14/01/2012 World Olympic Dreams

Welcome to the latest edition of World Olympic Dreams, obviously

this time from Africa. We're in Namibia and we've been filming for

the last two years with athletes from all round the world. 18 months

ago, I came here to film with Merlin Diamond, a young sprinter

who's hoping to qualify for London We'll be seeing more of Merlin and

more of these guys later in the show. In the programme: I'll find

out how months at a training camp in Mauritius blunted Merlin's

Olympic ambitions. Now she must rebuild her confidence and refocus

her mind. Did it feel like your chances of competing in London were

slipping away? Yes, it did actually feel as if they were slipping away.

Also coming up: Nader el Masri, a long distance runner from Gaza,

explains how politics in the Middle East have endangered his chances of

making it to London 2012. freezing right now. A team of

sprinters from Belgium endure a punishing team-bonding session that

takes them to Iceland, where they must trek 80 kilometres across a

glacier. And we'll find out how Mongolia's long and proud tradition

of sport has finally produced a new Nader el Masri is a Palestinian

5,000 metre runner. He was given a wildcard for the Beijing Olympics

in 2008, so when we first met him on the dusty streets of the Gaza

Strip, he was already an Olympian. Even if conditions meant he didn't

train like one. Everything is difficult here and with four

children to support on my salary, I can't eat enough of the right

things. Since Hamas came to power, an Israeli blockade has made it

difficult for goods to come in and for many of the 1.5 million

inhabitants to get out. Nader is one of the lucky ones. He is

occasionally allowed out for international competitions.

Facilities are scarce here, yet many young athletes are making the

most of their situation, as Jon found out. If you're young in Gaza,

life can be pretty dull. Everywhere you go, you see people with time on

their hands. The United Nations says around 70% of Gaza's

population is under 25. Youth unemployment is over 55%. This is

parkour. Part gymnastics, part breakdance, part rock climbing. And

for the past five years, these three young men have been throwing

themselves around the Strip. It's a fast-moving sport, using all your

athletic abilities to get from A to B as quickly and smoothly as

possible. When Hamas came to power, Israel tightened its blockade of

this tiny stretch of land. Israel regards Hamas as a terrorist group.

But the blockade effectively crushed the sporting ambitions of

most young Palestinians, making it very difficult to leave the Strip.

Nevertheless, one man is determined not to allow the situation to ruin

his dream of qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics. Nader el

Masri. The fastest man in Gaza. But there are few places to train and

nobody to train with. I have a coach but there's nobody at my

level to run with, so I have to do most of my training on my own.

Nader has only been able to run one big race in Gaza this year - the

Strip's first ever marathon. By chance, the tiny Palestinian

territory is almost exactly 26 miles long, so the runners covered

it top to bottom. But only a handful of athletes completed the

course. Nader won at a canter. Not ideal preparation for somebody

trying to make it to London in the 5,000 metres. As far as training

facilities go in Gaza, this is about as good as it gets. There

isn't a single tartan track in the whole of the Gaza Strip and that,

of course, is what Nader will have to run on if he makes it to London

2012. All we've got here, well, it's cinder and sand. Now, Nader is

packing up and getting out of Gaza for a few weeks. Not easy in the

Hamas-governed territory, which remains under Israeli blockade. For

most Palestinians, the only way out is south through Egypt. And that's

where Nader is heading - to Cairo. In terms of inspiration, it doesn't

get much better than this. But Nader is not here to see the sights.

He's in Cairo for a week-long training camp and, at last, the

chance to run on a decent track. a track like this I can see my

split times for every 100, 400 and 1,000 metres. That means I know

exactly how I'm doing and what more I need to achieve. It makes such a

difference. After Cairo, the next stop is Qatar and the Arab Games.

But Nader needs to think big. He's been told he won't get a wildcard

place for the Olympics next year, so he has to get the qualifying

time. That means knocking around 40 seconds off his personal best.

