:00:04. > :00:08.Olympic dreams. Matthew Pinsent travels to Brazil to find out how
:00:08. > :00:18.athletes there are gearing up for the London Olympics and the real
:00:18. > :00:51.
:00:51. > :00:57.When you think about sport in Brazil, there is one image that
:00:57. > :01:00.springs to mind. These guys might explain why they have produced so
:01:00. > :01:08.many fantastic footballers over the years, but sport here is more than
:01:08. > :01:11.this. Rio will host the Olympic Games in 2016. I have come here to
:01:11. > :01:19.find out just how sport fits into this amazing country - beyond the
:01:19. > :01:24.beautiful game. This programme will take me from the beachfront at
:01:24. > :01:30.Ipanema to the backstreets. If you don't train for sport, you will get
:01:30. > :01:34.knocked out. Life is like that. will meet for young men hoping that
:01:34. > :01:41.rugby is the next thing here. thought it was just for girls. But
:01:41. > :01:44.then I picked up the ball, started to run and play properly. And a
:01:44. > :01:48.young boxer whose life changed forever when his father was gunned
:01:48. > :01:56.down and killed. I really miss him. Being able to share my success with
:01:56. > :02:03.him. And the mayor tells me the IOC were right to put their faith in
:02:04. > :02:13.Brazil. The Olympics is about change. It is about changing each
:02:14. > :02:19.
:02:19. > :02:22.city. Come to Rio. It is 6am at this rowing club.
:02:22. > :02:32.Still half asleep, it is a daily routine for rowers all over the
:02:32. > :02:38.
:02:38. > :02:41.world. One thing I definitely do not miss is these early mornings.
:02:41. > :02:48.Before the blistering summer heat makes any strenuous activity a
:02:48. > :02:51.chore, these rowers are putting in the hours. Month after month. It is
:02:51. > :02:57.a tradition that goes back over a century. And maybe the best is yet
:02:57. > :03:07.to come. In 2016, this lagoon will host the rowing and kayaking in the
:03:07. > :03:13.
:03:13. > :03:23.Summer Olympics. It is hard to imagine a more spectacular setting
:03:23. > :03:23.
:03:23. > :03:26.for competition. And this lake is at the heart of a city that lives
:03:26. > :03:33.and breathes sport and the outdoor life.
:03:33. > :03:43.MUSIC. The body beautiful is an obsession
:03:43. > :03:46.
:03:46. > :03:56.in Rio. Any free time, you will find the people of the city trying
:03:56. > :04:00.
:04:00. > :04:08.to push that little bit more out of themselves. The next few years are
:04:08. > :04:18.huge for Brazilian sport. The World Cup comes here in 2014. Two years
:04:18. > :04:20.
:04:20. > :04:29.later, Rio will host the Olympic Games. And not just in sport.
:04:29. > :04:39.Brazil today has a new confidence and sense of energy. Rio's downtown
:04:39. > :04:39.
:04:39. > :04:42.is a testament to an economy that is starting to boom. They have
:04:42. > :04:45.found oil off the coast here and by some measures Brazil has recently
:04:45. > :04:52.overtaken the UK to become the sixth largest economy in the world.
:04:52. > :04:56.There are rich pickings to be had. While the rest of the globe is in
:04:56. > :05:06.recession, as far as they are concerned here, it is a matter of
:05:06. > :05:13.
:05:13. > :05:17.crisis, what crisis? The world is different these days. It what you
:05:17. > :05:22.guys are feeling up there, it is not messing up with us down here. A
:05:22. > :05:32.few years ago, if you got the flu, we would have pneumonia here. Now
:05:32. > :05:39.
:05:39. > :05:42.things are fine here. We're a country that is rising. The link
:05:42. > :05:46.between economic and sport in success in Brazil was back to the
:05:46. > :05:49.turn of the 19th-century. Today's generation of young rowers are
:05:49. > :05:52.following in the footsteps of the moneyed elite who took to bowling
:05:52. > :05:58.as a means of getting fit and impressing the young ladies. Over
:05:59. > :06:02.the years, the club has expanded and taken on other sports. The
:06:02. > :06:05.football team that grew out of this club have hosted some of the
:06:05. > :06:09.world's greatest players. But its origins are in rowing and it all
:06:09. > :06:19.began here. In this cafe, the rowers who formed this club first
:06:19. > :06:28.met. Today, it is probably more famous for its beef steaks. But it
:06:28. > :06:37.is a welcome break from the heat of the day for one world-class athlete.
