09/06/2012 World Olympic Dreams

enough votes in the Greek election to form a government with other

parties which support the EU bail- out. Its main rival has conceded,

but says it will not join a coalition. The result of the

election has been welcomed internationally, with leaders

urging the country to form a government quickly.

Voting has ended in Egypt on the second and final day of the run-off

to choose the next President. The Muslim Brotherhood candidate is

compete -- competing against Hosni Mubarak's Prime Minister. Turnout

was estimated at 40%. Rodney King, whose beating by

police barked the LA riots in 1992, has died. He was found at the

bottom of his swimming pool. There Now it's time for World Olympic

dreams. We report on athletes from around the world hoping to make it

Welcome to another edition of world or Olympic dreams and to Jamaica,

where I'm starting out on a tour of the world in search of inspiring

We have come to the town where Usain Bolt grew up and we are

finding i it out the locals are planning on cheering him on. Apart

from Usain Bolt, there will be plenty more hometown heroes on the

programme. Coming up: Frustration for Kosovo's top athletes as they

reveal their sporting dreams are being crushed by international

politics. A hurdler from Trinidad tells us a

near-death experience a shade his Olympic training.

Then I'm off to Kabul in Afghanistan to meet the tight one

day fighter who has become a symbol of hope in a nation which has

rarely seen fighting as something Jamaica is full of history like

this fantastic old plantation house. That is one of the lovely things

about standing on an Olympic podium and feeling like you are creating a

bit of history yourself. If it happened for this athlete from

Kosovo it would not be quite so simple, because Kosovo is not

recognised by the IOC, so her journey to London 2012 has been

beset with obstacles but sporting and political. She is a judo

fighter from a town in Kosovo's mountainous regions. While our

surroundings are idyllic, Kosovo's Since Kosovo declared independence

from Serbia four years ago, its Olympic Committee has struggled to

meet the IOC's criteria for membership in time for London 2012.

This athlete has been to the capital to see how the sporting

ambitions of Kosovo's athletes are Given Kosovo's recent history, a

proficiency with guns is probably not how they wish to promoted the

state, but this Top Gun believe she These women are podcasts athletes.

At a recent competition, she shot more than enough to make the grade

for the London Olympics, but she will not be going for gold this

summer because Kosovo is unable to but she does forward to compete

internationally. -- shooters. The talent baby here, but international

experience is lacking. Politics is providing them from providing

athletes and the frustration is Kosovo has applied to the

International Shipping Federation three times and been turned down.

The results may be brought class, but getting recognition for Kosovo

is proving a more difficult target. So, for now, these glamourous

gunslingers are restricted internationally to from the

competitions in neighbouring Albania and Macedonia. -- friendly.

But in this town, tucked away in the mountainous regions of western

Kosovo, a young judo fighter offers some hope. She is one of the few

Kosovans who can compete on the world stage after a spot's

governing body recently agreed to recognise Kosovo -- her sport. It

is something of a rarity for Kosovo to host international sporting

tournaments, and it is the first time the formal world champion has

competed in front of such a large and partisan home crowd. I am the

only one from my country who goes in the Olympics. There is a little

bit of pressure. I do not want to disappoint them. I also want to

show the other athletes because nothing is impossible. This is a

far cry from how this hall was used to 13 years ago. A resident tells

us in 1999, during the conflict with Serbia, Serb forces gathered

hundreds of locals in this hall and park their tanks outside,

presumably to give NATO Bombers the impression it was a military target.

Kosovo experienced heavy bombing as NATO targeted Serbian forces in the

region. The homes of both Serbs and Kosovans were burned down in

revenge attacks. In a country that still bears the scars of his

troubled past, or she represents a hope for a brighter future. Golf is

ago, she and her friends Road this on the wall at the end of her

street. -- 12 years ago. Her Olympic dream is now within her

grasp, but the question is, will she be flying the flag there for

Kosovo? This one is from the European Championships. She has put

the qualification criteria for London 2012, but to date Kosovo has

not. When we spoke to her, she had two options - compete as an

independent or fight for Albania, something she has done before.

go as an independent athlete, everybody would ask who I was. They

would then know that I am from Kosovo. This would also be OK for

me. I would not like to go for Albania or another country. If I

had no other choice, I have to do this. In the end, the choice was

taken out of her hands. At its last meeting before the Games, the IOC

reasoned that because she has competed for Albania before, she

should do so again in London. Her Olympic dream remains alive.

