Contents · greatest-ever Olympian – Sir Steve Redgrave,” ... today as both Ian Thorpe and...

The Olympics and Paralympics 2004 from the BBC

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2TV coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Selected highlights and Team GB medal hopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Broadcasting the Athens Olympic Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8bbc.co.uk/olympics and BBCi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10BBC Resources on track for Olympics coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12The complete television team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14TV interviews:

Sue Barker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Steve Rider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Hazel Irvine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Steve Cram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Clare Balding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Craig Doyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Jonathan Edwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Colin Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Michael Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Sir Steve Redgrave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Presenter/pundit tips and Olympic views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36BBC Radio Five Live – The Olympic station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40BBC Radio Five Live – presenter Q&As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42BBC News/Nations and Regions/BBC World/BBC World Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56The Paralympics 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57An Olympic theme: Olympia – Eternal Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Olympic facts and figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Olympic-related programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Contents

The Olympics and Paralympics 2004

bbc.co.uk/olympics

The 2004 Olympic Games is a meeting of theancient and the modern.The BBC’s coverage,of an event which stretches back into antiquity,will offer the very latest in 21st-centuryanalysis and technology.

The long journey of the Olympic Games beganmore than 2,700 years ago. In 1896 the firstmodern Olympic Games was held in Athensand, since that time, they have been on ajourney around the world for more than acentury. Now, at the dawn of the thirdmillennium, the Games are returning to thecountry of their birth.

Athens 2004 is a 16-day festival of liveinternational sport – from aquatics to athletics; boxing to badminton; football tohandball; sailing to softball;Taekwondo totennis; and weightlifting to wrestling – takingplace from 13 to 29 August.The competitionschedule involves 28 Olympic sports and 37disciplines, held throughout 35 venues. BBC TVwill broadcast over 1,200 hours of the 16-dayevent, bringing British audiences the globalstories of ambition, determination and courage,while capturing the excitement, drama andmagical moments of the Olympic Games.

“The BBC is proud to have broadcast everySummer and Winter Olympic Games since1960,” says BBC Sport Director, Peter Salmon,“and, this year, the BBC marks the Games’return to the country of their birth by offeringthe first-ever interactive Summer Olympicsand live coverage of the Olympics onbbc.co.uk

“At the greatest sporting event in the world,legends will be rewritten, heroes will be made and the BBC will tell every story and captureevery magical moment, on TV, interactive platforms, radio, online and via broadband.

The BBC is set to produce more hours ofcoverage than ever before and more than anyother world broadcaster.

“BBC One and BBC Two are planning 250hours of coverage of the Games, plus over1,000 hours via the first-ever interactiveSummer Olympics TV service offering acomplementary schedule.Viewers with digitalTV can access four additional streams ofcoverage to see extended coverage of the 37 events.

“At bbc.co.uk/olympics, for the first time ever,UK broadband users can access high-qualitylive coverage of the Olympics direct to theirdesktop.The service includes live simulcastcoverage from BBC TV’s five streams, as well as comprehensive daily round-ups,” Peter reveals.

As Peter also points out, BBC Radio will also have a massive presence at the Olympics.“BBC Radio Five Live’s comprehensive andcomplementary coverage will broadcast 180 hours; BBC World Service will bring theevent to 45 million homes globally, on theEnglish network; and throughout the Nationsand Regions, local and regional TV and radiowill relay the stories of local competitors –their elation or disappointment, whether

2The Olympics and Paralympics 2004

Introduction

Modern legends will be born

Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games from the BBC

they are medal winners or not – to theirhome audiences.

“The Olympics and Paralympics are sure tocapture the public imagination once again, butAthens is not only a challenge to Team GB butalso to the BBC. In 2000, BBC Television wonan IOC Olympic Rings Award, a BAFTA,an RTS award and a Broadcast award for its coverage of the Sydney Olympics.This year the BBC is determined to be even ‘higher,faster, stronger’.

“Our world class television production team isled by the Sydney duo of Dave Gordon, Headof Major Events, and Martin Hopkins, ExecutiveProducer. Once again, BBC Sport has beenrecognised at an international level, as one ofour top producers, Paul Davies, heads a teamproducing the global coverage of the tenniscompetitions and some of the equestrianevents for the host broadcaster.

“BBC Sport is proud of its strong team ofexpert commentators and analysts, including,for the first time this year, the world’sgreatest-ever Olympian – Sir Steve Redgrave,”Peter announces.

And, also for the first time, the Olympics and Paralympics are being organised by a single committee following an IOC/IPCagreement.The Paralympics take place from 17 to 28 September.

Peter continues:“There’s another first at the Paralympics. It will also be covered live on BBC Television. BBC TV will make sure the British public can share in the greatParalympic moments as they happen andexperience the triumph and tears of Team GB’s Paralympic stars.”

On the evening of August 13, the world willturn its eyes to the Olympic Stadium for thespectacle and splendour of the OpeningCeremony.Approximately four billion people

worldwide will view this historic event, whichheralds 16 days of stunning competition. BBCTV will have live coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, presented by Barry Davies.

Steve Rider and Sue Barker head the BBC’spresentation team with live evening coveragefrom Athens. On BBC One and BBC Two,Hazel Irvine and Steve Cram start themornings with Olympic Grandstand and ClareBalding and Craig Doyle catch up on all theday’s highlights in Olympics Today.

A team of world-class presenters,commentators and analysts will provideintelligent, informative and exclusive analysis.The BBC TV team comprises some well-lovedand respected faces, as well as some newnames. Michael Johnson, Colin Jackson,Jonathan Edwards and Sally Gunnell will guideviewers through the track and field events,with Brendan Foster, Paul Dickenson andStuart Storey; Sharron Davies,AdrianMoorhouse and Andy Jameson will bepoolside; Garry Herbert, Gillian Lindsay andDan Topolski will be joined by the greatestOlympian of all time – Sir Steve Redgrave – atthe water’s edge; and Richie Woodhall and JimNeilly will be ringside. One of Sydney’s goldengirls, Steph Cook, will bring back theexcitement of the modern pentathlon, andformer Olympian Matthew Syed will becovering the table tennis competition.

The BBC TV team of roving reporters – GarryRichardson, Phil Jones, Suzi Perry, Jill Douglasand Rishi Persad – will prove indispensable asthey get under the skin of the man or womanof the moment.


Introduction

As Britain’s Olympic and Paralympicbroadcaster, the BBC holds exclusiveterrestrial TV, radio and online rights in the UK. Coverage includes six main strandsacross BBC One and Two, as well as theOpening and Closing Ceremonies, and fouradditional streams of coverage available viainteractive platforms.

Full day-by-day listings (including interactivelistings) will be available from the BBCOlympic and Paralympic Press Office on 020 8225 9900.

Please note:All transmission times aresubject to change.

The Olympics 13-29 August

Olympic Grandstand7.00am-12.30pm BBC ONE

Hazel Irvine and Steve Cram start the day with around-up of all the news from the previous day’scompetition. Hazel and Steve will rouse morningviewers with all the news, views and reports onTeam GB’s progress. Having caught up onyesterday’s action, Hazel and Steve look forwardto the day’s main events, with early live actionfrom the track, or join Sharron Davies poolsideor Sir Steve Redgrave for the rowing heats.

Olympic Report12.30-1.00pm BBC ONE

Hazel Irvine and Steve Cram catch up on theday’s action and events so far, with a look at all the winners and losers.

Olympic Grandstand1.40-5.00pm BBC ONE

Either Clare Balding or Craig Doyle presentmore live action, joining Team GB’s medalhopes on the judo mats or in the Velodrome.

Olympic Report5.00-6.00pm BBC ONE

Steve Rider and Sue Barker take over thebaton to present another catch-up on theday’s winners and losers; they also go to thepool for the swimming finals and the earlyevening athletics action.

Olympic Grandstand6.00-10.30pm BBC ONE/TWO

Steve Rider and Sue Barker present liveaction from the main stadium, as the evening


TV coverage

From Alpha to Omega –comprehensive TV coverage

competition begins.Viewers can join them forall the major event finals in track and field, thepool and in gymnastics.

Olympics Today10.35pm-12.00am BBC ONE

Clare Balding and Craig Doyle are up late toround up all the day’s action and Team GB’sperformances.They capture the highs and lowsof the competition and find out who thepersonalities are in these Games.

The Paralympics 17-28 September

Paralympic Grandstand6.00-7.30pm BBC TWO

Clare Balding presents live action, for the firsttime ever, from the Paralympics.Viewers cancatch the great Paralympic moments as theyhappen and experience the triumph and tearsof Team GB’s Paralympians.


TV coverage

Friday 13 AugustThe spectacle of the Opening Ceremony raisesthe curtain on the 2004 Olympic Games.

Saturday 14 AugustMatthew Pinsent begins his quest for hisfourth Olympic rowing gold medal without, forthe first time, his former team-mate, Sir SteveRedgrave. In the judo, Craig Fallon could takethe first Team GB medal of the Games. One ofthe biggest rivalries in Athens gets under waytoday as both Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelpsbegin their Olympic campaigns in the pool. IanThorpe, the golden boy of the 2000 Games,will be looking to repeat his success whilePhelps will be aiming to avenge defeats hesuffered at the hands of Thorpe.

Sunday 15 August Nicole Cooke won’t be stopping to take in the famous Athenian landmarks as she cyclesaround Athens’ roads in the Women’s RoadRace. James Gibson competes in the Men’s100m Breaststroke and Ian Peel takes his first shots in the shooting competition in theMen’s Trap.

Monday 16 AugustAmir Khan,Team GB’s only boxer in Athens,steps into the ring for his first lightweight bout.

Tuesday 17 August

Richard Faulds, one of the most successfulathletes of the 2002 Commonwealth Games,

begins his quest for gold in the shooting –Men’s Double Trap.

Wednesday 18 AugustPippa Funnell, one of Team GB’s biggest medal hopes, is aiming for both a team and an individual gold as the equestrian three-day event reaches a climax. On the judomats, Kate Howey is competing in the under70kg category; and Ian Edmond is in the pool with hopes of a medal in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke.

Thursday 19 August Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms compete in the Badminton Mixed Doubles.

Friday 20 AugustToday is the day the action begins on the trackat the Olympic Stadium and one of Britain’sfavourite athletes, Denise Lewis, starts herdefence of her heptathlon title. Jason Queally,who brought home Team GB’s first gold fromSydney, is in the Veledrome for the Men’s 1kmTime Trial. Katy Sexton has a good chance of amedal in the Women’s 200m Backstroke in theswimming competition.

Saturday 21 August“Super Saturday”

Today’s action could see Team GB win four or more gold medals, in what is sure to be a super Saturday. Matthew Pinsent leads theFour, with James Cracknell,Alex Partridge and Steve Williams.Also in the rowing, the


Selected highlights and Team GB medal hopes


Selected highlights andTeam GB medal hopes

Women’s pair – Cath Bishop and KatherineGrainger – is competing.

Team GB could see some more gold later inthe day – still in the water, but in a verydifferent kind of boat. Ben Ainslie, one ofSydney’s sailing gold medallists, competes inthe Finn Class and Shirley Robertson sets sailin the Yngling Class.

The Velodrome will be buzzing today asBradley Wiggins goes for a medal in the Men’s4,000 Individual Pursuit and the GB Men’sTeam competes in the sprint.

Denise Lewis continues her defence in theheptathlon against rival Carolina Kluft, and,staying in the Olympic Stadium, the USA’sMarion Jones runs in the 100m heat.

Sunday 22 AugustPaula Radcliffe, one of Britain’s most successfuland well-liked athletes, takes to the streets ofAthens looking to bring home a gold in themarathon. Beth Tweddle is a real medal hope inthe gymnastics, on the uneven bars. Mark Lewis-Francis bears Britain’s hopes for a medal in the100m, as he runs in his heat this evening.TheWomen’s Doubles Finals are scheduled todayand all tennis fans will be wondering whether themost successful female tennis player of all time,Martina Navratilova, will be in it.

Monday 23 AugustIn the Velodrome, Britain’s Men’s 4,000 Teamgo in the Pursuit.

Tuesday 24 AugustDean Macey begins a long journey in thedecathlon, to try to go one better than inSydney where he narrowly missed out on agold medal.

Wednesday 25 AugustA triumvirate of Team GB women – JodieSwallow, Michelle Dillon and Julie Dibens –take on the rest of the world – and each other – in their fight for a medal in thewomen’s triathlon.

Thursday 26 August Tim Don takes on some of the world’s fittest men in the triathlon, and SimonHiscocks and Chris Draper compete in the Sailing 49er Class.

Friday 27 AugustGeorgina Harland and Kate Allenby competein the women’s modern pentathlon, looking toemulate the success of their former team-mate, Steph Cook, who won gold at theSydney Olympics. Jade Johnson competes inthe Women’s Long Jump.

Saturday 28 AugustTwo of Britain’s most enduring athletes arecompeting in the main stadium today. KellyHolmes runs in the Women’s 1,500m andSteve Backley will be in the field in the Men’sJavelin.Team GB’s sprinters compete in, what isfor many, the highlight of the track events, the4x100m Relay.

Sunday 29 AugustSarah Stevenson carries Team GB’s final medalhopes in the Taekwondo under 67kg class.

The Closing Ceremony brings down thecurtain on the biggest sporting spectacle in the world.

Please note: This information iscorrect at the time of going to press.

For the people behind the scenes, deliveringthe Athens Olympic Games to Britishaudiences will represent one of the biggestchallenges ever faced by BBC Sport.

Even for BBC Sport’s award-winning duo, DaveGordon, Head of Major Events, and MartinHopkins, executive producer of the Britishcoverage of the Games,Athens will be a fargreater test than any previous Games.

“We will be broadcasting more hours ofcoverage than ever before – more than 1,200hours in total,” reveals Dave Gordon.“Therewill be 250 hours of coverage on BBC One andTwo and more than 1,000 hours of coverage viainteractive television, where digital viewers willbe able to choose from five different events.And, for the first time ever, UK broadbandviewers will be able to see the Games – liveand highlights – via their desktops.”

Dave continues:“Whether we show events onBBC One or BBC Two will vary throughoutthe Games but BBC One will effectivelybecome the main Olympic channel. Our toppriority will be to show all the best Olympicmoments live to our audiences.”

The amount of planning that goes intobroadcasting the world’s biggest sporting eventis enormous.The BBC’s preparations, led byMartin Hopkins, began almost as soon as theSydney Games’ Closing Ceremony finished.

“Co-ordinating the logistics of all the peoplegoing out to work on the event is a hugeundertaking in its own right and Athens has

probably been the most challenging in myperiod,” confesses Martin.“Fortunately, I amable to rely on a very experienced team whohas also worked on five summer Olympics,including senior project manager Penny Woodand engineering chiefs Paul Mason and SteveGoodey, who are committed to keeping theBBC coverage at the cutting edge.”