Nader will need to be inspired if Back in Namibia, I'm preparing to

meet their best hope for Olympic success - Merlin Diamond. I've

already met her here once before. In the summer of 2010 she was still

at school, where she studied all day before heading down to Windhoek

Stadium for another four hours of training. And last year she visited

the UK for the first time to see the Olympic stadium. The thrill of

seeing the track was soon mitigated by the pressing feeling that the

Olympics were not far away. It's around the corner, it's not far.

The competition is basically already here, just waiting for us.

I've come back to Namibia to see how she's progressing. Early 2011

was really positive for Merlin. She was returning to full fitness,

starting to run fast and had plans to go to Mauritius, which at the

outset looked like it could be the camp, the place to catapult her to

Olympic standard. But it didn't end up being that at all. Merlin was

sponsored to spend six months on the Indian Ocean island by the

IOC's development fund, but far from home and suffering from a

hamstring injury, she fell into a sort of depression that only

frustrated athletes seem to know. I've been here for at least three

months, so I'm getting to miss home, people back home, do all my crying

and then get out there like nothing ever happened. Looking back, she

realises the camp was not all it was cracked up to be. The medical

facilities were very poor and the food and all that was really poor.

It did actually make me very unhappy. I would really get

depressed. I mostly wanted to be on my own or not be around the other

athletes. And when you were in Mauritius, did it feel like your

chances of competing in London were slipping away? Yes, it did actually

feel as if they were slipping away. In the end, the decision was to cut

short the Mauritius training camp and come home. I came back. In

about two weeks or so I started feeling better. It is much more

comfortable being with people I know and knowing that actually I

can get what I want here. Back in Namibia, Merlin still faces

challenges. She's out of shape, she's struggling to recover from

injury and she's running nowhere near as fast as she used to or

needs to for a chance of qualifying. This is the third time I've filmed

with Merlin and throughout all the time I've known her, she's always

been engaging and confident and outgoing and probably never more so

than on this trip. But it's quite clear that seven month spell in

Mauritius last year, 2011, has affected her and left a mark, and

it's not a good mark at all. Herman Davin and his wife have been

sponsoring Merlin since shortly after a road accident killed their

two teenage daughters, Suzelle and Janine, themselves once promising

athletes. For Herman, watching Merlin struggle has been hard.

picked her up at the airport and she was not a happy chap. She was

unhappy, unfit, overweight and I think she was also down because she

wasn't sure what the next step was going to be. We decided that you

can only qualify for the Olympics once in four years, so we thought

that we will give everything for the next six months and see if she

qualifies. Crucial to qualifying will be recovering from injury.

Punishing biokinetic sessions aimed to build Merlin's strength. She is

still Namibia's strongest hope for an Olympic medal for a long time,

certainly since their only ever Olympic medalist, Frankie

Fredericks, who won four silvers in the 90s. As he sees it, London may

end up being a Games too soon. believe that maybe 2012 will be

putting a little bit too much pressure on her. I think she has

about six months to make sure she gets it all together. And we know

in sprinting that will be very difficult, otherwise she will peak

and then it will be difficult to peak in London. Despite all her

setbacks, something continues to drive Merlin Diamond. Sprinting is

what she does, it's what she is, it's been a huge part of her life

since she can remember. Merlin Diamond has been on a long journey,

but now she's facing the prospect of running out of road. The date of

the London 2012 Olympics is moving We'll come back to Merlin's story

later in the programme. Namibia gets more than 300 days of sunshine

in any given year, and you can see from this dried-up riverbed, they

don't get a lot of rain, which means if Merlin does qualify for

London 2012, she is going to have to acclimatise to the unpredictable

British weather. That's true for every athlete, but two Belgian

members of the track and field team are taking it the extra mile. Kevin

and Jonathan Borlee are identical twins. And as with all siblings,

they share a healthy rivalry. fact that we are twin brothers

helps us in training every day, because I'm as strong as him.

both run the 400 metres and are no strangers to intensive training.

Last winter we caught up with them at a special training camp on the

island of Lanzarote. Since then, the brothers have made history by

becoming the first set of identical twins to race in a world athletics

championship final. Kevin proved to be fastest on the day, taking the

bronze medal. But their preparation for London 2012 recently took an

unexpected detour via an Icelandic Langjokull. A landscape carved from

ice. But these are not Arctic explorers. This is a group of

sprinters preparing for the 2012 summer Olympics. On skis, or in

sledges, in snow bound isolation. Iceland is far removed from what

these athletes will experience in London.