Although she will fight in London for Albania, Kosovo's battle for

international sporting recognition Many of our world or Olympic dreams

athletes have to put up with conflict. We have seen that a lot

on his programme. Another example of someone who has had violence

very close to home is this Trinidade in her blood. Last year,

I join him in his own. He has since met the qualification time for it

London 2012. He tells us what is Trinidad is a small country. I am

all about showcasing it and showing that there is talent in Trinidad.

For me it is all about representing white and black. Just to bring back

that national pride. Sometimes I really wanted and ask why I am

doing it. I think that in life you have to make sacrifices. I just

give my best every day so that when the day comes for my heats I will

take it one run at a time. In 2008 I was at home, sitting in the

living room and a landslide came down. It destroyed the entire back

half of my house. It Ashley stock in the room that I was in. It was

really an experience to be in the room by the roadside was taking

place. It took a toll on me. I was kind of happy and grateful for God.

He paved the way for me. Eventually my eyes were opened. I am making a

living for myself. I am here giving back to my parents to make sure

they can live comfortably. We recently put these walls up earlier

this year. The roof has just started to go on. Right now I'm in

a position where I can help out by family and hopefully we can live a

better life and everyone can feel more comfortable at home. As you

concede this is my boy. He is also one of my team-mates. There is a

bunch of us doing hurdles now. There is a competitive rivalry

I think that we all look out for each other. We all started from

scratch and this is where we are today. We are all there in support.

As you can see for yourself we all have to come out here and said up

the hurdles. My coach, my family, my club, they all give me grounded.

I know where I come from. They always remind me where I come from.

While warming up, I try to picture what is going to happen in my race.

It is going to be really interesting. The world is going to

see something that they never saw before. At this point in time I'm

feeling really motivated and I am working really hard with my coach

and training partners. I am really going out there to give it my best

shot. I am going to release my body and once I release my body we are

all going to see something Back in Jamaica, I'm at William

Knibb Memorial High School with the island's next generation of Olympic

hopefuls. This is no ordinary school. This is where Usain Bolt

was transformed from a speedy schoolboy into a world class

sprinter. They're still using the same grass track their most famous

pupil trained on and I've come to meet the teacher who set Bolt on

the road to becoming the world's fastest man. We are proud to know

that Usain is a Jamaican, we are proud to know that we have produced

someone like Usain who was able to bring back athletics to the highest

level. He's a very humble person but very friendly person. He always

had to be on the move, that's Usain, full of life, and fun loving,

always mischievous. We're a small country but we're a very proud

country and we have our athletes to showcase throughout the whole world.

Clearly Jamaica hasn't changed beyond recognition because of Bolt.

But what he has done is give the next generation of athletes here

hope they can be the best in the world. He's the greatest

inspiration to a lot of young athletes in Jamaica. He inspires us

a lot to train harder, to be like him and be even better. That's why

I come here every day - to work harder because everything takes

time. I know one day I'll probably achieve what Usain has achieved in

life. It's obvious looking at these students that there's a lot more

talent to come out of Jamaica, but we shouldn't forget that for every

athlete who makes it to the Olympic Games there are dozens more if not

hundreds more who don't qualify. Now we've known filming World

Olympic Dreams following 25 stories from round the world that some

would struggle through injury or illness or just not making the

qualifying standard, but we didn't predict was that one would choose

an alternative path at the eleventh hour. But that's exactly what

British swimmer Acheing Ajulu- Bushell did. So in December last

year, I made the decision to leave swimming behind and focus on my

academic studies leading into my A level year. It's obviously one of

the hardest decisions that I've had to make as swimming has been such a

massive part of my life for so long. But I'm happy with the ways things

are going at the moment, a couple of months on and things are going

well. I think it's been really hard. I mean the ramifications of what

it's meant for my everyday life - just such a lack of structure and

having such massive chunks of time where I'm like 'what shall I do?'

It's been really hard trying to move forwards and create a new

structure and create a new routine. When I used to swim it took 24

hours of my week. When I think about my academic studies I think a

lot more long term and so I think that focusing on my academics is

going to give me opportunities which will far outreach the

opportunities that swimming could have, has given me, I guess. That's

not to say that I don't value the sport and I don't think it can take

you far because I've travelled all over the world and met some amazing

people and it has been an amazing experience. When we set out on this

journey two years ago, we chose 25 athletes to follow. Some have made

it, some have not and others are still waiting to find out. The

Mongolian boxer Enkbatyn Badar- Uugan will not take part after he

injured his back and missed the Olympic qualification tournament.