It’s a huge venture but Dave and Martin arebest placed to take on such a task.Theycollected the International OlympicCommittee’s Gold Award for BBC Sport’scoverage of the Sydney Olympic Games, anaward for the best television coverage in theworld during the 2000 Games.This was thesecond time the BBC had collected the topOlympic broadcasting award.The BBC wasalso awarded a BAFTA for its coverage of theSydney Games.

“Undoubtedly it’s a great honour to have wonsuch prestigious awards and a tremendoustribute to the team. But we can’t keep lookingbackwards; the onus is on us to move forward.We have to keep developing, innovating andimproving the quality of our coverage for ourviewers,” says Dave.

Martin believes the Olympics is ideal forinteractive television, which will, this year, offerdigital viewers a choice of four extra events inaddition to the main coverage on BBC One orBBC Two. Freeview audiences will be able tochoose from an extra two events.

“Before the arrival of digital televisionthousands of hours of television coverage was


Broadcasting the Athens Olympic Games:

the biggest challenge ever facedby BBC Sport

simply lost to the viewer – the Olympicsprovides well over 3,000 hours of television.Digital television enables us to offer moreoutput and, in turn, give our audiences morechoice about that they watch. In effect we are giving the viewer greater control,” Martin concludes.

Both men are confident the BBC’s Sport team will, once again, deliver the best coverage possible.

Martin sums up the aim of the BBC when hesays:“I don’t take anything for granted but I’mworking with the best of the best and wenever lose sight of our main objective – tobring the best coverage to our audiences.”


Broadcasting the AthensOlympic Games

Broadband

The Athens Olympics will see the mostambitious broadband service ever launched bythe BBC.

For the first time, BBC Sport will be offeringlive coverage direct to viewers’ desktops.Thisfootage, both live and highlights, will be availableto UK residential broadband customers.

Five streams will carry live footage direct fromthe Games and there will be comprehensivedaily round-ups covering the best of theOlympics and Team GB’s efforts to build onthe successes of Sydney.

Andrew Thompson, Head of Development,New Media and Sports News, BBC Sport,says:“This is the first ever interactive SummerOlympics. Our broadband servicecomplements our interactive TV offering –allowing us to offer a variety of platforms forlicence-fee payers to access the world’sgreatest sporting event. Broadband take-up isgrowing rapidly in the UK and I am delightedwe are able to offer such a comprehensiveservice.”

The broadband service is the latest addition toBBC Sport’s well-established website,bbc.co.uk/sport, which will be offeringcomprehensive coverage of the Olympicsfeaturing news, reports, medal tables andtimetables of events.

In addition to the best of BBC Televisioncoverage, the new Olympic broadband servicewill enable viewers to hear commentary fromBBC Radio Five Live.

Key features of the service include:

• high-quality live and on-demand video from Athens, in both Real and Windows Media Formats

• live action and highlights

• key interviews and venue guides

• surf, play games and catch up with the rest ofthe action while you watch video

• the best of BBC Sport Academy, where thestars show you how

• plan viewing with an in-depth programme guide

• catch up with the best of the rest of BBC Sport.

BBCi and Ceefax

BBCi will be offering viewers over 1,000 hoursof live coverage plus a host of extra features.


bbc.co.uk/olympicsand BBCi

Digital television viewers will enjoyunprecedented access to more hours ofOlympic action than ever before and thechoice of five streams of coverage. Digitalsatellite and cable viewers can choose fromfour extra events in addition to BBC One orBBC Two. Freeview users will be able to accesstwo additional events.

Alongside the live coverage there will be anumber of additional offerings including thedaily schedule, an up-to-date medals table,results and the latest news from the Games.BBCi will also run an on-screen tickertapenews service to update viewers with news asit happens.

A new development will be the BBCi scheduletool enabling viewers to navigate their waythrough the day’s events across the fivestreams of coverage to plan their viewing.TheOlympics service will be available fromapproximately 7.00am to 11.30pm.

For people on the move, bbc.co.uk willprovide an Olympics update service to WAP-enabled mobile telephones, plus a highlightsservice for mobiles that can receive it.

BBC Television’s Ceefax service will be offeringcomprehensive coverage of the Games withupdates on the latest news and results.Thesame service will be available on digital text viaall platforms – Freeview, cable and satellite.


bbc.co.uk/olympics and BBCi

BBC Resources, the commercial facilities armof the BBC, is partnering BBC Sport to providecoverage for the 2004 Athens Olympic andParalypmic Games. BBC Resources has beenworking with BBC Sport and BBC Technologyto design the area within the dedicatedInternational Broadcast Centre (IBC), and willbe providing staff from all areas of the businessincluding BBC Outside Broadcasts, BBC PostProduction and BBC Studios to providecoverage from Athens.

Traditionally, the main coverage of the Gamescomes from a broadcaster based in thecountry that hosts the Games.This year, thehost broadcast will be provided by AthensOlympic Broadcasting (AOB), contracted byATHOC.AOB will be responsible forproducing the international venue coverage,and delivering the signals (totalling around 80)to the IBC.AOB will then deliver aninternational signal package comprising 40feeds to rights-holding broadcasters andunions in the IBC – in the BBC’s case, via EBU facilities.

BBC Sport takes the broadcast rights in the UKvia the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)which provides technical and operationalfacilities for its members.As the rights holder,the EBU receives an International Signal Package(40 feeds) from AOB and distributes them to itsmembers, including the BBC.

The IBC, the broadcasting hub of the Games, islocated alongside the OAKA complex, whichincludes the main stadium and several othermajor venues.The total IBC space is around100,000 sq m. Paul Mason, Chief Technical Co-ordinator, BBC Resources, has been workingwith his team over the last two years to design

the BBC’s temporary broadcast complex andBBC Technology has partnered DEGA tocomplete the build on the site.

Facilities in the BBC’s 999 sq m area in thecentre will include two production control rooms, two sound control rooms, nine VT editpairs, six non-linear edit suites and 15 VTRrecord banks, as well as graphics and officeareas. In addition, staff across all areas of BBCResources will be on site in Athens to managethe output for BBC Sport.They will workalongside staff from BBC News, BBC Nationsand Regions and BBC Interactive.The MainProduction Control Suite will allow venuecoverage from the host as well as BBCCommentary from 25 venues. BBC Studiosand BBC Post Production staff will be on handto provide studio crew and editors. In addition,BBC Outside Broadcasts will provide fixedOBs and mobile satellite news gathering(SNG) units.

This year there will be a BBC InteractiveControl Room, from which BBCi producerscan select up to five of the available sources toroute to London BBC Television Centre.Therewill also be a Production Control Area forBBC Nations and Regions and BBC Newstransmissions.They will each have their ownproduction and office space within the BBCcomplex as well as a “stand-up” position witha backdrop of the main Olympic Stadium.

Out in the field, BBC Outside Broadcasts’operation, headed up by Steve Goodey,Engineering Manager, BBC Outside Broadcasts,will provide a major OB at the OAKAcomplex, including unilateral cameras atathletics and swimming and disk-based fast-turnaround editing.The three SNG units will


BBC Resources on trackfor Olympics coverage

be small, flexible satellite-equipped units withthe ability to operate out of around 15 venueswith pre-allocated compound space, oranywhere else in or around Athens. BBC Sportwill also have an Olympic Village Camera.Entirely remote-controlled from the IBC, it willbe used to provide interviews with athletesfrom the British team.

The complete BBC programme for BBC Oneand BBC Two will originate in Athens. BBCiwill also send 4/5 feeds back to BBC TelevisionCentre in London where the final programmewill be put together.To ensure that the circuitsback to London are reliable, a resilient STM-1(155Mb/s) fibre from IBC to London has beenset up to carry BBC One contribution, BBCi(5 circuits), return vision circuits from London,voice and telephone communications with TVCentre as well as access to the BBC computernetwork for over 50 PCs.A full-time satellitelink from the IBC “Dish Farm” is also beingsupplied by the EBU carrying contributions forBBC Two and BBC Nations and Regions.

BBC Outside Broadcasts will a provide abrand-new satellite links vehicle, acting as a“command and control centre”, providingdownlinking and communications for the BBCSNG units, a path to London for BBC Newsand private monitoring vision feeds at locationsaround Athens.They have leased dedicatedspace segment on satellite for this purpose.

IBC Installation began on 7 June.A furtheroperation is planned for the ParalympicsGames based in the same IBC facility.

Mike Southgate, Managing Director, BBCResources, comments on the deal:“This is akey year in the sporting calendar with theOlympics being one of the events taking centrestage. BBC Resources is on track to provideBBC Sport with unrivalled coverage of the2004 Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games.”


BBC Resources on trackfor Olympics coverage

Ceremonies – Opening and ClosingArcheryAthletics

BadmintonBasketballBeach volleyballBoxingCanoeing- Flatwater- SlalomCycling- Track- Road- Mountain bikeEquestrian- Dressage- Three-day eventingFootballGymnastics- Artistic- Rhythmic- TrampolineHockeyJudoModern PentathlonRowing

SailingShootingSwimming

- DivingTable TennisTaekwondo

Barry DaviesEddie ButlerSteve Cram, Michael Johnson, Colin Jackson,Jonathan Edwards, Sally Gunnell, BrendanFoster, Paul Dickenson, Stuart StoreyDavid Mercer, Gill ClarkBob Ballard, Stuart StoreyMatt ChiltonJim Neilly, Richie Woodhall

Garry HerbertPaul Dickenson

Hugh Porter, Gary SuttonHugh Porter, Gary SuttonHugh Porter, Gary FoordeMichael Tucker, Steve HadleyMichael TuckerMichael Tucker, Lorna ClarkeBarry Davies,Tony Gubba,Angus Loughran

Barry Davies, Mitch Fenner, Christine StillMitch FennerMitch FennerNick Mullins, Sean KerlyHarry Gration, Nicola FairbrotherDougie Donnelly, Steph CookeGarry Herbert, Gillian Lyndsey, Dan Topolski,Sir Steve RedgraveRichard SimmonsEddie ButlerSharron Davies,Adrian Moorhouse,Andy JamesonBob Ballard, Chris SnodeMatthew SyedHarry Gration, Colin Daley


The complete television team

TennisTriathlonVolleyballWater PoloWeightlifting

Presentation team

Reporters

John Lloyd,Tracy Austin Stuart StoreyMatt ChiltonBob BallardDougie Donnelly

Sue Barker, Steve Rider, Hazel Irvine, SteveCram, Clare Balding, Craig DoyleGarry Richardson, Phil Jones, Suzi Perry,Jill Douglas, Rishi Persad


The completetelevision team

It’s the occasion that welcomes simply the best– and, as award-winning presenter Sue Barkerprepares to jet off to bring coverage of Athens2004, she reveals why she believes theOlympic Games is the most all-embracingsporting event in the world.

Sue, who will be co-presenting with SteveRider, explains:“There are people likeStephanie Cook, who took gold in the modernpentathlon in Sydney in 2000, who was trainingto be a doctor and now is a doctor.

“These people have full-time jobs, but aretraining for the Olympics and winning gold. Shewas terrific. It’s fantastic to be so fit and sogood, with a full-time job as well, and that’swhat’s so special about the Olympics.”

She continues:“You admire the ‘professional’athletes, such as those in the track and field,who are training 24 hours a day, every day ofthe week.And yet you have these otherpeople who are keeping down jobs andtraining in their spare time, and are still goingover and can become Olympic champions. Inwhich other event could you have somethinglike that?”

Former tennis ace Sue, who was awarded theMBE in 2000, is already flying the flag forLondon’s bid to host the Olympics in 2012.

“I think our chances are very good,” shedeclares.“I was involved in the launch inJanuary, so I actually got to read up a lot aboutit and about the other cities, and I think we’vegot a really good chance.

“I think the regeneration of the area in EastLondon is going to be a big plus for us,” shereasons.“I think that is what the IOC will belooking at because, obviously, what they wantto leave is a legacy of the Olympics.”

Realistically, she adds:“I know that transport isa huge problem for us and everyone whocommutes knows that. But they’re the issues


Sue Barker

Sue Barker

Name: Sue BarkerFirst BBC job: Sue made her BBC Sportdebut co-presenting the evening programmefrom Wimbledon 93, with Harry Carpenter.Career highlights: Formerly Britain’s No. 1tennis player and world number three. In1998, Sue won the TRIC award for SportsPresenter/Reporter of the Year. Sue receivedan MBE in February 2000.Olympic experience: 1996 AtlantaOlympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics plusthe Winter Olympic Games in 1994, 1998and 2002.

we’ve got to address if we’re really seriouslygoing to bid for it and I do see it as a sort ofParis-London fight.”

Covering an event as huge as the Olympics is,says Sue,“absolutely thrilling”.

“I never thought I’d be at an Olympics,especially being a tennis player, because thesport only came in after I’d retired. But I’vedone Atlanta and Sydney and it is incredible –it’s the adrenalin rush.We find that ourprogramme is changing all the time because,although you can have a running order and aprogramme idea because you’ve got yourschedule for that day, suddenly, someone doessomething magnificent somewhere else and itall changes.

“Sydney was lovely because Britain did well –it was all so exciting and uplifting. I reallyhoped that it would boost British sporttremendously and I think it did initially. I justhope they do as well because, otherwise,everything that’s written is going to be rathernegative and, when you’re involved in sport,that’s a real shame.”

Sue, making her first vist to Athens, is far fromnegative. She declares:“You do get tired,because it’s a long event, but when I’m sitting inthat studio in the track and field stadium,watching the greatest, you think, ‘how can therebe a down part to that?’ And if Paula [Radcliffe]is fit and doing well, I’ll be at the end when,hopefully, she wins her gold medal and that’sgoing to be an absolute thrill for me.”

Sue’s predictions for British glory are cautious,but she again singles out Paula.

“I admire her immensely,” she saysemphatically.“I watched her at the LondonMarathon and I remember, at 18 miles, she wasdoing five-minute miles! I was thinking, ‘thiswoman is superhuman’.And the way she

sprinted up the Mall! If I’d have started at theend of the Mall and sprinted with her, shewould have won – and that was after 26 miles!

“She’s an amazing athlete, but such a normalperson – so nice and sweet. She’s an absolutedream to interview and always so obliging –she gives sport such a good name. So I’d bereally thrilled for her to do well.”

One of Sue’s earliest and most treasuredmemories of the Games is Mary Petersgarnering glorious gold in the pentathlon inthe 1972 Munich Olympics.

“I always remember when she won her gold,”she recalls. “I was watching with my parentsand I was quite feisty as a kid. My coachencouraged me to be vocal and, I suppose, alittle bit aggressive.This was when I was young– I changed a bit later on!” she quips.