:06:37. > :06:40.I rode against her husband in two World Championships. She is quietly
:06:40. > :06:43.confident that people will see a different side to Brazil during the
:06:43. > :06:53.Olympics and the rest of the world will realise that there is more to
:06:53. > :06:56.
:06:56. > :06:59.sport than just football. Football is the flagship of Brazilian sport.
:06:59. > :07:04.A lot of people come here to learn football. Brazilian players are
:07:04. > :07:14.exported to other countries. But people forget there are many, many
:07:14. > :07:16.people practising all sorts of other sports. There are many
:07:17. > :07:20.talents in sports which sometimes are not acknowledged here in Brazil.
:07:20. > :07:30.It is hard to get financial support because of this. People only want
:07:30. > :07:41.
:07:41. > :07:44.to invest in football. MUSIC.
:07:44. > :07:49.If Olympic sport in Brazil is to get more investment, it is going to
:07:49. > :07:57.need more people like Sarah. She is from a remote province on the
:07:57. > :08:05.fringes of the rainforest. At just 22, she is one of the country's
:08:05. > :08:09.best hopes for a medal at 2012. Maybe because she chose a sport
:08:09. > :08:18.which was less mainstream and not seen as a sport for girls, it was
:08:18. > :08:28.not easy. -- getting started was not easy. Her parents did not
:08:28. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:33.approve. At first, I would go to judo at school, do my homework real
:08:33. > :08:40.quick so my mum didn't suspect anything. But when I got better I
:08:40. > :08:43.needed a bus fare to get to practice. She got suspicious.
:08:43. > :08:47.the family is fully behind her and the success she has had judo has
:08:47. > :08:50.given her the discipline to do well at her studies as well. Even so,
:08:51. > :08:54.she still has one major hurdle to overcome. Myself. I am my main
:08:54. > :09:04.obstacle to winning right now. I need to overcome my nerves more.
:09:04. > :09:04.
:09:04. > :09:14.Technically, I am there. I just have to win the fight inside my
:09:14. > :09:21.head. This is part of Rio not many visitors sprawl into. For years,
:09:21. > :09:26.they have been linked to violence and crime. Like in London, the test
:09:26. > :09:30.will be what is left once the Olympics are over. There are more
:09:30. > :09:38.than 6 million people in Rio and it is how they benefit from the games
:09:38. > :09:43.that will be the ultimate measure of success. This new cable-car is
:09:43. > :09:51.getting people around more quickly. But will the legacy deliver in a
:09:51. > :09:55.way that makes a real difference? The mayor is confident it will.
:09:55. > :10:00.There is the gathering of this 15 days for everyone to get together
:10:00. > :10:06.to party. Rio is very used to that. The greatest change will be the
:10:06. > :10:09.legacy for the poorest people of the city. We know this will be a
:10:09. > :10:19.much better place to live and work. It will be more gentle to its
:10:19. > :10:23.people. This man -- the mayor also knows that the international
:10:23. > :10:29.community is taking a gamble in choosing Rio de Janeiro over the
:10:29. > :10:32.other candidates for the Games in 2016. He pull thought that hour
:10:32. > :10:42.weakness would be some of the problems that the city has. Would
:10:42. > :10:49.we use that as an asset. Chicago is a great city, as is Madrid. I am
:10:49. > :10:59.half Spanish. Torquil. But these guys have got everything. That is
:10:59. > :11:00.
:11:00. > :11:04.what we told the IOC member has. -- Tokyo in Japan. If the Olympics is
:11:05. > :11:09.about legacy and change then look no further than Rio de Janeiro off.
:11:09. > :11:16.It will certainly be a party here. This is a city that knows how to
:11:16. > :11:21.have a good time. The City is obviously proud of the things that
:11:21. > :11:27.make it famous. Partying, beaches and beautiful people. But the
:11:27. > :11:31.organisers you want the Games to make a difference in people's lives.