Namibia's Merlin Diamond has still not run the required Olympic

standard time. Niggling injuries continue to haunt her training and

time is running out for the cheetah of Namibia. MC Mary Kom, India's

boxing mother of two has booked her place at the London Games. To

qualify, she finished as the second best Asian fighter at the recent

Women's World Boxing Championships. And finally, Nader el Masri, the

long distance runner from the Gaza strip is also struggling to run

fast enough to qualify. Welcome to Kabul, Afghanistan. This is a trip

I've wanted to make for a long time. Security issues have stopped us

coming a couple of times but, finally, I'm about to meet a

national hero here. At the Beijing Games a taekwondo fighter called

Rohullah Nikpai won Afghanistan's first ever Olympic medal. Since

2008, Rohullah has proved that bronze medal was not just a one-off.

Last year World Olympic Dreams followed Rohullah to Korea where he

won bronze at the World Taekwondo Championships. It all helped add to

the weight of expectation back home here in Kabul. Rohullah Nikpai is

changing what it means to be from Afghanistan. Kicking against a tide

of war stories, for him, being Afghan is about competing on the

world stage. It's about pride in his country and, hopefully once

Nearly four years on from that medal performance in Beijing,

Rohullah still uses this gym. It's the place where he started out in

the outskirts of Kabul. It's pretty much a domestic house that's been

converted and you can see it's not even the correct width for a proper

taekwondo mat. The facilities here may still be wanting but Rohullah

remains focused on one goal - proving he can equal or better his

2008 bronze this summer in London. And if this training session is

anything to go by, he's still a real threat. You can feel the power

just coming right up through here and the most worrying thing is...

From the moment his foot leaves the floor you can't see it. Thank you.

Across this country Rohullah's success is proving inspirational.

And for some fledgling sports here inspiration is about all there is.

Meet the Afghanistan Water Polo Squad. The team - made up of

farmers, shopkeepers and soldiers - is the brainchild of a US Marine

who is hoping they can qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. That goal

is a tall order though. And this is what they're up against. This is

one of only about a dozen swimming pools in the whole of Afghanistan.

It's outside so in winter it's completely unusable. And sports

politics being what it is, the swimmers train here. The water polo

players - they have to find somewhere else. When I catch up

with them they're training in an indoor pool as the guests of a

local businessman. It's a one off - organised we think because we're

filming - and it's not going according to plan. A couple of

problems - there are no goals that I can see and a bit of confusion

down the other end because there's no water polo ball. So someone's

been sent to buy one and hopefully we'll have some sport to watch in a

minute or two. Eventually a ball - albeit a football - turns up. And

training gets underway. The players themselves are under no illusions

about the obstacles they face but at the same time it's impossible to

question what taking part means to them. As sporting struggles go

you'd have to go a long way to beat the Afghan Water Polo Team. There

is no tradition of aquatic sports in this landlocked country. Three

of the team have been killed in the war. And a plan for a month's

training in America is being blocked. It's a reminder that here,

perhaps more than anywhere else on earth, sporting dreams survive

against overwhelming odds. Next time, look out for Haider Rashid,

the rower from Iraq. He has one final chance to qualify for London

2012. American gymnast Shaun Johnson on her rocky road to the

London Games as seen through the eyes of her mother. A British

triathlete on why Yorkshire is where the heart is. And the land of

runners. How does one valley in Kenya produce so many Olympic

champions? He does not look particularly encouraging. -- it

does. Much of the rainfall is going to be overnight and the first part

of Monday. Much of the rain is coming over England and Wales. It

will gradually work its way over towards the eastern side of England.

A separate area of cloud is plaguing the northern corner of

Scotland on Monday. Even that is on the move. It will not be a cold

start to the day across central and eastern parts. It is rather dank

across parts of the south-east, East Midlands and East Anglia.

Temperatures are into double figures. Further north, Newcastle

and the borders, some sunshine. Out towards the west of Scotland, north

of Northern Ireland, dry and sunny. A similar prospect across Wales,

West Midlands, north-west of England and the south-west as well.

One or two showers perhaps, but that is the extent of it. It will

be a rather reasonable day. Even across the north-east of Scotland,

things beginning to buck up. You notice, Northern Ireland, a cool

afternoon. A settling of showers elsewhere. Highs of a 19-20 degrees.

Tuesday is quiet. Notice we have that weather front dangling across

parts of Scotland and the far north of England. That is going to be the

mechanism that generates one or two showers. Elsewhere, a lot of dry

weather around. Maybe the odd shower. It will feel like summer.

21 degrees. Tuesday into Wednesday, I hope we can keep these two areas