“I remember the manner in which Mary won –how gracious she was. Her smile, and the wayshe took it on, was infectious to watch. It wassomeone thoroughly enjoying it, being so niceto all the people she was competing against,and you thought, ‘that’s the way sport shouldbe’.And I remember my mum turning to meand saying, ‘I’d love you to be like her’. It’ssomething that stayed with me and I think Ichanged my outlook in a way. I’ve met Maryand she knows she was the one I looked up toand we’ve become really good friends.”

And Sue reveals:“I see her now and she’s stillmy idol – she still works out, she’s as fit as afiddle and she’s done so much for sport overin Northern Ireland. I take my hat off to herand I still admire her.”


Sue Barker

Award-winning presenter Steve Rider is onceagain at the undisputed pinnacle of worldsport, bringing viewers all the drama andexcitement as it unfolds in Athens. But thislord of the rings, a veteran of recent Games,admits that helming such a huge event can be daunting.

He explains:“The presenters come in at thelast stage of the whole operation. It is a feeling

of responsibility that you are the last piece inthe whole jigsaw of planning that’s gone on forfive or six years and it is the one event on theBBC Sport calendar that gives you a realfeeling of a BBC team at work across not onlytelevision, but also radio, online and everythingelse that we do.”

An encyclopaedic knowledge of all sports isn’t part of Steve’s preparation for thismarathon project.

“For the presenters who work on it, like Sue (Barker) and myself, it is a different kind of style of preparation than the actualcommentators, who need to know absolutelyevery element of how the sport works.Aspresenters, you have to know a little bit about everything, and I tend to think that weare the conduit between the commentatorsand the audience back home who, especiallywith a lot of Olympic sports, are coming to it fairly fresh.

“So our great safety net is that we can be theones who ask the naïve questions on behalf ofthe audience! We have our own ways ofkeeping in touch with all the development thatthere is in Olympic sports, but I think it’simportant to arrive at these events with asclear a head as possible and not weighed downby volumes of research because it then enablesyou to react a little bit more spontaneouslyand react as a fan.”

Athens, with its great historic significance asthe Olympic venue, has had to clear severalhurdles under the unrelenting glare of theglobal spotlight, but Steve remains unfazed bythe prophets of doom and their predictionsthat the city will not be ready.


Steve Rider

Steve Rider

Name: Steve RiderFirst BBC job: Steve joined BBC Sport in1985, presenting Grandstand and Sportsnight,before taking over from Des Lynam as mainpresenter of Grandstand in 1992.Career highlights: Steve has won twoRoyal Television Society awards forpresentation and documentary work and has twice been named Sports Presenter of the Year.Olympic experience: Presenting at severalSummer and Winter Olympic Games

“It is a nervous time, but every single Gamesthat I’ve worked on in recent years has beenprefaced by this blind panic that the wretchedthing isn’t going to be ready. Sydney was thesame, Barcelona was the same;Atlanta was theonly one that expressed any confidence thatthey were going to be ready but, when theGames came, they weren’t.”

The greatest highlight of presenting such alarge event is the clear knowledge, declaresSteve,“that you are at the absolute summit ofworld sport.And when that combines with thekind of occasion that will give you somesatisfaction as a spectator in terms ofcompetition, or in terms of British success,then those highs become one of the peaks ofyour career.”

He adds:“There are things you remember andtypical of that would have been Sir SteveRedgrave and the coxless four winning inSydney because the whole of not only fouryears’ preparation, but also a 20-year Olympiccareer reached its climax at that one momentand the whole of our Olympic operationbecame distilled down to a couple of camerason the shoreline as they all came ashore.”

Steve, who believes Sydney takes the goldmedal for the best Games in recent years, iswary of making advance predictions for GreatBritain’s prospects.

“Although,” he confides,“I would love to thinkthat Paula Radcliffe is going to be fit enough tospearhead the whole athletic effort. I think a lotof the satisfaction within the Games dependson her inspirational presence. I think it’s goingto be potentially a good Games in the pool,and the likes of Pippa Funnell will give us a lotto cheer in the equestrian events.”

Steve believes that, even in today’s troubledworld, the Olympian ideals still hold good.

“The whole ideal of taking part and, maybe,not setting your sights on victory, but settingyour sights on achieving something personallythat you’ve not been able to achieve before, isall that the Olympics requires of you.The spiritof taking part and the spirit of competition isstill as strong as ever.”

The Games pulls armchair viewers across thefinishing lines of sporting history and Steve isin no doubt about their appeal.

He says decisively:“The Olympics is the end offour years’ hard work and the audience knowthat what they’re going to watch is the best inthe world.The surroundings in Athens,however many cement mixers are still lyingaround, will be stunning and the backdrop willbe stunning, and audiences will flock to it.”

The BBC’s Olympics coverage has beenhonoured in previous years by the IOC andSteve comments:“We’re particularly proud ofthe manner in which we bring the Olympics tothe audience and we are the envy of a lot ofother broadcasters throughout the world interms of the scale and the coverage that we’reable to put on in terms of continuous hours,which very few broadcasters around the worldare able to match.”

Steve is looking forward to “just abouteverything” as the Games unfold.“There isnothing at an Olympic level that doesn’tproduce excitement,” he says.

Steve’s greatest Olympian of all time is SirSteve Redgrave, voted the BBC’s GoldenSports Personality last December, and hesingles out Mary Peters, who took gold in thepentathlon in Munich in 1972, as “our typicalBritish Olympic hero – a woman-in-the-streetkind of character being lifted by the Olympicsto do very special things.”


Steve Rider

Bathed in sunshine in Athens’ spectacularPanathenian Stadium last autumn, Hazel Irvinewas in little doubt that the ancient Greekcapital would take some beating as an Olympicvenue.And despite the truly Herculean taskthat still faces the Games’ organisers, the

popular BBC Sport presenter remains optimistic that the home of the firstOlympians will provide plenty of goldenmoments this summer.

“Athens is maddening, it’s irritating, it’s hot, it’sdusty … and it’s absolutely wonderful!” saysHazel, who fell in love with the city when shelaunched Grandstand’s Olympic coverage therelast year.

“I got a fairly intimate look at what was goingon last autumn and I know everyone hasfocused on the negatives of the situation andwhether it will be ready, but when I stood inthis wonderful marble stadium built in 300 BCand looked across to the Acropolis, I justthought: ‘This is it.This is where it all began.This is why we’re doing this.’ It was so excitingand inspiring – and if it does that for aspectator, just imagine what it’s going to do forthe athletes.”

Athens, which will host a record 202competing nations this August, will be Hazel’sfifth Summer Games as a presenter, but she’sbeen obsessed with the Olympics ever sinceOlga Korbut’s 1972 success sent her, aged six,cart-wheeling down her street in St Andrews.

“The Olympics was, to me, the ultimate – itshaped a lot of my earliest sporting memoriesand it certainly shaped the direction of mysporting youth. I was fascinated by the athletesand desperate to be one,” recalls Hazel, whogot as far as competing at university level as ahurdler, while studying for her MA in Historyof Art, and is now credited with paving the wayfor female sports presenters.

“I wasn’t dedicated enough, though, and neverreally had the talent. I also remember everyone


Hazel Irvine

Hazel Irvine

Name: Hazel IrvineBorn: St AndrewsFirst BBC job: Hazel joined BBC Scotlandin August 1990 as presenter of its Fridaynight sports preview programme, Sportscene,before joining BBC Sport as a networkprogramme presenter and sports newsbroadcaster in January 2000.Career highlights:Aged 27, she presentedGrandstand, becoming the youngest person ever to do so. She was alsohonorary president of Dumbarton FC’s Supporters Association.Olympic experience: 1992,1996 and 2000Summer Olympic Games and 1994, 1998and 2002 Winter Olympics.

telling me that I could never be an athletebecause they don’t make any money … I haveto laugh when I look back on that now!”

Indeed, it’s the vast sums of money involved insport today that make the Olympic ideal moreimportant than ever before, says the presenter.

“‘It’s not the winning but the taking part’ haslong been an Olympic mantra, but I think weoften lose sight of that now because sport issuch big business,” she says.

“Of course, watching people win gold medalsand knowing it’s the biggest and best thing thatcould ever happen to a sportsman or womanis a sheer delight. But when you see someoneat the Olympics who clearly isn’t going to wingold but they achieve a personal best – andyou see their pride and satisfaction – you feela wonderful sense of pride in that achievementas well.

“To me, that’s the essential spirit of theOlympics. It’s a constant source of stories ofcourage and bravery, sheer effort and guts.Andexperiencing that not just as a journalist butalso as a sports fan is wonderful.”

Among Hazel’s most cherished Olympicsmemories are Cathy Freeman’s history-makinggold in Sydney 2000 (“I’d never experienced anight of athletics quite like it”) and DerekRedmond’s courageous performance at the1992 Barcelona Games.The British 400mrunner tore his hamstring 150m into the semifinals – but finished the race with the help ofhis father, to rapturous applause from the65,000-strong crowd.

“I still get emotional now when I think aboutRedmond. He was in agony but he walked tothe finish – it meant that much to him and itmeant so much more to everyone who waswatching him do it.You just don’t get storieslike that anywhere else.”

This summer, Hazel is confident there will besome remarkable stories from the pool, whereshe kicks off her own Olympic odyssey. Makingwaves, she predicts, will be 19-year-oldAmerican Michael Phelps.

“People are already wondering whether he canbe the new Mark Spitz. Can he win sevengolds? That’s a heck of a thing to ask, especiallyfor someone of such tender years, but I thinkwe’re going to get some fantastic swimmingfrom him.The Americans are really going to beup for it this year because the Aussies ruled inthe pool in Sydney.”

The presenter also has high hopes for TeamGB, whom she believes have a decent shot atmatching their medal performance in Sydney,when Britain scooped its biggest haul for 80years, with 11 golds.

“A lot of our athletes have retired or movedon since Sydney but you look at the likes ofPaula Radcliffe and Kelly Holmes and we’ve stillgot some wonderful talent. I also think thehard work has been done to get sports suchas sailing, equestrianism and the modernpentathlon up to Olympic gold standards.

“Individually, it would be lovely to see gymnastBeth Tweddle get a medal … and you just getthe feeling it’s going to come right for MrPinsent, too!”

Medals aside, Hazel hopes that Britain also willwalk away from Athens with a renewedenthusiasm for London’s 2012 Olympic bid.

“Something happens to a city when a majorGames comes to town, something takes over.People feel differently about their city andthere’s a tangible sense of pride in it. I thinkwe’ve already got that spirit in abundance inLondon and, if everyone gets behind it, that’llbe a big selling point for us.”


Hazel Irvine

When Steve Cram arrives in Athens for theOlympics he is likely to feel a warm, golden glow.This will have nothing to do with the hot August weather, but with the fact that he wongold in the 1,500m at the EuropeanChampionships in Athens in 1982, his firstmajor sporting achievement.This time,however, he won’t be on the starting blocks but in the commentary box, which he calls the best seat in the house, and in the studiopresenting. But even though he’s front-rowcentre, he would still rather lace up hisrunning shoes than knot his tie.

“If you said to me: ‘What would you rather bedoing in August?’ I would say, ‘I would ratherbe on the track.” This doesn’t, he hastens toadd, detract from what he calls “a great secondbest” – presenting at the greatest show onearth.The upside of presenting, he reveals, isthat he no longer has any sleepless nights.

Which is just as well, because Steve will bevery busy at the Olympics in Athens, where hewill add his expert opinion and analysis to thetrack and field events, including the marathonand the triathlon, plus get up bright and earlyto present Olympic Grandstand with HazelIrvine. It will give him very little time foranything else, though he hopes to catch someof the swimming, a personal favourite.“Lasttime around it was all about Ian Thorpe andwhat he was going to do for the Games andthe Australians … He’s not going to have it allhis own way this time, so the pool is going tobe interesting.” He also has hopes that theBritish swimmers will, unlike in Sydney, be ableto win a clutch of medals.

He’s not quite as optimistic about Britain’schances in track and field, especially in his areaof expertise, the men’s middle-distance runningevents.“We struggle to get people even to


Steve Cram

Steve Cram

Name: Steve CramBorn: GatesheadFirst BBC job: In January 1999, Stevejoined BBC television and radio primarily asa presenter and athletics commentator.Career highlights: One of the world’smost successful middle-distance athletes ofall time, Steve’s career spanned threedecades since appearing as a 17-year-old atthe Commonwealth Games in 1978. Hismany achievements include six Gold Medalsat Commonwealth, European and WorldChampionships. In 1985 he broke WorldRecords at 1,500m, 2,000m, and Mile, allwithin 19 days, the latter lasting almost nineyears. In 1983, he was voted BBC SportsPersonality of the Year and in 1986 he wasawarded the MBE. He was recently namedRTS Commentator of the Year 2003.Olympic experience: Eighth in Olympic1,500m, Moscow 1980, Silver medal inOlympic 1,500m, Los Angeles, 1984, andfourth in Olympic 1,500m, Seoul, 1988.Presenter and commentator in Sydney 2000.

qualify.There is no guarantee that we will havemore than one person going into the 1,500,for example; in the 800 maybe not anybody,that’s how bad it is.” To stress how competitivethe men’s events are, he says,“To be one ofthe top six would be really good.”

The women’s, luckily, is a very different story,with genuine medal chances in several events.“If you take Paula [Radcliffe] out of theequation, you still have Kelly Holmes, HayleyTullett, who won a medal at the WorldChampionships last year, Jo Pavey and Helen[Clitheroe] Pattinson ...You put Paula into theequation and the women’s middle- and long-distance running seems very, very strong.”

He also mentions 19-year-old CharlotteMoore, a young and hopeful prospect who ranunder two minutes in the 800m at theCommonwealth Games in Manchester.“I hopeshe makes the team, because sometimes it’snot just about winning medals but seeing whowill be our medal winners in Beijing [in 2008].You want them to come to a Games likeAthens and learn and get the experience andperhaps scrape into the final.

“So it’s not just about looking for the medalwinners for me, but who are the next onescoming through, who are the surprises goingto be?”

The stars of tomorrow are of particularconcern to Steve, who thinks Britain doesn’tdo enough to nourish its talent.To drive thismessage home, Steve, dressed immaculately inthe uniform of a politician – a blue-grey suitwith red tie – is going to Downing Street thisvery afternoon to talk about TASS (TalentedAthletics Scholarship Scheme).The idea is togrant promising young athletes sportsscholarships to stay in Britain and study,instead of going abroad.

