Olympic Dreams: new series
by John Douglas, Series Producer, Olympic Dreams
Olympic Dreams, the BBC’s long-term documentary series, continues this summer with four 45 minute films on BBC One in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. They are being broadcast on Thursdays at 10.35pm from 15th July to 5th August.
The series is a very personal and intimate account of elite athletes’ lives as they fight to achieve Olympic glory. For some, Beijing has come too soon and they will hope to make it to London 2012; others, such as diving prodigy Tom Daley, have done the unexpected and qualified for an Olympics four years earlier than planned. The video diary from Tom in his hotel room in Beijing after he qualified for the Olympics is an amazing piece of television.
This series features two additional sports: judo and wheelchair rugby. Players from these new sports join other hopefuls in cycling, diving, athletics, rowing, Paralympic dressage, table tennis and gymnastics. The narrator is actress Tamsin Greig.
This new series is co-funded with The Open University. Ben Oakley, Senior Lecturer in Sports Studies, is the academic consultant to the programme: “It takes about 10 years for an Olympic champion to develop – someone who is just the best in their field on the planet. They are very special people. Someone who is going to win gold in 2012 will probably be going to Beijing in 2008, or at least knocking on the door. Olympic Dreams shows how the athletes, and the people around them, sacrifice themselves for this unique opportunity.”
BBC Sport is supporting the series with a website of online photo galleries, exclusive video, profiles and behind-the-scenes features. This is giving the series a permanent life online and some great additional material, all at bbc.co.uk/olympicdreams. The associated Open University website at open2.net/olympicdreams has further video diaries from the competitors and extracts from the Open University’s sports courses.
The whole project has the continued support of many areas across the BBC, including Nations and Regions, Sport, Children’s and Online. This has been invaluable in the making of the series so far. With the Beijing games over, all eyes will be on London 2012 and the pressure and expectation on our young athletes will grow and grow. Olympic Dreams will continue to follow them during this extraordinary period to tell their amazing personal stories.
Related links
- BBC Olympics
- BBC Paralympics
- BBC Sport
- BBC Beijing coverage
- BBC Topics - China '08
- Olympic Dreams 2008 - Team GB
- BBC London 2012 coverage
- BBC Outreach
- London 2012 website
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