I'm freezing right now. You know, we have to give our best, try to

stay focused, motivated. Iceland's second largest glacier,

temperatures dip to minus 20. As the group of nine Belgian athletes

trek from west to east. Among them, twins, Jonathan Borlee

and his brother Kevin. Recently named Belgium's Sportsman of the

Year for his bronze at the World Championships.

For five days, the group snake across the snow and ice. The going

is tough. Monotonous. Arduous. And slow. Physical is the basis, mental

is what makes the difference between people. When you start, you

have to go to the other side because there are no other escape

or ways to go out. Here, the weather can change without warning.

Forcing the group to hurriedly pitch camp.

Athletics is an individual sport, but when it comes to the Olympics,

individuals compete for their country. For a team. By coming here

to Iceland and these harsh, inhospitable conditions, the

Belgian runners have to work for each other. They hope they'll build

enough team unity to give them the competitive edge come London 2068.

-- 2012. It's beautiful for the spirit and for my team. It's very,

very important that we work for the mind.

The natural beauty of this environment is tempered by the

endurance required. Soon, blisters take their toll. If they make

wrinkles, it's going to kill your foot. It wasn't easy as the last

five days, but, you know, it was easier with them than only two of

us, so it's a really good team, I think we can do some really good

stuff. It takes spirit and a strong mind

to compete a trek like this. On such mental fortitude, Olympic

dreams are made. To read Kieran Fox's journal from

that glacial trek, log on to the website at www.bbc.co.uk/2012 and

look out for World Olympic Dreams. Namibia isn't necessarily a country

you associate with Olympic success and neither is Mongolia. Mongolia

joined the Olympic Games for the first time in 1964 and they had a

44-year wait for their first gold medal. But that happened in Beijing

in 2008 where they won, not just their first, but two Olympic golds.

One of those was to boxer, Enkbatyn Badar-Uugan. Last time we met him,

he was injured and had to content himself with just some light

training. He told us just how important the Olympics are to him.

TRANSLATION: It's only once every four years. You prepare so hard to

qualify and then you only get one chance. It's the pinnacle for every

After showing us around the streets, the city that he grew up in, he

told us how he got into boxing. Transmy father told me, don't fight

on the street, it's not real fighting. If you are really good at

it, try to do it in the ring and become a success. But his Olympic

success has been an inspiration to his country and he's keen that his

gold medal leads to many more, but then Mongolia already has a long

and proud sporting tradition, as our reporter, son geet that Myska,

found out. -- Sangita Myska found out.

It's mid summer Mongolia. From across the planes that surround the

mining city of Erdenet, competitors gather.

They've come to take part in the ancient sports festival called the

Naadam. It's just after 7.30, first day of the Naadam, first event to

kick things off is this stallion race. All the horses will be ridden

by children, the youngest of whom is just seven.

It's a spectacular combination of sight and sound. The pace is

incredible. Over 25 kilometres we drive at heart-stopping speed just

to keep up. This race is just one of the three sports that make up

the festival. The other events are based at Erdenet Stadium. While the

archery happens in the grounds outside, most eyes are focused on

the battles take place within the arena in the wrestling.

Naadam is the constant in Mongolian life. For centuries, it's the one

thing Mongolia, as a whole nation, stops and celebrates every year.

It's the event which gives this country its legends and heroes. But

Mongolia's sporting achievements are no longer stuck in the past.

I don't think I've seen anybody this this entire competition put in

as clear and as clearly defined body shots as this fellow. In 2008,

after 44 years of competing, this country finally won its first

Olympic gold medals, creating a national hero of the boxer, Mary

Kom. He explained to my the significance of his victory.