And it’s the very issue of talent that againmakes him sound a word of caution about the

London Olympic bid for 2012, even though hethinks it would be fantastic to host the Games.“If we have the Games in London, I want us towin medals. I don’t understand why you’d wantto have the Games and not the success. Myslight concern is that we’re ploughing a lot ofenergy and a lot of resources into winning the bid.

But if we do win the bid at this time next year,we have to think very quickly about how onearth we are going to ensure we win medalsbecause that’s not something you can do twoyears before.”

As for Athens, Steve guesses that Britain willwin around 20 to 30 medals in its traditionallystrong events.“There are lots of individualperformances which might crop up but, interms of strength and depth, it’s rowing, sailing,cycling and athletics where we’ll get multi-medals. It’s just a question of how many andwhich ones are gold and which ones are silveror bronze.”

With a record 202 nations competing at thisOlympics, up from Sydney’s 199, that is not anunremarkable achievement. Steve puts it intoperspective.“Going back 20, 25 years, we had a very strong Eastern bloc Russia, EastGermany, the Americans were traditionallystrong, as was Western Europe, and you’d getthe odd African runner, whereas now you’re as likely to get beaten by a guy from Namibiaor a guy from Fiji.”

Steve, who has a 14-year-old daughter and an11-year-old son, can’t dodge the inevitablequestion: could they be the Olympians oftomorrow, perhaps in 2012? Steve chuckles,“They’d like to be but my daughter does a lotof other sports; I got them to enjoy sports forwhat they are and if they end up pickingsomething up then…” He trails off but all theindications are that a runner like Steve Cramdoesn’t come along every day and maybe noteven every decade.


Steve Cram

Clare Balding can look forward to having a liein in Athens, where, together with CraigDoyle, she’ll be hosting a late-night Olympicshighlights programme for the duration of the

Games.This is a stark contrast to the showshe presented in Sydney in 2000 when, due tothe time difference, she was on air at theungodly hour of 6am.

“Being on after 10pm this time, I think we canafford to have a sense of humour and aquirkiness to the programme, that perhaps theprogrammes covering the live events can’t,”says Clare, who is busy preparing for her thirdOlympics, having also covered events in Atlantafor BBC Radio.

“We’re tuning into a different sort of audienceat that time of night and we can show eventsthat aren’t necessarily the headlines, not justthe 100m final, but we can also cover thestories like Eric the Eel and the Venezuelanwoman at the Winter Olympics who came outof her luge – I just couldn’t stop laughing atthat, it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen!”

Clare’s also hoping that audience participationwill help form the show, as there will be alarge interactive aspect, with viewers beingable to send text messages and emails as theshow is on air.“The nature of the texts andemails we get will, to some extent, dictate thetone. If you’re getting a good response frompeople who are enjoying the show, then I thinkit really helps. I think it’s about making peoplefeel very comfortable and making them feelpart of it, and enjoying it in a very British way.”

Despite the late nights, Clare is adamant thatshe will get to see her favourite event, eventhough it’ll mean burning the candle at bothends for a few days.“The three-day eventing ismy favourite – I adore it. It’s what I alwayswanted to do when I was young,” says theformer amateur flat jockey and champion lady


Clare Balding

Clare Balding

Name: Clare BaldingFirst BBC job: In 1993, Clare presentedthe racing bulletin on Danny Baker’s MorningEdition on BBC Radio 5. She then moved toBBC Radio Five Live when it launched inMarch 1994.Career highlights:A leading amateur flatjockey in 1989 and 1990 and Champion ladyrider in 1990. Clare first worked intelevision in 1994, making her debut at RoyalAscot, following a recommendation fromJulian Wilson. She eventually replaced Wilsonin December 1997, on his retirement. RTSSports Presenter Of The Year 2003.Olympic experience:Atlanta 1996 andSydney 2000 Summer Olympics.

rider.“It’ll mean working a long night andgetting up very early in the morning, but it’sworth it. I just love it, I would be absolutelymortified if I couldn’t go,” she laughs.

“I think we’ve probably got the strongestchance of a gold medal in the eventing.We’vegot a really strong team and I think theydeserve all the attention they get.We got asilver medal in Sydney and they did great outthere but, ever since, all the team wants isgold. Silver just wasn’t good enough for them.They were actually really annoyed about it,which is pretty unusual for a British team – it’susually, ‘Oh well done, we’ve finished second,’but this lot aren’t like that – they really expectto win gold and nothing else will do!”

Eventing aside, Clare’s also looking forward toseeing the long-distance runners – especiallyPaula Radcliffe – the rowers and the swimmersin action in Athens.“I think Ian Thorpe will bea big name again and there’s bound to beanother swimmer who can win a multitude ofmedals.The British swimmers were a disasterin Sydney but Bill Sweetenham, an Australiancoach, has come in and just turned it around.He won’t take anybody to the Games who hedoesn’t think can make a final. He’s got somegood swimmers on his hands at the moment.The whole attitude of the team is verydifferent to how it was four, eight or even 12 years ago. Not since David Wilkie and Adrian Moorhouse have we had such agood team.”

Clare’s also optimistic that, despite Athensbeing given such a bad press in recent months,the hosts will come good and put on anOlympic Games to be proud of.“I knowthere’s been a lot of stuff about Athens and Iknow there’s the feeling that it’s going to be ashambles, but I did Latin A Level and havealways been interested in classical history so,for me, going to Greece, just to be in the placewhere the Olympics were founded, where themarathon was first run, will be really

interesting. It’ll have a very deep culturalbackdrop that neither Sydney nor Atlanta hadso, for me, that’ll be incredibly interesting.”

One other nation that she hopes will be in therunning for putting on an Olympic Games is, ofcourse, the UK, and Clare is “hugely positive”at the prospect:“If you think about it, we’vehosted a Rugby World Cup, a EuropeanChampionship and a Commonwealth Games inrecent years, but to actually know that, withinour lifetime (God willing), we would host theOlympic Games, I think that says more aboutthe global status of Great Britain than anythingelse can.

“I would consider it a very positive, boldstatement and I can’t see any reason why itwould be bad for London. It’s going to createjobs and will create a huge amount of interest,and it would revitalise the tourist industry. Ithink it would also change the way that we,the public, believe in our own capabilities tostage a major event.”


Clare Balding

The Olympic stage is, quite often, a placewhere dreams come true; for athletes, whosomehow manage to push themselves just thatlittle bit further to achieve a personal best or,if they’re lucky, win a medal; and for BBC TVpresenters, who have been dreaming of frontingsports programmes since they were knee-high.

One such presenter is Craig Doyle who, at thebeginning of the year, took over the helm atSunday Grandstand, which, in itself, was the stuffschoolboy dreams are made of:“It’s funny, mymother found some interviews from when Igot my first job in TV, about 10 years ago, andmy dream job was presenting Grandstand,” saysthe Irishman who, in 1997, became familiar asthe face of Holiday, which he fronted untilearlier this year.“And I was laughing about itwith my mates – I still have the same matesfrom school – and, apparently, I was talkingabout it when I was nine or 10, that, one day, Iwould love to present Grandstand.

“Dealing with that is big enough and then theysay, ‘Can you go to the Olympics for threeweeks,’ and I can’t quite believe it. I’mtremendously excited – I can’t wait!”

Craig fronts the late-night highlightsprogramme alongside Clare Balding, anOlympic veteran, who has presented at bothSydney, for BBC Television, and Atlanta, whereshe was a roving reporter for BBC Radio.“Ithink Clare’s one of the best broadcasters onBritish television, and I’m not just saying that,”he says of his co-host.

He admits that he’ll be delighted to see any ofthe Games’ myriad events in Athens but isparticularly hoping he’ll be trackside for theathletics in the Olympic Stadium.“I’d also loveto go down to the lakes and see the boyscompete in the fours out in the water – it’s anawesome sight when you see those guys in fullflight. I’d like to be on the route for themarathon, too.”

A keen runner himself (until recently, when hetore the ligaments in his ankle), Craig hastaken part in a couple of marathons over the


Craig Doyle

Craig Doyle

Name: Craig DoyleFirst BBC job: Reporter for BBC Norfolkin 1994.Career highlights: In 2004, Craig became amain presenter on Sunday Grandstand andwas a presenter/reporter on the BBC’s SixNations coverage. Craig has also coveredgolf,Wimbledon, racing and three years ofBritish Superbikes for the BBC. Until earlierthis year, he was the main presenter on BBC One’s Holiday programme.Olympic experience: Craig makes hisdebut at the 2004 Olympic Games.

last few years, his first being in New York, in2001.“My first marathon was unbelievable.Yougo through the five districts in New York, soyou go over loads of bridges, and the finish lineis in Central Park.The crowds were thick allthe way through – there must’ve been amillion people en route.The marathon is thefirst time I actually cried at the end of anevent.You’re so tired – it’s tiredness like you’venever felt before.”

Despite his exhaustion, Craig racked up animpressive three hours and 40 minutes at hisfirst attempt, but his ankle injury has probablyput paid to his marathon career.“It’s not evena sports injury,” he laughs.“I was over inAustralia at the [Rugby] World Cup and I wasout having a few jars after Ireland beatAustralia and I went over on my ankle. I’vebeen having physio on it and I started runningagain on an even ground but it was too sore.Even playing golf ’s a bit tricky. Listen to me,I’m 33 years of age – I sound middle-aged!” he laughs.

Another, perhaps surprising, event that Craig islooking forward to seeing is the weightlifting.“I’d love to go to that. I used to watch a lot ofweightlifting with my dad – he loves it.

“Do you know something? I don’t really carewhat the event is, it’s the Olympics!” he grins.

While Craig will obviously be cheering onTeam GB, he’ll also have a keen eye on howthe Irish athletes do at the Games in Athens.“We’re having a bit of a hard time at themoment. Sonia O’Sullivan is coming towardsthe end of her career; I don’t know if she’sgoing to be able to do much.We’ve got achance with some very good walkers, andwe’ve got a very good female hurdler, but Ithink the standard is just so high in the sprintevent.There’s a few hopes here and there –we’ll see.

“It’s great to see the Irish flag raised in the

Olympic Stadium and to hear the nationalanthem played on an Olympic stage because itdoesn’t happen to us very often.”

Having spent the last seven years travelling theworld with both Holiday and Tomorrow’s World,Craig knows only too well what Athens is likeat the height of summer.“Athens in August ishellish. It’s about 40 degrees plus, humid,smoggy and nasty.”

But his travels have meant that, over the years,he’s been able to watch various othercountries’ Olympic coverage.“I watched a lotof American coverage for Sydney – I watchedthe Opening Ceremony in Florida. It’s reallyfunny actually because you find all thecommentators read off the same fact sheets.But the Americans just go for it completely.

“It was a bit over the top but they’re reallyinto it. High camp. Mind you, not as camp asthe closing ceremony with Kylie on the giantshoe! Brilliant – I loved it!”


Craig Doyle

Jonathan Edwards is looking forward to awhole new Olympic experience as part of theBBC’s team in Athens – actually getting to seesomething of the Games!

Though the triple jumper has competed atthree Olympics – culminating in his gold medal in Sydney – he admits that he never really took full advantage of his athlete’s accreditation.

“I was really just focused on my own event,”he explains.“I would have half an eye on whatwas going on before my event, and even duringmy event, if there was something going on thatI had a particular interest in I’d keep an eyeout for it, but once my event had finished Iwould normally go home to be with my family.So I’ve never sat through an entire Games,which I will do in Athens – it will be acompletely new experience for me.”

And he’s expecting it to be every bit as toughas when he was competing.

“It’s a different challenge and one in which Ifeel I’ve still got a lot to learn,” he says of hisnew role as commentator and expert pundit inthe BBC studio.“I’ve the utmost admiration forcommentators, it’s a very difficult art – and Ionly do field events which is not nearly asdifficult as working on a track event, whenyou’ve got to pick out who’s in the lead, who’ssecond and so on. I’m looking forward to it butI know it’ll be a tough few weeks out there.”

He’s been limbering up over the past fewmonths presenting Look North, the BBC’s localnews programme for the North-East of England.

“It’s been great fun,” he smiles,“although thefirst one I did, I was petrified – it was among


Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards

Name: Jonathan EdwardsFirst BBC job: Last year, Jonathan was aregular presenter on Songs Of Praise andfront man for BBC One’s landmarkdocumentary on St Paul. Since retiring he hasbecome an integral part of the BBC’sathletics team.Career highlights: In 1995, Jonathan set aworld record in the triple jump at the WorldChampionships with a jump of 18.29m; todate, no one has even come close to thisdistance. In 2002, Jonathan became only oneof four athletes who have held all four majortitles (Olympic,World, European andCommonwealth) at one time. Jonathan wasvoted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in1995 and was awarded the CBE in the NewYear Honours List 2000.Olympic Experience: 1992 BarcelonaOlympics, 1996 Atlanta Olympics (silvermedal), 2000 Sydney Olympics (gold medal).

the most nervous I’ve been.And it seems likea small thing but one of the advantages is thatit’s just five minutes from home.”

That’s important to this devoted family man –he and his wife have two young sons – whosefeet have hardly touched the ground since heretired from competition at the end of 2003.“It’s probably been the busiest seven monthsof my life since I retired. If you think of theOlympic Games, I’d compete for an hour and ahalf and all the rest of the time I’m on myown, nobody’s making any demands of me. Butnow I’ve been travelling away from home quitea lot – more than I was as an athlete.And if Idid go away training we would tend to do it asa family, so it’s a much more pressurisedexistence now.”

At least that’s given him an excuse to abandonhis gruelling training routine.

“I’ve not been in the gym once, apart from tovisit people, since I retired,” he grins.“I playsome tennis, cricket and golf, and we often goto the Lakes and walk ... and that’s it.

“But to be honest it’s been a gradual process,since the Olympics in 2000 I’ve taken my footoff the pedal and almost freewheeled in to theend of my career. I really feel I finished at theright time and I’ve never for a moment wished Iwas an athlete again; I got every last ounce ofjuice from my athletics career, I don’t think I hadanything else left to give when the time came.And it is nice not to have to worry aboutgetting up in the morning and feeling in tip-topcondition, thinking what I do now might affectmy performance in eight months’ time.”

His participation in athletics these days ispurely as a spectator, keeping track of what’sgoing on in the domestic and internationalmeetings and chatting to competitors andcoaches to ensure that when he’s got amicrophone in his hand, he’ll have an insider’sfeel for what’s going on and can give the

viewers information beyond that which theycan see on the screen. He also knows a thingor two about what the athletes will be goingthrough mentally as they prepare for theirevent, and admits that, for him, the SydneyOlympics was a very emotional experience.

“I thought this might be my last chance ofwinning a gold medal; I felt that pressure,”reveals this normally calm and self-assuredman.“I felt very nervous, I can remember inthe warm-up wishing I was anywhere else but there.”

