will be low-cost housing afterwards.

That's right.

One of the big factors for the success of London,

apart from you guys doing well and the venues being great -

the Games Makers made the Games so enjoyable -

seeing their joy at saying hello,

and the Games Makers are going to be a factor here. They will be.

I believe the stats...

There were 15,000 Games Maker slots, 50,000 people applied.

That's more than the Manchester and Melbourne Games combined

in terms of applications.

There is huge interest, and when people come to a city

that is the biggest thing - if you can get people welcomed,

make them feel they are part of it, and put on a great show, a party.

We can put on a good party in Scotland, so I think it will be

the best Commonwealth Games we've ever seen.

Cheers. Smart cab! Lovely! Thank you!

Another iconic Scottish venue.

Normally, in the tunnel at Hampden Park, the national stadium,

it's the sound of football boots running out here.

Next summer it will be the sound of athletics spikes.

Yeah, it's going to be quite a transformation.

So there'll be Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, Jess Ennis, David Rudisha, all running here.

It's amazing to think how it's going to be transformed.

It's an iconic football location but to see it with a track...

I'm not sure how they're going to do it! Luckily enough,

Suzanne is just the lady to tell us how this track is going to work.

I've heard a metre higher.

A lot more than a metre higher.

More like two metres. More about Chris' height, in fact.

You were saying it's an iconic football stadium

but where we are standing is where the 100m straight will be.

We'll be building it up to about this height.

Hampden is an oval ground so it lends itself

to the shape of athletics, but it is not quite big enough.

It will go right up to that blue wall there.

That will be the first row of seats? Pretty much.

More to the point, it'll become a football stadium at the end of it,

so it's a temporary transformation.

What will success look like from this Commonwealth Games in about a year and three weeks' time?

I think seeing places packed to the rafters,

no spare seats, everybody getting involved,

everyone desperate to see some action, no matter what sport it is.

Which is what, in the end, happened in London.

If we can get the same thing here in Glasgow,

to me, that would be a sign of success.

Thank you so much for your time because I know you are so busy,

a packed agenda. My pleasure, thank you.

Go along to whatever you have to do next. I'll run off this way!

Run! This is where you run, now. See you. Cheers.

While Sir Chris Hoy has been cycling pretty much his whole life,

Anthony Joshua only stepped in to a boxing ring at 18 years of age.

Four years later, he was Super Heavyweight Olympic boxing

champion but the path to gold was far from smooth and his life

could have taken a very different direction indeed,

were it not for the loving support of his family and his own

dedication. This is Anthony Joshua's story.

Hard to explain.

When I was boxing, you don't get paid, so I was finding means to

support myself, but at the same time, I was trying to concentrate on

becoming a full-time athlete.

I needed an opportunity. But I am a proud man so I don't rely on anyone.

It led into me carrying some cannabis and I was removed from

the Olympic team and had my boxing licence removed.

It was tough for the family but we pulled through and it's given him

a wake-up call. He has learned from his experience.

Luckily, they allowed me to continue to box, which was a blessing.

I've thought, this is it, this is my last opportunity.

He first walked in the gym in 2008, he came with his cousin Ben.

All right, mate? I'm good, thank you.

Good to see you. I'd told him I want to get fit, I want to get stronger.

And he said, "Look, why don't you come for a real workout and see what

"I get up to down the boxing gym."

That was how it started. I didn't really read too much into it.

I didn't take it seriously. He did but I didn't.

A day old... Look at your coconut head!

They say a coconut is hard to smash and maybe that's why I got into boxing!

THEY LAUGH

I can remember when I got sparring,

there was about seven heavyweights in the gym.

The first two I was doing well until I come across a more experienced heavyweight.

I had a Slovakian here, he was a top class heavyweight, and he used to

box circles around Josh, frustrate him.

throwing hooks, spinning around like Michael Jackson would!

I felt like I failed myself. Failure was kind of like a

motivation. I always went back and

started seeing improvements and improvements. A year later, Josh

beat him up. After one round they had to stop, his face was a mess.

And that is how, in a matter of a year, somebody who had been

out-boxing Josh and doing what he wanted with him, couldn't handle him.

That's when I realised I could get good at this.

If I keep on working hard. Are you fit? Yeah. Lift up your top.

What are you weighing now? LAUGHTER

What are you weighing now? 107.

I could see the changes in him. He was very eager to go to the

boxing club. And the next year, he

was entered into competitions and he won, and then he kept winning.

I was thinking, "Oh, my gosh! Is that what boxing is doing to my son?"

I won't swear, but he is a nasty

piece of work in the ring and that's the way you've got to be.

At the end of the day, in the ring, you have got to

hit them before they hit you. You can't be Mr Nice Guy, shaking hands.

But Josh isn't. I went through the Novices,

Haringey Box Cup and so on.

Then I became an ABA champion.

I didn't know about Olympic boxing when I first laced up

my gloves. So my goal was to become an ABA champion

and then a professional boxer.

And then I found out about the Olympic boxing when I

started to become more of an elite boxer.

Representing Great Britain, Silver medallist, Anthony Joshua!

I could hear the roar, the cheer, the support they gave me.

The most rousing reception...

It was something like a gladiator moment,

you know when they are about to go out into the battlefield...

The opening bell sounds to determine the final gold medal.

In boxing, it is either, you win or you lose, that's your Olympic dream gone.

He's getting clipped by thunderous shots in the corner.

Joshua is trying to fight back, but he has been rocked solidly.

It is Camarelli who leads Joshua by three.

Going into round three, I said to myself, whatever happens from here,

I want to walk out with my head held high.

And a spirited rally from Anthony Joshua!

And rousing reception from the crowd greets that work.

More left hand from Joshua. Come on, Josh, you can do this!

I had the banner over my face.

I can tell you, my heart was beating.

I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

Here's the official verdict...

In the blue corner...

So, I looked across,

and I thought, I'm the one in the blue!

Representing Great Britain - Anthony Joshua.

It was like, gosh, gosh, he has won! I was so happy!

I was so happy for him.

Anthony Joshua is the Olympic Super Heavyweight Champion.

A wonderful achievement!

Everything I gained from the Olympics is a

positive experience. There's not one negative thing. It's made me tough

and stronger and given me a great opportunity.

I am now a heavyweight boxer. No more super heavyweight.

I've got rid of the head guard and the vest. As a professional boxer,

my end goal is to become a world champion, an undisputed world champion.

Some fighters in their whole lifetime, they never do what he has

done. He's been to the Europeans,

the Worlds and the Olympics in four years.

He sleeps boxing, wakes up to boxing, he dreams boxing,

he loves boxing, he lives for boxing.

From court to sport, from negative to positive,

I am happy and my family is happy, and the people who

support me are going to see a great journey.

Hearing Katherine Grainger debate her future was intriguing.

Knowing when to face life's new challenges

is almost as tough as the road to glory for our heroes.

Siobhan-Marie O'Connor has years to go before those decisions

and Anthony Joshua is set on his path.

Like Sir Chris Hoy, I'm sure they will take their

never-give-up attitude into whatever they do.

They are an inspiring bunch.

And if they have inspired you, you can find out more on our website.

And remember, keep looking for that flash of inspiration.