:11:31. > :11:35.One of the aims of the Olympic movement is to bring sport and
:11:35. > :11:39.different types of sport to people who may not normally get to
:11:39. > :11:44.participate. This left might look pretty insignificant, but it is
:11:44. > :11:53.part of a major project year to clear up many of the poorer parts
:11:53. > :11:57.of the city. Before the left was finished in 2010, the only way up
:11:57. > :12:01.from the bottom was all the way on these stairs. It is still a bit of
:12:01. > :12:11.a climb when you get to the top here, but I am told the family I am
:12:11. > :12:16.
:12:16. > :12:20.about to meet will make the climb worth it. These brothers have a
:12:20. > :12:25.surname which means passion in Portuguese. They discovered that
:12:25. > :12:32.sport is not all about the round ball. Rugby makes its Olympic debut
:12:32. > :12:38.when the Games come here in 2016. These boys are hoping they will be
:12:39. > :12:48.on the pitch. The eldest brother first discovered the game on the
:12:49. > :12:53.
:12:53. > :12:59.The first time I saw rugby ice up I thought it was just for girls. But
:12:59. > :13:06.then by started to play and I realised it was something different.
:13:06. > :13:10.And all four brothers soon got a field -- a feel for the game.
:13:10. > :13:15.Marcos plays for Brazil at international level and became the
:13:15. > :13:20.first member of his family ever to leave the country. Rugby is now in
:13:20. > :13:26.his blood. TRANSLATION: What does it mean to me? It has changed my
:13:26. > :13:31.life. Who knows, maybe one day I could play in a professional team
:13:31. > :13:41.and grow beyond that. Nobody wants to stay at the bottom. If you grow
:13:41. > :13:54.
:13:54. > :14:00.in sport, everything will be all When he is not playing rugby or
:14:00. > :14:05.building a home for his new wife, Max looks to hit the waves. A
:14:05. > :14:12.certain -- surfing school has been opened for for they let kids and a
:14:12. > :14:17.new rugby school is on the way. -- for favelas kids. I like feeling
:14:17. > :14:22.the the thrill of riding on the wave, standing upon the board. I
:14:22. > :14:27.began writing on a body board and then I thought, I have to change us,
:14:27. > :14:32.I have to stand up. So I stood upon the board and then I went to serve
:14:32. > :14:38.school. It is a great feeling gliding over the waves. It is great.
:14:38. > :14:42.Things are not always easy here. Drug crime and violence has been
:14:42. > :14:50.synonymous with the favelas for years now. There are some 26
:14:50. > :14:54.murders for every 100,000 people in Rio. A while back, a couple of my
:14:54. > :14:59.cousins who were drug traffickers were killed. I used to have are
:14:59. > :15:05.thought to my head that I wanted revenge. At least I thought about
:15:05. > :15:09.it. But then I started surfing and jujitsu. Then I found rugby. I have
:15:09. > :15:15.changed completely. I think sport leads people to do good things and
:15:15. > :15:22.not bad things. And things are beginning to change. Slowly, the
:15:22. > :15:27.police are moving in to push the drug lords out. At the end of the
:15:27. > :15:37.day, these boys and many like them in the favelas of Rio are loving
:15:37. > :15:38.
:15:38. > :15:42.life. And it shows. Can you see your house from here?
:15:42. > :15:47.When I came to Brazil, I did not want to go anywhere near the
:15:47. > :15:56.favelas but when you are standing here, you think those white sand
:15:56. > :16:01.beaches and the red umbrellas are a bit fake. This is the real Rio. The
:16:01. > :16:08.reality of how sport can make a difference here is in this man's
:16:08. > :16:13.story. Meet Roberto Custodio. At 23, he has won the Brazilian
:16:13. > :16:18.championship at welterweight. He is in with a shout of a place at the
:16:19. > :16:26.London Olympics. He lives where the drug lords still operate but he is
:16:26. > :16:30.one of the lucky ones. TRANSLATION: There is a lot of violence here.