It all came good for him in the end to give himthe rare accolade of the Grand Slam: all fourmajor titles at once – Olympics,World andEuropean Championships and CommonwealthGames – not to mention the world record attriple jump, which he still holds. But how doessomeone who’s universally acclaimed as such anice guy become so competitive?

“It’s just part of my make-up,” he offers.“It wasenough to be out there and to want toperform to my best – and obviously to win,because I was in a position where I knew Icould.When I wasn’t the world record holder,when I wasn’t winning the gold medal, I wasstill very competitive but then I reached a level where I expected to win if I performedto my potential.

“Most of the guys you meet off the track arepretty nice guys, it’s just when they get intothat arena, whether it’s a rugby player, a cricketplayer, a golfer, there’s a sort of steelydetermination which you need if you’re going to win.”


Jonathan Edwards

Sporting superstar Colin Jackson may havehung up his spikes and left his competing daysbehind him but, with the Olympic Games justaround the corner, the former hurdler isheading off to Athens to go behind the scenesand provide expert coverage for the BBC.

“I’m really looking forward to the OlympicGames, and it will be the first time I’m doingthe Games without actually taking part,” the36-year-old Welshman says excitedly.“So I’mgoing to see what it’s going to be like on theother side, which should be really interesting.”

Having started his preparation for the Games,trying to absorb as much information as hepossibly can, without really making it an effort,Jackson is now eager to get to Athens andcommentate on and analyse all the action.However, he finds the prospect ofcommentating a little more daunting thanactually taking part in the Games itself.

“From this side, it’s a little bit more difficult.When you’re a performer you only need tothink about your performance and nothingelse. But when you’re commentating, you haveto build up a little case study of everyindividual that you’re going to talk about andmention, and every individual sport that you’regoing to commentate on.”

So, what does Jackson think about our Britishhopefuls? Who should we be looking out forthis year?

“I think Britain has as good a chance as anyother nation for winning medals this year.Youmight think that’s a coward’s way out, but thesport has changed.Years ago there was astructure, and you knew who was going to winthe 100m title.


Colin Jackson

Colin Jackson

Name: Colin JacksonBorn: CardiffFirst BBC job: Colin kick started hisbroadcasting career by co-hosting the BBCsports talent search Born To Win last year.Career highlights: Champion hurdlerColin ranked in the world top 10 for 16years. He was World No. 1 from 1992-1994and was in the world’s top three for the lastseven years of his career. He is the reigningworld record holder outdoors (12.91secs,World Title, Stuttgart, 1993) and at 60mindoors (7.30secs, Sindelfingen, 1994) and,since setting a European junior record of13.44secs in 1986, went on to set sevenEuropean, eight Commonwealth and nineUK records at 110m.Olympic experience: 2000 SydneyOlympics (fifth place); 1996 Olympic Games,(fourth place); 1992 Olympic Games (seventhplace), 1988 Olympic Games (silver medal)

It would be between two athletes, and thatwas happening in every single event. Now thatdoesn’t exist. Now anyone could win theOlympic Gold in the 100m. If someoneperforms well on the day, then the opportunitycan be taken.”

Having said that, Jackson is particularly lookingforward to watching his former GB teammate,Paula Radcliffe, run the 10,000m, or themarathon, whichever she chooses to run in.

“Long distance running is phenomenal and Ican’t wait to see Paula run. I’m also lookingforward to seeing a young hurdler, called Felix Sanchez, of the Dominican Republic do very well. He’s a world champion and Ireally do think he has the ability to break the world record.”

When asked if he gets the chance for muchtime off during the Games, the Welsh sportsstar laughs outs loud.

“During the Games? It ain’t happening! If youwant to do a good job, and be professional,you’ve got to commit and put a lot of time andeffort into it. It’s not easy.”

Amazingly, Jackson doesn’t miss competing at a professional level and is quite happy beingbehind the scenes this year instead of in the limelight.

“It’s like asking a prisoner if they enjoyed theirtime inside! Seriously though, it was fantasticand I really enjoyed it but, in the end, I found ithard to raise my game and to raise my level,because my intensity wasn’t there any moreand my mind became very tired of constantlytrying to perform, perform, perform.Sometimes in your mind, you think: ‘I’m sotired now and I don’t really want to be doingthis any more. I just want to have some fun.’And that’s what I don’t miss.”

Earlier this year, Jackson acted as expert judgeand mentor for the competitors in the BBCOne series, Born To Win, a sporting competitionfor 16 to 18-year-olds aimed at finding thesporting talent of the future.

“I really enjoyed being involved in that andlearning something new. It’s something I’d liketo do more of, but I’m not very good at it! I want to practice and get better. I’d quite liketo get into the production side of things too.”

With thoughts turning to the Olympic Gamesin 2012, what does Jackson think GreatBritain’s prospects are for playing hosts?

“I’d love us to host the Games in 2012 and Ithink we’re good enough to do that. I’m all forit and it would be wonderful. Having competedin the Olympic Games before, I know what anadvantage the home athletes get when theycompete in front of a home crowd. It reallylifts you.

The earlier we know if we’re going to host theGames, the earlier we can prepare.The year2012 gives us a long time to get the 18 and19-year-olds ready, to get them just right whenthe time comes. It would be so great for us asa nation too.”

Once the Athens Games are over, Jackson islooking forward to a nice holiday and lots ofwell-earned rest.

“I’m feeling lucky as I’ve had lots of thingsoffered to me, so it will give me a time to sitback and reflect. Hopefully, the Games willopen up more horizons for me, and I’mlooking forward to lots and lots of job offersflooding in!”


Colin Jackson

Unquestionably one of the greatest Olympiansof all time and nicknamed the “world’s fastesthuman”, Michael Johnson literally sprinted hisway into sporting history. Blazing a trail ofglory, with an astonishing 18 gold medals,Michael never thought he’d win another awardafter retiring from athletics in 2001 – but hewas wrong. Michael was awarded Best Sports Pundit for 2003 at the RTS Television SportsAwards in London this May. So it seems he’llbe in top form when he arrives in Athens for the Olympics, to add his perfectcommentating skills to the BBC’s own hand-picked Olympics team.

Michael is modest about his achievements offthe track when he says,“I don’t think I’mnaturally gifted to broadcast, so to be able towin an award … really is an honour.” Michaelstarted commentating on a limited basis in1997 but this is the first time he’ll be at theOlympics as a pundit and not as an athlete.

Rather surprisingly, it doesn’t sound like hemisses being in the thick of competition, underthe glaring lights of the stadium and thewatchful eye of thousands.“You know, thething is, if I wanted to be there as an athlete,then I would, because I wasn’t forced to retirebecause of an injury or something. I retiredbecause I had done everything I possibly couldand it was time for me to move on. It wasfortunate that I was able to accomplisheverything in my career that I wanted to and,given that, there was no more motivation forme in athletics.”

He may have lost his motivation to run but hecertainly hasn’t lost his motivation to performwell, so he is looking forward to testing hisnew skills at these Olympics, which he believesare more open in the sprinting events than


Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson

Name: Michael JohnsonBorn: Dallas, United StatesFirst BBC job: Guest summariser at theEdmonton World Championships in 2001.Career highlights: Johnson had thegreatest consecutive seasons of any sprinterin history in 1990 and 1991. No one else hasever been ranked No. 1 in the world in both200m and 400m. Johnson is the only sprinterin history to run sub 20 seconds for 200mand sub 44 seconds for 400m during acareer and in the same meet. He was soondubbed “World’s Fastest Human”. He wentto the Sydney Olympics in 2000 having wonthe 400m at the last four worldchampionships.Olympic experience: 1992 Barcelona(4x400m gold), 1996 Atlanta Olympics(200m gold in world record time of 19.32secs; 400m gold in Olympic record time of43.49secs), 2000 Sydney Olympics (400mgold and 4x400m gold).

they have been in previous years.“If you’reasking today who’s going to win the 100m inthe Olympics, who knows.Things will start toshape up a little bit now that the season hasstarted but coming into the season there isn’ta person who is an overwhelming favourite inany event.”

He also confirms an emerging trend that willlikely have an effect on some of the traditionallydominant countries at the Olympics.“Whatwe’re seeing in track and field particularly is thata lot of athletes, who are doing well andcompeting well, are athletes from very smallcountries.The No. 1 400m runner in the worldis from Mexico; the No. 1 hurdler is from theDominican Republic; and the world champion inthe 100m is from St Kitts.”

Michael points out that often these athletes,who come from emerging Olympic nations,aren’t even trained in their own country, butthis doesn’t bother him.“I tend not to reallyfocus and not really get into, on the Olympiclevel, how a country does because I thinkwe’re starting to get so mixed up now.

“You’re going to have athletes in these OlympicGames from countries which they have no realrelationship to … I look at the Olympics interms of individual performance. For anindividual athlete it’s a major, major achievementand to go in and be successful at that issomething that is the highlight of your life.”

For Michael, the most amazing Olympicperformance of all time is one he didn’twitness in person – Jesse Owens in 1936.“Forhim to go on to win four Olympic medalsunder that kind of pressure and that climatehe walked into at that stadium was probablythe greatest Olympic moment.” A more recentstandout moment includes watching CathyFreeman, a personal friend, win the 400m, infront of her home crowd and under immensepressure, at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.Being cool under pressure is something

Michael knows a lot about.When he toucheson the terrorist threat that hangs over anymajor event these days, he says that how itaffects the competition will depend onindividual athletes.“Whether an athlete isgoing to be affected or not is going to dependon that athlete and how he approaches hiscompetition. Some athletes will stand on thestarting line and if their race is delayed by 10minutes, they’re going to be completely thrownoff. Some athletes will take that in their strideand they will still be able to go in and have thesame race that they were going to have 10minutes prior.”

There’s little doubt which athlete Michaelwould be.A focused and determined person,it’s no wonder he makes one coolcommentator. He admits to working very hard on various projects, which keep him “very busy”, and he juggles these professionalcommitments with bringing up his four-year-old son.

Despite all this, he somehow manages to findthe time to stay incredibly fit. He points out,however, that he doesn’t go overboard, makingit to the gym only a few days a week. Still, it’s ahard habit to break.“Going out and trainingevery day when you’re no longer an athlete isjust like anybody else in their normal job,retiring years ago, but thinking, ‘I still have togo into the office every day, even though Idon’t get paid to do that any more and that’snot my career any more but I’m gonna go inthere, I’ve just gotta keep going.’ That’s whatI’ve been doing all my life. It’s similar to that.”

With this kind of attitude, it certainly soundslike Michael Johnson has one long career as acommentator ahead of him.


Michael Johnson

He’s Britain’s greatest Olympian but Sir SteveRedgrave will have a rather different role in hislatest Olympic Games.

“I’m Steve Rider’s sidekick!” grins the five-times Olympic gold medallist.

“Steve will be presenting the rowing and I’ll bewith him at the rowing venue on the big days,”he explains.“Other days, if we’ve got somegood results in the heats and the semi finals I’llcome into the studio in the evenings and talkabout what’s happened on that particular day.”

It all sounds a lot less stressful than Steve’s fiveprevious Olympics as a competitor in thoserowing events, and he admits that this time he’splanning to make the most of being a spectatorand see as much other sport as he can.

“I want to pick up on whatever’s going on andhowever the British team is doing and wherewe’ve got good medal hopes, because thatcreates a fantastic atmosphere,” he says.“AlsoI’m mentoring some young athletes and I wantto get around and see them compete.”

The seasoned competitor wants to pass on his Olympic experience to the newcomers tohelp them overcome the pitfalls of an event ashuge as the Olympics – some of which arerather surprising.

“It’s quite easy to overeat and put on weightwhen you go to the Olympic Games!” helaughs.“The eating halls are open 24 hours aday, training is tapered down, you’ve got timeon your hands so you tend to be sittingaround in the eating halls a bit longer. It’s easyto have your lunch and go and chat withsomeone, move on to somebody else, andevery time you go and talk to somebody newyou get another tray of food.”


Sir Steve Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave

Name: Sir Steve RedgraveFirst BBC Job: 2004 Olympics Career Highlights: In addition to hisOlympic successes and following fourunbeaten seasons from 1993 to 1996, Stevewon his ninth World Championship Gold inAugust 1999 in St Catherines, Canada. Hisprevious World Championship Golds werein 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997and 1998. Steve was awarded the MBE in theNew Year's Honours List in 1987 and theCBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1997and following his success in Sydney wasawarded a Knighthood in the 2001 NewYears Honours List.Olympic Experience: Gold for the CoxedFours in Los Angeles in 1984, followed byGold with his previous partner AndyHolmes in the Coxless Pairs at Seoul in1988, Gold with partner Matthew Pinsentfor the Coxless Pairs at the BarcelonaOlympics in 1992, the Atlanta Olympics in1996 and of course, the famous win in theCoxless Fours at the Sydney Olympics.

Steve hopes his knowledge of these Olympicquirks can help Britain’s less experiencedathletes cope with the pressures of what is amassive event.

“Most of the athletes that go to the Gameswill have been to a major championships, butthey are just geared up to your event, andyour event only.You go to the Olympic Gamesand there’s 28 sports; there are actually 400events, 400 gold medals given out.

“If you win the Rowing World Championships,you’re a big fish in a very small pond, but putthat into the Olympics and – although what Ihave achieved in the sport certainly hasn’tbeen passed by at all – you’re only a very, verysmall element of this big picture.After I wonmy first Games, Richard Burnell, who won agold medal in rowing at the 1948 Olympics inLondon – unfortunately he’s no longer with us– came up to me afterwards to congratulateme and he said, ‘Fantastic achievement – you’reWorld Champion for one year, but you’reOlympic Champion for life.’ And that reallydoes sum the whole thing up because theOlympics is something special.”

Steve has fond memories from all his fiveGames and insists he can’t pick out just one favourite.

“It’s like saying, which is your favourite child?I’m a father of three and they have verydifferent personalities, and it’s exactly the samewith the Olympics. Sydney was very special,they’d got a lot of the elements right –probably more so than any other; Los Angeleswas the first time I’d been to the States, thefirst time I’d really travelled a great deal, andthe razzmatazz was very special indeed;everyone thinks of Seoul as being very blandand not that exciting but we went out toKorea three weeks before the village openedand we had a training camp in Chungchong,

and seeing day-to-day Korean life wasfascinating, it was quite an eye-opener in some respects.

“So each Games was special in its own right;they were all very different, differentatmosphere and different cultures, but all very special.”

As President of the Amateur RowingAssociation, Steve still keeps up with thesport, but laughs when asked how much timehe himself spends in boats these days.

“I think I went across on a ferry a few monthsago!” he jokes.“I went out in a rowing boatfour times last year, eight times the year beforethat, so at that rate it should be twice this year!

