World Class 2012 in partnership with the British Council bring you the stories of the schools where the dreams begin.

Merlin Diamond competes in the 100m and 200m track events and is one of Namibia's rising athletics stars.

She is mentored by Frankie Fredericks, Namibia's Olympic sprinter.

Merlin is currently at secondary school in Windhoek, Namibia's capital, and also went to primary school in the city.

Merlin's schools

Auas Primary School

Merlin's achievements show our children what you can do if you set your mind to it. Our pupils all work hard to be a credit to the school Gerson Kongoro, head teacher

Auas Primary is one of the largest schools in Namibia with 1,400 pupils.

Pupils are proud of Merlin's success and say that it has "put their school on the map."

The school's students come from a wide range of backgrounds including the townships in Windhoek.

Athletics is the most popular sport at the school and they hope to improve their sports facilities in the run up to 2012.

In addition to Merlin, the pupils' role models are Frankie Fredericks and Namibia's football and rugby players.

Find out about Merlyn's school days and more about the school.

Jan Mohr Secondary School

Merlin at school, June 2010 We are proud to have Merlin at our school and she is an inspiration to the rest of our pupils Clement Kloppers, head teacher

Merlin is currently studying at Jan Mohr Secondary School in Windhoek.

The school takes great pride in Merlin's achievements.

According to the school, the sprinting superstar "puts everything into her training" but is also committed to her studies and works part-time to help support her family. For these reasons, fellow pupils look up to her and see her as a role model.

Jan Mohr Secondary want to see Merlin pursue her dream of competing at the Olympics and hope to see her go on to become Namibia's first female Olympic medallist.

Find out how Merlin balances school work and training and more about the school.

World Olympic Dreams

Merlin is one of the athletes being tracked as London 2012 approaches and they strive to make their Olympic dreams a reality.

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