:16:30. > :16:36.You wake up in the morning and don't know if you will make it back
:16:36. > :16:44.batty evening. U Thant God every day if you stay alive because you
:16:44. > :16:48.can stay at 10 -- you thank God every day. NEWLINE the middle of a
:16:48. > :16:54.gunfight, the police come in and you are in the wrong place at the
:16:54. > :17:01.wrong time. I have had friends that died like that. If you live in the
:17:02. > :17:10.favelas, you're just a statistic. The fight for peace Jim was set up
:17:10. > :17:15.by a British boxer in 2000. His aim is straight forward. We are here to
:17:15. > :17:20.run a successful boxing club and give kids satisfaction and training
:17:20. > :17:26.courses. They have to do the hard work. We do not do that. What we do
:17:26. > :17:30.is provide a structure. That is the premise for fight for peace. If you
:17:30. > :17:34.do not train, you get beaten. It is the same in any sport but it is
:17:34. > :17:41.particularly true in boxing because it hurts. If you do not trained for
:17:41. > :17:45.sport, you will get punched a lot and knocked out. Life is like that.
:17:45. > :17:50.Roberto has lived his life on the edge between the success he is
:17:50. > :17:55.seeing today and tragedy. When he was 13, his father fell out with
:17:55. > :18:05.the local drug dealers who control so much of life here. He fled but
:18:05. > :18:09.came back to visit and was executed. He was not an addict. He was just
:18:09. > :18:15.walking, a bus driver. I never thought I would lose my father that
:18:15. > :18:20.way. If people do wrong things, you sort of expect it. They either get
:18:20. > :18:30.arrested or killed. It is so difficult, I really miss him, being
:18:30. > :18:33.
:18:33. > :18:38.The people here believe firmly that if you show young people like
:18:38. > :18:43.Roberto an alternative to a life of crime and provide them with an
:18:43. > :18:48.education, it will reap benefits. Already, people here are feeling
:18:48. > :18:53.the effects of other favelas are being cleared of drug lords. Guns
:18:53. > :18:58.have been disappearing from the streets over the last few months.
:18:58. > :19:02.Something is changing. There is so much in the community which we
:19:02. > :19:07.should be proud of. Rather than put balls up in front of or say that
:19:07. > :19:11.you have to keep that over there, it is not part of our city, now
:19:11. > :19:14.because of the community policing programme, favelas are more
:19:14. > :19:20.accessible to people. They are learning that these are not
:19:20. > :19:25.terrible enclaves of violent people. 99 % of people who live here are
:19:25. > :19:29.hard-working individuals just trying to get by. Moments to
:19:29. > :19:36.remember. Life is changing for Roberto. Settling into a new home
:19:36. > :19:42.with his young family and dreaming of a place in the Olympics. My wife
:19:42. > :19:48.and daughter give me strength. My whole family do. When I am up there
:19:48. > :19:52.I think of everyone. Sometimes it is hard to get to a certain level
:19:53. > :20:01.when you come from a place like this but I think, they did this for
:20:01. > :20:07.myself. No one did this for me. It makes me so proud.
:20:07. > :20:10.I have been in Rio now for five days and everywhere you go, you are
:20:10. > :20:15.struck with this idea that Brazilians do things differently,
:20:15. > :20:20.whether it is housing, whether it is parting, whether it is sport
:20:20. > :20:25.like this, a mixture of football and volleyball. I finished my
:20:25. > :20:30.Olympic career in 2004 and I loved each of my Olympic experiences.
:20:30. > :20:35.People said I would miss it. Even in London, for the Games of 2012,
:20:35. > :20:40.my home city, I will have no problem watching other athletes,
:20:40. > :20:50.other British athletes compete and win. I know when I come to Rio, I
:20:50. > :20:58.
:20:58. > :21:06.It is late in the evening and the remains of another's day of fun in
:21:06. > :21:15.the sun are being cleared away. Still time for the boys of Rio
:21:15. > :21:21.Rugby to have another kickabout. For the Maixao brothers, it is a
:21:21. > :21:25.chance to hone those passing skills and enjoy the last hours of the day
:21:25. > :21:30.with their friends. Beach rugby will not figure in the official
:21:30. > :21:36.programme for Rio 2016 but when you finish watching the 7th on the
:21:36. > :21:42.pitch, I am sure you will find day day -- a game here on the sand. It
:21:42. > :21:46.is rear's way of saying hey, it is our style, these Olympics will be