“But I’ve been doing it for 25 years, every dayof my life within that 25 years. I still love thesport and I really enjoy the times I go out, butI used to have calluses across my fingers, awfulhands.They’re not quite like a baby’s bum butthey’re relatively good now so when I go out Iget a handful of blisters. I come off the waterand go in the shower and my hand startsstinging... I think, do I really need to go and dothis any more?!”

A gentle game of golf is more Steve’s style thesedays – that is, when he has any spare time.

“I have less time now than when I was rowing,and I’m travelling more than I did before.Everyone says oh it must be great, retirement,what do you do, put your feet up and watchTV? I don’t get the chance!”


Sir Steve Redgrave

Sue Barker

How do you think the atmosphere inAthens will compare to Sydney?

“Every Games has been special for differentreasons, but Sydney will be hard to top becausethe Aussies are passionate about their sportand that came across at every event.Athenshas the history, though, and that is important.”

What do you consider the best Gamesin recent history and why?

“For me, it was Sydney.The tone was set at the Opening Ceremony and that wave ofenthusiasm carried through and was infectious.”

How do you think the BBC’s coverage compares with that of other broadcasters?

“Other broadcasters praise the amount of livecoverage we do and, hopefully, the quality willbe of the same high standard that those beforehave set.”

Steve Rider

What are your earliest memories of the Olympics?

“Probably Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964.With the Rome Olympics, I had a wall chart athome and I was filling all the bits and pieces in.”

Is there much socialising between thedifferent broadcasting teams?

“I wouldn’t call it socialising but it’s veryinteresting to see how they operate and wespend the first couple of days nipping into eachother’s studios at the International BroadcastCentre.The Americans, for example, arecompletely self-contained.They bring theirown chefs and cooks.”

Do you play any sports?

“I play as much golf as I can. I love working onthe golf and the US Masters in particular. Ourlast trip out to Atlanta was the 21st straightMasters that I’ve presented.”

Hazel Irvine

What’s your view on Athens as anOlympic venue?

“It’s maddening, it’s irritating, it’s hot, it’s dusty… and it’s absolutely wonderful!”

What do you think of Team GB’s medal prospects?

“I’m quite optimistic.We’ve got some great talent on the track; the hard work has been done to get sailing, equestrianism and the modern pentathlon up to Olympicgold standards; and you just get the feeling it’s going to come right for Mr Pinsent, too.”


Presenter/pundittips and Olympic views

Who will be the stars of this year’sOlympics?

“Nineteen-year-old American swimmerMichael Phelps is being tipped as the newMark Spitz. Can he win seven golds? That’s aheck of a thing to ask … but I think we’regoing to get some fantastic swimming fromhim.The Americans are really going to be upfor it this year because the Aussies ruled in thepool in Sydney.”

Steve Cram

What do you think about the issue ofsecurity at Athens?

“You either want to go to the Olympic Gamesor you don’t.And if you go, you make someassumptions – that the [Olympic] Village isgoing to be there, the stadium is going to bethere and that the security is taken care of.”

What do you think will be a key eventfor Britain?

“I think the marathon for us will be a keyevent. I think we’ll have more people watchingthat event than anything else, with PaulaRadcliffe running, plus the marathon is sosynonymous with Greece and Athens.”

What do you think of Britain’s medalchances?

“If you take Paula [Radcliffe] out of theequation, you still have Kelly Holmes,Hayley Tullett, who won a medal at the World Championships last year, Jo Pavey and Helen [Clitheroe] Pattinson ...You putPaula into the equation and the women’smiddle- and long-distance running seems very, very strong.”

Clare Balding

What are your favourite Olympicmemories?

“Daley Thompson winning the decathlon, in1980 and 1984 I think.And it was pretty goodwhen Roger Black won his silver medal behindMichael Johnson in Atlanta. I remember beingin a house with a load of Americans watchingit and there were about four of us there fromthe BBC all cheering for Roger.

“The other, of course, is Redgrave – I wasthere when he won his fifth gold medal,standing with his wife Anne, and kids and hisparents.To be on the banks of that lake at thattime was unreal.And to sense that wholebuild-up and feel that sick! You really worry. Ithought they’d been beaten, I thought theItalians had won.They came past us and I waslooking at Anne Redgrave and she was saying‘Look at the board, look at the board,’ becausethe angle we were at you just couldn’t tell.”

Do you socialise much with your fellow broadcasters?

“For Craig and me, with the shift we’re doing,we’re not exactly going to be hanging aroundthe bar in the evenings, drinking, because that’swhen we’re going to be working!

“We had a fun time in Sydney, when a bunchof us went off to a casino.That was a mistake!”

Craig Doyle


“When you go to Athens and some of the oldstadia there, it’s an incredible feeling.You can



sense the history in there, so yes, on asentimental note, it’s bang on. On a practicalnote, it was never going to be the greatest city to build a load of new buildings on, simplybecause there’s too much history lying aroundthe place.”

What is your favourite Olympicmemory?

“Do you know a great memory of mine andone I think sums up the Olympic spirit wasGreg Louganis on the high board, in 1988.He whacked his head really badly and wasbleeding heavily and you think, ‘Is this guy going to survive this?’ and then he gets outand he wins gold. He did a perfect dive straight afterwards.”

What is the appeal of the OlympicGames?

“It is that ultimate challenge for an athlete.The Olympics is the one event that everyathlete strives for – training for five years, justto get there.Young kids have been trainingbefore the last Olympics to come to thisOlympics and everyone wants to do well,purely for pride and representation of theircountry, and just to have an Olympic medal.I think that makes it a very special event.”

Jonathan Edwards

Any British athletes you’re looking outfor in Athens?

“I’ve got a soft spot for my own event so I’d likePhillips Idowu to do well. He’s very talented andcertainly gave me a run for my money the lastcouple of years. I also like to watch the classics– in the men’s 100m we’ve got Mark Lewis-Francis, Darren Campbell and Jason Gardner, soit should be a strong event for Britain.”


“Athens has what only Athens can have – thehistory and the tradition, so I presume theGames will play on those strengths. Hopefullypeople will go away thinking we’ve been to thehome of the ancient Olympics and seen agreat modern Olympics.”

Who are your greatest Olympians?

“I’d have to say Carl Lewis – not just for thefact that he won so many gold medals, but theway he won them. Seb Coe – his two goldmedals in 80 and 84 were outstandingachievements in very competitive events. DaleyThomson was a great athlete who won hisgold medals with a certain swagger … and youcan’t talk about great Olympians withoutmentioning Steve Redgrave. Just to go to fiveOlympics is some achievement but to winthem all is remarkable.”

Colin Jackson

Which events are you most lookingforward to?

“Long distance running is phenomenal and Ican’t wait to see Paula [Radcliffe] run in the10,000m, or the marathon.The sprints arealways interesting because you always want toknow who the fastest man or woman is. Butwho cares about the hurdlers, because I won’tbe competing!”

Which athletes should we look out for?

“I’m really looking forward to seeing a young hurdler called Felix Sanchez do verywell. He’s a world champion and I think he has the ability to break the world record.”



Who is the greatest Olympian of all time?

“Wow, that’s difficult! Could it be JessieOwens? Or is it Sir Steve Redgrave, who hadfive consecutive victories, which was anamazing feat. It was phenomenal.”

Michael Johnson

Is there someone we should look out forat these Olympics?

“If you’re asking today who’s going to win the100m in the Olympics, who knows.Things will start to shape up a little bit now that the season has started but coming into theseason there isn’t a person who is anoverwhelming favourite.”

Why aren’t you competing in theseGames?

“If I wanted to be there as an athlete, then Iwould, because I wasn’t forced to retirebecause of an injury or something. I retiredbecause I had done everything I possibly couldand it was time for me to move on.”

What are you looking forward to seeing?

“I like the individual events more than theteam events … so swimming and track andfield; those two are probably the biggest. I’llwatch a bit of gymnastics, diving, but thosesubjective sports are harder to watch becauseyou think this one athlete did a great job butthe judges think something different.”

Sir Steve Redgrave

Where do you think our best medalchances are?

“In rowing we’ve got Cath Bishop and KathGrainger who won the World Championshipin the pair; they’ve got a very good chance ofbeing our first-ever women’s Olympic rowinggold medal. Our men’s four looks very strongnow Matthew [Pinsent] and James [Cracknell]have gone into it. In athletics, Paula’s [Radcliffe]got to be our strongest chance. I know NicoleCooke has got a very good chance in cycling –I’m her mentor!”

Would you rather be competing than commentating?

“It is going to be odd. Everybody said to meafter retiring when I went back to the WorldChampionships, you’re going to find it reallydifficult, you’re not going to enjoy it and you’regoing to feel that you want to be out therebut in fact that hasn’t been the case. I am reallyexcited about my new role really.”


“I’ve been out to Athens three times in thelast two years and the sense of history, of thehomecoming, of where the Games startedfrom – not just the modern era but more ofthe ancient times – suddenly hits you and youget drawn into that. I think it’ll be a veryspecial Games.”



BBC Radio Five Live is the exclusive radiohome of the Olympic Games, with over 12hours of coverage every day coming live fromAthens. Some of Five Live’s biggest names –Nicky Campbell (below),Victoria Derbyshire,John Inverdale, Jane Garvey and Mark Pougatch– will anchor the coverage from Greece,bringing live commentary, analysis and guestsfrom the Games.

Five Live has lined up a fantastic set of former Olympians, including Mark

Richardson, Nick Gillingham and MartinCross, to complement the network’sfirst-class commentary team, who bring theirown unique perspective to the Olympics.

Rob Hastie, leader of the radio team, says:“We have a strong team of experiencedbroadcasters and experts to bring the magic ofthe Olympics to Five Live listeners.With suchan extensive range of coverage coming fromAthens over the 16 days of the Games, FiveLive really will be the Olympic Station.”

Organising the logistics of such a major eventhas taken Rob over three years to plan.“I

started planning the Athens coverage sitting bythe hotel pool the day after the ClosingCeremony in Sydney! It is a complicatedproject because not only do you have to co-ordinate all of the coverage of the eventsand plan the studio complex in the BroadcastCentre, but also all the areas of Five Live and other radio output, such as the BBC’sWorld Service.”

Five Live’s Olympic programming will bespread across the day:

• Coverage of the morning sessions in Athensstarts at 6am in Breakfast, presented by Nicky Campbell, then with Victoria Derbyshire(below) taking the reins from around 9am until midday.

• John Inverdale and Jane Garvey present livecoverage of the afternoon sessions in Drivefrom 4pm, continuing throughout the evening.

• Mark Pougatch will anchor Sport On Five atthe weekend, live from Athens, withcommentary on all the big Olympic events,and also Premiership Football.


BBC Radio Five Live –The Olympic Station

Arlo White, David Croft and Vassos Alexanderwill be joined by BBC Talent winner RobStewart presenting the sport bulletinsthroughout the day from Athens, and GordonFarquhar will have the latest on any sportsnews and controversy.The programmes basedin London will all have an Olympic feel withguests and discussions on the Olympics.

BBC Radio Five Live commentators:

Ceremonies: Nick MullinsAthletics: John Rawling, Mike Whittingham,Sonja McLaughlan , Mark Richardson,Allison CurbishleySwimming: Bob Ballard, Paul Palmer,Nick GillinghamRowing:Alan Green, Martin CrossGymnastics: Eleanor OldroydHockey:Alastair Eykyn, Sandie ListerTennis: Jonathan Overend, Sam SmithCycling: Simon BrothertonEquestrian:Alistair Bruce-BallSailing: Juliette FerringtonTriathlon:Alistair Bruce-BallModern Pentathlon: Eleanor Oldroyd

The integrated radio and sport teams alsoprovide coverage for BBC Radio 4, as EleanorOldroyd reports for the Today programme andPM. BBC World Service broadcasts around theglobe and the team’s journalists will provideOlympic news for BBC News 24 and all BBCRadio channels – local, regional and national.

Radio OBs – Radio Resources

Radio OB Manager Brian Prior startedplanning for the Athens Olympics just sixmonths after the closing ceremony for theSydney Games. He is leading a team of 17 staffdrawn from BBC Radio Outside Broadcastsand BBC Radio Resources, providing fulltechnical facilities for 18 hours of broadcastingeach day of the Games.

The operation will be based in theInternational Broadcast Centre (IBC), justacross the road from the Olympic Stadium inthe OAKA Sport Complex. Five tons ofequipment will be transported to Athens, tobuild the most comprehensive broadcastcomplex of any Olympic Games.The complexwill consist of a Central Control Room, twostudios for BBC Radio Five Live, two studiosfor BBC World Service, a multi-purposeedit/playout suite and desktop editing and ITfacilities in the Sportsroom office. For the firsttime at one of these events, a newly acquiredstate-of-the-art digital audio routing matrix willbe employed to cater for the enhancedfacilities now demanded by production teams.

There will be fully equipped commentarypositions at all of the major venues includingSchinias, to the north of Athens, whereMatthew Pinsent is going for his fourthOlympic gold medal.The team will beexpanding the coverage of the rowing at thesegames from the normal facilities beingprovided by the host broadcaster, to include ahigh-powered roving radio microphone whichwill operate from across the rowing lake tocapture the excitement of the spectators, andfriends and family of the athletes enjoying thecompetition.There will also be ISDN reportingpositions at many of the other sport stadia, allof which will feed into the Five Live controlroom at the IBC.

In addition to the fixed commentary positionsreporters are also equipped for exclusive post-event trackside interviews and there will beanother high-power roving radio microphonecovering the Olympic Park, adjacent to themain Olympic Stadium.There will be aninterview position at the Team GB HQ in theAthletes Village, where the British TeamManagement and athletes will be able to listen to Radio Five Live.The Five Live outputwill also be supplemented by a satellite “radiocar” to cover the rest of the city of Athens.


BBC Radio Five Live –The Olympic Station

What’s it like covering an event as hugeas the Olympics?

“It’s my favourite event of all, but in a kind ofromantic ‘peace, love and understanding’ way. Ijust love being in the place where the wholeworld is, who are taking part (for the mostpart) in the wholly unimportant, but hugelyuplifting world of sport.The Olympics shouldbe, and usually is, the greatest symbol of sportas a force for good in the world.Walkinground the Olympic Village I always findparticularly stimulating, because everywhere you look there are a hundreddifferent nationalities and languages. I just lookaround and say, ‘Wow’.”

How do you prepare for the events, bothprofessionally and personally?

“Personally, I always make sure I have half a dozen cassettes with me, so I can go running round the streets of whichever city it happens to be, listening to music that willthen subsequently remind me of thoseGames. Professionally, I mug up on small-bore shooting.”

What sports/events are you mostlooking forward to yourself?