TRANSLATION: There were lots of Mongolians in the crowd watching me

in Beijing. They started counting down for me. With five seconds to

go, I thought, I am the champion. It was a first for my country and I

was proud of myself. After Beijing, we felt we had arrived. People

started to realise that it was achievable to win golds at the

Olympics. Sport is absolutely central to

Mongolian culture and time and again people tell me how proud they

are of the Olympic success because it's brought this country

international attention. Interest has been boosted in games that are

It's here in this remote Olympic training camp that among ol ya

hopes to nurture its future stars - - Mongolia. Wrestlers are in

training today, but according to their coach, this generation of

athletes are enticed by the possibility of medal success in

sports like boxing, that are rltively new in this country. --

relatively new. After the 2008 Olympics, a number of people in the

sport of wrestling switched to other sports because they thought

it was easier to win medals. It's big ambitions in almost every walk

of life that's changing Mongolia beyond recognition. Society is on

the move from the countryside into the capital. Rapid expansion's

brought its problems. Shanty suburbs and fractured communities.

Munkbat Chimeddorj is using another sport to the country, football to

help migrant children stay out of trouble.

TRANSLATION: If they were not playing football, I believe they

would probably be on the streets, hanging out with the wrong type of

people. It's hard to control the kids that move to the city from the

countryside. They are used to being out running around, but on the

streets of the city, there are many more dangers.

Sport has always played a big role in Mongolia's national life, but

thanks at least in part to the Olympics, it's reach and impact is

greater than ever. More now on the Namibia sprinter Merlin Diamond who

grew up here and is trying to qualify for the Olympic Games in

London. We heard in the first part of the programme how she went on a

frankly pretty disastrous training camp to Mauritius, came back

depressed and injured and is running out of time to reach the

qualifying standard for the Olympic Games. But if it's one thing I know

about athletes and indeed successful Olympic athletes, it's

that they never, ever give up. It's Sunday morning in the Namibia

capital Windhoek. As far as Merlin is concerned, Sundays are what they

were designed for. Rest and church. How important is church for you

maybe in life, also in connection with your sport? Church is actually

very much important because without God you are not able to reach

anywhere because he gives you the strength to do everything that you

do in life actually. Do you find yourself in church

thinking about the challenge of your sport and your running and

asking him for help? Most of the times I ask him for help, pray for

more strength. You never pray to win? It's not all about winning.

But I do pray for more strength to get to where I want to be. Church

in Namibia is a colourful, energetic affair. No matter how

eventful her sporting life is, former Lynn, coming here every

Sunday remains a constant. Sporting confidence comes from lots of

different sources. Some people talk about heart, some people talk about

mental hardness, but being here in Namibia with Merlin Diamond, it's

really clear that her sporting strength in a big way comes from

this church. Merlin has been christened the

cheetah of Namibia and I'm determined not to leave the country

without seeing the real thing. Have you ever seen animals in the

wild before? No. I don't really go close to the

wild animals. Never been up close with a cheetah? Usually when you

watch TV and so on, you watch cheetahs eating people, so you

don't really go close to them. cheetahs we are on the way to see

though are different, all orphans rescued by a sanctuary and friendly

to humans - apparently. OK Johannes, we are ready.

So sleek. I can't believe how long they are and how thin. It's like a

little engine. Do you think you've got anything in common with these

guys? We all go for the speed here. We are all sprinters. You've still

got the pictures of the Stratford Stadium on your phone? Yes, I look

at it all the time. So how are you feeling generally when you talk

about the Olympics? Are you feeling 100% positive? I am 100% positive.

You know, it's the first time that I'll be trying to qualify for the

Olympics so it's a totally big thing for me. With time, after my

recovery, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make it.

Wherever you are in the world, the end of the day, just the last dying

light of the day is always a magical moment. You just get these

fantastic colours and it gives you a chance to reflect. This is my

second trip filming with Merlin Diamond and it just reinforces for

me just how mature and generous she is with her time and her family are

fantastic. But she is coming to a crunch point now in her sports

career. She's got some big ifs: If she can get back to full fitness,

if she can run the qualifying time, then all those pieces fall into

place and she's going to be coming to London 2012. If, if, if all of

that works.... I think Windhoek and Namibia are going to have a new

star to look at. Throughout the rest of 2012. That's it from the

peace and tranquility of Namibia from Windhoek and this edition of

World Olympic Dreams. Coming up next time: They call her