“The athletics is the Olympics. Everything elseis great – and swimming and rowing have hadtheir moments – but when push comes toshove, my memories will be of watching LynnDavies in 1964 through to Gebrselassie inSydney and all points in between.”

Who do you think will be the star of the Games?

“Paula [Radcliffe]? I do hope so.”

Who are GB’s medal prospects to watchout for?

“This could well be the Games when theswimmers become the key figures for Britishsport. I remember conducting so manyinterviews over the years about the state of the sport in this country, with everyonebemoaning our lack of quality and depth.Now it’s a sport on a mission with a hugeamount of genuine medal contenders.The pool could well be the place to be in the first week.”

What do you think of Athens as a venue?

“I’ll tell you when I get there. But in the backof my mind, there are two thoughts. One: wehave this great, ‘Will it be ready?’ debate every four years in certain respects, and


BBC Radio Five Livepresenter Q&As

John Inverdale

Name: John InverdaleFirst BBC job: BBC Radio Lincolnshire in 1982.Career highlights: John was namedBroadcaster of the Year in 1997.Olympic experience: John has worked atthe Olympics in Seoul, Barcelona,Atlanta,Sydney and Athens.

two, how could any venue with the history and the monuments that Athens has, not be a terrific Games?”

Do you play any sports yourself, or watch any?

“Lots, and I take mediocrity to new heights. Maybesmall-bore shooting is the next one to try.”

What are your favourite memories ofprevious Olympic Games?

“Being in a coffee bar in Seoul watching AdrianMoorhouse win gold.The television was tunedto the Taekwondo on another channel, and I asked the owner if he’d turn the channel overto the swimming. He reluctantly agreed.I had to stand on a table and explain to thehundreds in this place that I was from the UK and there was a guy called Moorhousewho was going to win gold for my country.They all smiled.When the gun went, all theKoreans chanted ‘Moorhouse, Moorhouse’, allthe way through the race.There was a hugecheer when he won, but five seconds later, wewere back on the Taekwondo.”

How do you see the UK’s prospects forhosting the Games in 2012?

“Good to excellent.We should believe inourselves a bit more, and I can’t bear thenegativity from some quarters about the bid.It’s now or never, I feel. I can’t imagine Londonstaging the Games for another 20 years if wedon’t get the nod this time.”

Who do you consider the greatestOlympian of all time?

“The greatest I’ve met is Carl Lewis. Hewalked into our studio in Barcelona, wearing aT-shirt that said ‘Show me the guy who comessecond, and I’ll show you the first loser’ Cool.And true.”

Mark Pougatch

What’s it like covering an event as hugeas the Olympics?“Exciting and demanding but it’s why we dothis job! The Sydney Games were a hugelymemorable experience.”

How do you prepare for the events, bothprofessionally and personally, for anevent like the Olympics?

“If you’re covering a sport you don’t normallywatch – like, say,Triathlon – then it’s all aboutresearch and reading up.”


“Whatever they throw at me!”



Name: Mark PougatchFirst BBC job: BBC Essex, 1992.Olympic experience: Mark has worked onthe Nagano Winter Olympics and theSydney Olympics.


“The beauty is we have no idea!”


“The equestrian team, including Pippa Funnell,and our yachting line-up.”


“It’s the spiritual home of the Games and, withluck, it will be idiosyncratically Greek and allthe better for it.”


“Watch anything and everything and playfootball, cricket and golf.”


“Sitting on the steps of the Sydney OperaHouse watching the start of the triathlon inthe bay, tour left and then the finish in front ofus in the blazing sunshine.”


“I think we’re a fair way behind Paris at themoment and if Seb Coe can pull this one off, itwill be an even greater achievement than hisback-to-back gold medals.”


“Sir Steve Redgrave.”

John Rawling


“The Olympics, for me, is the most excitingevent on the athletics calendar. It is the onethat the athletes care about, above all others,and the Games have a special atmosphere oftheir own, with fans travelling from all over the world.

“There is nothing quite like commentating on the major finals. I have been very lucky to have been in the commentator’s seat forLinford Christie and Sally Gunnell’s gold medal runs, and to have seen astonishingperformances, like Michael Johnson breakingthe world record to win the 200m in Atlanta.This year, I am sure there will be morespectacular feats to leave an indelible imprint on the memory.”



Name: John RawlingFirst BBC job:Working as a freelance news and sports reporter for BBC Radio Leicester.Career highlights: He first started workingin sport radio in 1983 and, more recently,expanded his duties to include boxing andathletics, on television. He has commentatedon athletics for the BBC since 1988.Olympic experience: John has been BBCRadio’s lead commentator at all the OlympicGames since Barcelona in 1992. Hishighlights include seeing Linford Christie andSally Gunnell win gold medals in 1992; seeingMichael Johnson break the 200m worldrecord in 1996; and, in 2000, witnessingDenise Lewis winning gold in the heptathlon,Cathy Freeman's 400m run and JonathanEdwards taking the gold medal.

How do you prepare for such a large event, both professionally and personally?

“Professionally, preparing for the event is downto hard work. I am fortunate to work with anexcellent statistician, Mark Butler, and I have afine team of experts and production staffaround me. But, in the weeks before theGames, I effectively live the sport as the teamtravels around Europe reporting on all themajor pre-Olympics meetings. Shock resultsstill occur, but not often. By the time we get tothe Games, we have a pretty good idea whichathletes are likely to take the gold medals.

“Personally, it is not always easy having somany weeks on the road. But I have had thechance to spend time in some of the mostbeautiful cities in the world and made somegreat friendships over the years.”


“As a commentator, my favourite event is the800m. Maybe it is because I grew up in the eraof Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. It is a testof sustained speed and tactical acumen, and itinvariably produces great drama. From a Britishperspective, I hope Paula Radcliffe can get agold in the marathon. She has been such awonderful ambassador for the sport; it wouldbe a great shame if she did not have anOlympic gold medal as a high spot in what hasalready been a fantastic career.”


“It’s hard to say – possibly one of theEthiopian distance runners.And I wouldn’t besurprised to see Maurice Greene win again inthe 100m. I just hope the whole thing is not

overshadowed by drugs stories. Sadly, drugabuse remains the cancer of the sport.”


“Very few, I am afraid. Darren Campbell has agreat record in major championships and mayget on the podium again. Kelly Holmes, even asshe approaches veteran status, will be incontention, and Ashia Hansen could bethereabouts if only she can stay fit. Beyondthose names, I fear we are looking atpossibilities rather than likelihoods.”


“Too hot, congested and polluted despite thewonderful history.The facilities will be good,but the city is not a great place to visit at thebest of times and it will struggle with an eventof Olympic magnitude.”


“I watch everything possible, either live or ontelevision. I am a keen golfer, with a 15handicap but trying to improve.”


“The first Games on which I commentated wasBarcelona 1992, when a never-to-be-forgottenmoment was when the Spaniard Fermin Cachowon the 1,500m; the fans nearly raised theroof. In Sydney, Cathy Freeman’s 400m run waseverything Australia had dreamed about. Butthe greatest thing I have ever seen was MichaelJohnson running 19.32secs for the 200m inAtlanta. I would not be surprised if I never seethat world record beaten. On that day, Johnsonwas simply incredible.”




“Better now Seb Coe is in charge of the bid. Itis a shame he was not fronting the bid fromthe outset. Paris is the clear favourite, and wehave a lot of catching up to do.Transportdifficulties count against London and there iscertain to be some anti-Brit feeling as a resultof the Iraq war. But, with Coe at the helm,drawing on his worldwide popularity, Londonshould not be disgraced and may push Paris close.”


“Carl Lewis.”

Mike Whittingham


“An exciting, memorable, demanding, once-in-a-lifetime experience – a great privilege.”

How do you prepare for such a largeevent, both professionally and personally?

“Lots of background preparation and storingup sleep!”


“Athletics, of course, but also canoeing,cycling, sailing, rowing, shooting,Taekwondo,equestrian, judo, swimming, modern pentathlon and women’s gymnastics – all the events where Britain can win medals!”


“I think Athens will be a star itself, MatthewPinsent and probably a swimmer, too.”


“I think over 30 [medals] in total. In athletics,possibly Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliffe, IdowuPhillips, Steve Backley and the 4x100m Men’s Relay.”


“Fantastic – full of inspirational history such asNikaia, the goddess of success!”


“I am still very active. I go running, trekking,kayaking and skiing.”


“In Sydney, Cathy Freeman in the 400m –every round! In Atlanta, Michael Johnson’smagical double, and Marie Jo Perec’s double isoften forgotten! Firmin Cacho in Barcelonawas amazing in the 1,500m. Outside that,Dick Fosbury, Bob Beamon in 1968, Carl Lewis in 1984 and David Hemery’s worldrecord was inspirational!”



Name: Mike WhittinghamFirst BBC job: Started working for FiveLive in 1990 at the European Championshipsin Split, Croatia.Career highlights: In the 1990 EuropeanChampionships he coached Roger Black,Kriss Akabusi and John Regis – and they all medalled!Olympic experience: He’s been at everySummer Olympic Games since joining BBC Radio Five Live.


“I think it will be between Paris and London.”


“Coubertin, for reinventing them! Athlete-wise,we shouldn’t compare, as all Olympiansdeserve our praise as it is such a greatachievement to make it there.”

Mark Richardson


“Covering an event as huge as the Olympics is a great honour. It will be very interesting for me being on the other side of the fence. Instead of competing, I will be in one of the best seats in the house, offering myhumble opinions.

“Quite a few people are asking whether I willhave itchy feet but the answer is a resoundingno. I really enjoyed my time as a professionalathlete but it was time to move on. I’mrelishing the challenge of getting to grips withthe broadcasting and hope that I can addanother dimension to the coverage.”


“Without question the highlight for me will bethe start of the track and field programme.The athletics is the premier sport within theOlympics. It is going to be a huge thrillwatching the passion and glory in the Olympicstadium.The athletes will be like gladiators ofold, competing for the greatest of sportinghonours. I’m sure it will provide a roller-coaster of emotions.”

Do you miss competing? Do you stillhave a fitness routine?

“I can honestly say that I do not miss theintensity of the training required to competeat the highest level. I do relish competition and challenge but I now have that in otherareas of my life.

“I do follow a rather loose fitness regime,as I think it is absolutely fundamental to good health. I’m also really keen to stop mywaistline from getting out of control! I enjoygoing to my health club and working out at amoderate to low intensity, and unwinding



Name: Mark RichardsonFirst BBC job: Mark’s relationship with theBBC grew as his career progressed. Hestarted off doing interviews and, in time,became a pundit.Career highlights: Beating Michael Johnsonin the Oslo Grand Prix in a personal best of44.37seconds.Olympic experience: Mark won silver in the 1996 Olympics and bronze in the1992 Olympics as part of the Great BritainRelay Team.

with the help of the spa and sauna after my workout.”

Do you like to get away from sport inyour leisure time?

“Quite often my leisure time involves sport.I’m a huge Liverpool fan and like to go tomatches when I can. I do enjoy going tosporting events of all descriptions and reallyenjoy watching big televised sporting events.

“I love going to the gym in my downtime aswell. I find doing a workout is a great way to relax.”

Do you and your colleagues socialisewith other countries’ broadcasters?

“The majority of the time is spent with Britishbroadcasters from television channels,predominately BBC and Eurosport.”


“It’s difficult to look past Sydney 2000.Thestandard set by the city was incredibly highand it proved to be a breathtaking Games thatreally encapsulated the spirit of the Olympicmovement. It also proved to be a vintageGames for the GB team.

“But I will always have a special place in my heartfor the Atlanta Games, as I won a silver medalwith the 4 x 400m team at that Olympics.”

How do you pass the time at theOlympics when you’re not working?

“I will probably catch up on sleep.The athleticprogramme tends to run quite late into thenight. By the time you eat and relax, it tends topush on well into the night. It tends to be avery gruelling schedule.

“Obviously I will be aiming to keep fit and itwould be great to get some sightseeing in aswell. I competed in the Athletic WorldChampionships in 1997 but didn’t really getmuch of a chance to explore the city.”


“I think the UK has a really strong chance ofhosting the 2012 Games.The 2002Commonwealth Games in Manchesterhighlighted just how competent we are as anation at hosting big events.

“It is fantastic to see that the London 2012 bidis getting so much support from theGovernment; it really will prove to be crucial.The London bid is bold, compact (in terms ofhaving the athletes’ village so close to so manykey events in the Olympic programme) andinspired. But, best of all, there is a real sensethat the whole country is behind the bid.”

How would you feel about the UKhosting the Games?

“I think the UK hosting the Games will leave asporting legacy in terms of facilities. It couldrevitalise and bring urban regeneration toparts of East London. In my mind, the biggestimpact will be the effect that having the Gameson our doorstep will have on young people. Ithink a London Olympics could inspire andmotivate young minds and bring a huge influxof fresh, young, eager talent to all sports.”


“Carl Lewis, as he inspired me to become anathlete.Watching him make history at the LAOlympics in 1984, winning four gold medals,put me on the path to becoming aninternational athlete myself.”



Bob Ballard


“It is the Rolls Royce of sporting events for areporter or commentator, as it is the onlyevent that, genuinely, does bring the worldtogether and you know that you are going tosee the best in pretty much every sport. It’s avery special experience.”


“Thoroughly! There is a lot of preparation for the swimming events in terms ofswimmers’ biographies, current rankings,previous records, and it’s very easy tooverlook something important unless you do it properly.You can’t cut corners, but have to use the information sparingly.”


“I think the swimming will be of a very highstandard, as it was in Sydney, and with the USunlikely to send their strongest team to Athens,the basketball could be very exciting, and very

open, with Lithuania and Serbia andMontenegro likely to be in contention for gold.”


“I make no apologies for returning to swimming,as the 19-year-old American Michael Phelps willbe going for seven gold medals. I don’t think he’llequal Mark Spitz’s feat from 1972, but he’ll give ita good go, and not forgetting Ian Thorpe, whocould get six medals himself.”


“In the pool I think we have the possibility of ahandful of medals, and maybe our first divingmedal for 44 years. Mel Marshall in the 200mfreestyle, David Davies in the 1,500m, JamesGibson in the 100m breaststroke and IanEdmond in the 200m are our best hopes formedals, along with the women’s 4x200mfreestyle squad.

“Leon Taylor and Peter Waterfield, who justmissed out on a medal in Sydney, should medal in the 10m synchronised diving event,and both have a chance in the individualplatform diving.”


“I have to admit that I’m not thrilled that there will be no roof on the pool – thethought of barbecued Bob doesn’t appeal –but it’s only right that Athens should get the Games after an absence of 108 years.I’m sure that, despite all the advance negative publicity, there will be fewer problems than anticipated.”


“I always had a problem with hand-eye co-ordination when playing sport, which made me



Name: Bob BallardFirst BBC job: Presenting Out And About,the sport and music programme on BBCRadio Medway, in February 1983Career highlights:A Sony Award for Euro1996 Breakfast Show on Radio Sheffield andcommentating on the Sheffield FA Cup semi final in 1993.Olympic experience: Second SummerGames (Sydney was his first).Two WinterOlympics for BBC TV, including the Canada vUSA ice-hockey final in 2002, and, on radio,the Ian Thorpe versus Pieter van denHoogenband 200m freestyle final in Sydney.

totally useless most of the time. My only claimto fame was a wicked serve in table tennis, butif that failed, that was my game gone! I watchloads of sports; there are not many I don’twatch, and I like American sports like baseball,basketball and ice hockey.”


“This is only my second Summer Games butSydney was something special, especiallywatching the swimming in a venue that housed18,000 spectators. From the Winter Olympics,commentating on Canada winning the ice-hockey title in Salt Lake City, for the first timein 50 years, was a big thrill.”


“I think the IOC owes us one after bailingthem out in 1948, but I don’t think sentimentwill come into it. I see it as a straight head tohead with Paris and London.At the moment, itlooks like Paris may just get it but, as a proudLondoner, I hope Sebastian Coe can win Roggeand friends round.”


“As the swimming commentator I would haveto lean towards Mark Spitz; I don’t think sevengold medals in one Games will ever beequalled, but Steve Redgrave would have torun him very close; and, for his guts and dignityin 1936, Jesse Owens has a special place inOlympic history, in my view.”

Nick Gillingham


“I feel privileged to be covering the OlympicGames, the biggest sporting spectacle theworld can ever witness.As a member of theBBC team, I can’t wait to commentate on theepic scale of sporting drama that awaits.”


“I am most looking forward to all Olympicswimming events, with particular interest goingto the men’s 200m breaststroke, an eventwhere I took Olympic silver and bronze.”


“I don’t miss competing at an elite level, as Ihad a long and successful career. I still have



Name: Nick GillinghamFirst BBC job: Nick commentated on theParalympics Games in Sydney 2000.Career highlights:Winning the Europeantitle for three consecutive years and settingthe world record in 1989, 1990 and 1991.He was World Champion in 1993.Olympic experience: Nick won silver in 1988 in the 200m breaststroke; in 1992 he was the only British swimmer to take a medal when he came third in the 200m.In Atlanta, he came fourth in the 200mbreaststroke.

personal goals that see me compete at a world masters level. I swim and run threetimes each week.”


“My leisure time is spent with my children,who love sport, whether that is swimming,skateboarding, football or fishing. I have threevery outdoor boys!”

Do you and your colleagues socialisewith other countries’ broadcasters?

“I am looking forwards to socialising withother countries’ broadcasters as a number ofmy old friends and rivals work for the writtenpress or broadcasting teams.”


“The best Games in recent history for me wasSeoul – not only was it my very first Olympicexperience but I also won Olympic silver.”


“The scale of the Olympics shows suchenormity, and any spare time I have will bespent visiting different venues and watching allthe sporting events.”


“I believe the UK has a very good chance of hosting the Games in 2012, especially nowthat the shortlist has been drawn. If I were abetting man I would say a three to one chanceof victory.”

How would you feel about the UKhosting the Games?

“As a parent and member of the generalpublic, hosting the Games gives an absolutelyfantastic opportunity to witness and supportour Olympians; the atmosphere of a homeGames is unbeatable. However, as anOlympian, stepping onto the bus or a Virgintrain holds less drama and excitement thanflying halfway round the world to the Far Eastor Australia, and it may end the need for allthose warm-weather training camps!”


“To go to the Olympic Games and win amedal is a dream so many children hold; towin a gold medal is the pinnacle but to win agold medal in an individual event, not once buttwice or even three times, is totallyremarkable and I have undying respect andstand in awe of all Olympians who haveachieved such a personal feat.”

Sandie Lister



Name: Sandie ListerBorn: Halifax,West Yorkshire, 1961First BBC job: Commentated on TVcoverage of England v Holland hockey in1996; Sandie first worked for Five Live onthe coverage of the ManchesterCommonwealth Games in 2002.Career highlights: Playing for the Englandhockey team at Wembley; getting a bronzemedal at the Barcelona Olympics and aEuropean gold medal in 1991; and being on A Question Of Sport twice.


“I have never reported on an Olympics before,so I am very excited about the prospect ofcovering the games, although I did compete inthe ‘92 games in Barcelona, which was anunbelievable experience.”


“I am obviously looking forward to the hockeyevent but if I can catch any of the athletics, Iwill be delighted.”


“I miss the buzz of the big games but don’tmiss the gruelling training programmes I hadto complete. I still try and keep relatively fitwith regular trips to the gym and theoccasional game of veterans’ hockey!”


“I do watch a lot of sport on TV and I am afan of Ipswich Town Football Club. My full-timejob as a teacher keeps me busy for most of my time.”


“The Barcelona Games was obviously themost memorable for me, as we managed towin a bronze medal, but the Sydney Olympicswill take some beating as a spectacle.”


“When I commentated at the ManchesterCommonwealth Games there was little free

time but if we do manage some in Athens, Iwould like to go and watch as many otherevents as possible.”


“I think it be fantastic if we could host theGames in 2012 and believe we have a realisticchance of getting the bid. It would be great forthe young people of our country to see top-class athletes from all over the worldcompeting live in so many different sports.”


“Our greatest Olympian has to be Sir SteveRedgrave – what an awesome achievement!”

Gordon Farquhar


“Challenging! There are so many differentthreads to follow. It can be exhausting, butdon’t expect any sympathy from yourcolleagues stuck back in London. It’s alsoexhilarating.You’re part of the greatest showon earth and, putting cynicism to one side, it’sa huge feel-good event.”



Name: Gordon FarquharFirst BBC job: Reporter, BBC RadioCumbria, 1988.Career highlights: Breakfast presenter inCumbria, Cricket World Cup inIndia/Pakistan for BBC World Service in1996, Football World Cups in France andJapan/Korea with Five Live.Olympic experience:Two SummerOlympics, in Atlanta and Sydney, plus far toomany IOC board meetings in between.


“As sports news correspondent, I have to tryand get to know all the major players withinthe IOC, the Athens organising committee andthe BOA, plus the London 2012 bid teamwho’ll be in evidence in Athens.

“I also need to be aware of all the likely medalprospects in the GB Team, and be ready torespond to pretty much anything andeverything that happens around the event,so it’s a broad brief.

“But I love dealing with breaking stories andthe unexpected – and there’s always some ofthat at the Olympics.Athens will be my thirdSummer Games, and I hope previousexperience will help. It’ll be steaming hot inAthens and the hours will be long. Personally,I’m trying to get fit – honestly!”


“I covered the swimming in Atlanta for BBCWorld Service, and I’m hooked; but greatnights on the track, like the men’s 100m finalare compelling. I saw the baseball final inSydney, and I might try and get along to thatagain – drugs scandals and organisational crisespermitting!”


“I think Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe willwin every event he’s entered.”


“We’ll do well in the sailing, and we can expectBen Ainslie and Shirley Robertson to be

favourites to win gold again. Jason Queally andChris Hoy are a big hope in cycling. For thefirst time in ages we should get some medalsin the pool – watch out for Katy Sexton in the200m backstroke. Beth Tweddle could get arare gymnastics medal.

“On the track, it’s Paula Radcliffe for marathongold. In rowing, Matthew Pinsent’s on for a fourth consecutive gold in the coxless fours. Jade Johnson’s a great competitor andmight just come good in the long jump, and no one will push harder than Kelly Holmes in the 1,500m.

“Overall, it’s going to be a challenge for theGB Team to match the unexpectedly strongshowing of 11 golds in Sydney. More than 28medals in total should be the target.”


“I’ve been there three times in advance of theGames, and I’m cautiously optimistic.The city’shistorical connection with the Games gives it agreat resonance but, at the moment, thedominating sound is bulldozers, cranes andpneumatic drills; I just hope they don’t leteveryone down.

“The main Olympic park is a great concept,and should look better than Sydney when it’sfinished – a symphony of light and boldarchitecture.The TV pictures with the ancientOlympic Stadium and Acropolis as backdropswill be sensational – but I’m anticipating a realslog for the media covering the event.Thetraffic is murder.”


“I played hockey, cricket and football, and was decidedly average at all of them.As aspectator, add on rugby and motor sport to that list.”



What are your favourite memories ofprevious Olympic Games?“From a historical perspective, what JessieOwens achieved stands as a great landmark forthe Games.There are so many epic momentsbut, from a personal view, Michael Johnson’s200m world record in Atlanta, and SteveRedgrave’s fifth gold medal in Sydney werereally special.”


“At this stage, clearly behind Paris, butelevating Seb Coe to bid leader is a boldmove. I hope the bid succeeds.Why not?”


“Dead heat between Jessie Owens and SteveRedgrave. I suppose Pierre de Coubertin oughtto get a mention, but not Eddie the Eagle.”

Russell Fuller


“There isn’t another sporting event that cancompete with the rich history of the OlympicGames and, when I covered my first Games in Sydney, I was very aware that the events Iwas witnessing would be discussed 50 yearshence.The huge number of competingcountries makes it extra special, and apersonal best by a swimmer from EquatorialGuinea can be every bit as magic as a worldrecord in the 100m final.”


“There is no way you can be familiar with thefavourites for each event – particularly whenyou are presenting a programme to a globalaudience on BBC World Service. I try and readas much as I can in the build-up to the Gamesand immerse myself in the city and the eventwhen I get there.”


“Paula Radcliffe’s attempt to win an elusiveOlympic gold medal; I hope she does it in the marathon.”



Name: Russell FullerFirst BBC job: BBC Southern CountiesRadio as a district news reporter.Career highlights: Being at Wimbledonwhen Pete Sampras beat Roy Emerson’srecord of 13 Grand Slam wins in 2000.Olympic experience: Russell worked forthe BBC World Service at the SydneyOlympics in 2000, where he was wowed byCathy Freeman’s gold medal in the 400m.


“Having been to Athens in August before, I’m alittle apprehensive about the heat and thepollution. But I’m told they’ve made hugeprogress in reducing the smog, and can therereally be a better venue than the birthplace ofthe Olympic movement, with the Acropolis inthe background?”


“I run and play golf. I don’t run remotely fastenough to be considered for selection, andwouldn’t trouble the selectors if golf everbecame an Olympic sport.”


“Cathy Freeman’s gold medal for Australia inthe 400m in Sydney – I doubt an athlete hasever had to deal with such huge expectations,and I will never forget the roar produced by110,000 fans in the Olympic Stadium when shehit the front with 100m to go.”


“A lot of people are running down Britain’schances – as usual.We may not be thefavourites, but I believe we have a genuinechance of closing the gap on Paris in the nextyear. Of course the money could be spentelsewhere on numerous good causes, butwhere’s the romance in that?”


“The achievements of Emil Zatopek and FannyBlankers-Koen were remarkable; Jesse Owens’sefforts seem even more special because of the

circumstances in which he competed in Berlinin 1936; and Sir Steve Redgrave has to betowards the very top of the list for winning afifth gold medal 16 years after the first.



BBC News 24

BBC News 24 presenters Celina Hinchcliffeand Mike Bushell, bring audiences the latestnews and results from Athens.

There will be regular sport bulletinsthroughout the Games and, each evening,Olympic Sportsday will also be on BBC News 24 from 8.30pm (BST) for the duration of the Games.

BBC Nations and Regions

BBC Nations and Regions programmingfeatures the stories of local competitors fromacross the United Kingdom, medal winners ornot. For many, reaching the Olympics is amassive success in itself.The programmes willrelay competitors’ stories and emotions totheir home audiences: the towns and citieswhere they were born or where they now live.

These interviews and reports will be broadcastacross the BBC Nations and Regions networkof 14 television and 46 radio outletsthroughout the United Kingdom.

BBC World and BBC World Service

BBC World’s Olympic Games coverage centreson its Sport Today programmes shown onweekdays at 7.45am, 1.45pm, 6.45pm and

10.30pm (BST). Sport Today will show how themedals were won, catch up with the latestoutstanding performances of the day in all competitions and feature the top stories from Athens.

BBC World’s regular hourly sports bulletins at20 minutes past the hour will provide theresult of every event in Athens, with interviewsand the latest standings in the medal tables.

The Games will reach a potential audience of45 million listeners globally on the EnglishNetwork of BBC World Service, which willbroadcast approximately 40 hours of Olympiccoverage each week throughout the Games.

There will be two hours of live programmingin Olympic Sportsworld every day from 7-9pm,kicking off when the action begins and running through to the end of the Games on 29 August.

Sports Round Up will bring news, results andinterviews in news bulletins throughout the day.

Sportsworld, on Saturdays from 3-5pm, andSunday Sportsworld, from 5-6pm, will providelive weekend action.

In the lead-up to the Olympics, SportsInternational – Olympic Games That Changed TheWorld, a four-part series presented by MichaelJohnson, will be broadcast on Fridays from 23July, from 1.05-1.30pm.The series focuses onmajor Olympic issues, including drugs, moneyand security.


BBC News/BBC Nations and Regions/

BBC World/BBC World Service

BBC News will have a substantial team ofcorrespondents covering the ParalympicGames, led by Disability Correspondent PeterWhite.The Summer and Winter ParalympicGames are the ultimate internationalcompetitions for world-class athletes with adisability – and the BBC is offering livetelevision coverage of the event for the first time.

Two weeks after the completion of theOlympic Games, the best Paralympic athletes,who have met strict qualifying standards,will travel to Athens to compete in theParalympic Games. From 17 to 28 September,Athens will welcome 4,000 Paralympic athletes from some 130 countries, as well as over 2,000 team officials.

The British Paralympic team arrives in Athensin strong form. In Sydney,Team GB’sParalympians came second in the medal tableonly to Australia and, once again, there aremedal hopes right across the board.

Peter Salmon, BBC Sport Director, says:“TheBritish public can share in the great Paralympicmoments and experience the triumph andtears of Team GB’s Paralympians – as theyhappen – for the first time ever, live ontelevision. But coverage is certainly not limitedto TV.Audiences can experience theParalympics on TV, radio, bbc.co.uk and fromNews and Nations and Regions.”

The general philosophy of the ParalympicGames is to follow the rules of the Olympicsports as much as possible.The currentParalympic summer sports are: archery;athletics; boccia; cycling; equestrian; wheelchairfencing; football; goalball; judo; powerlifting;

sailing; shooting; standing volleyball; swimming;table tennis; wheelchair tennis; wheelchairbasketball; and wheelchair rugby.

Presenter Clare Balding (below) is joined bycommentators Stuart Storey, Paul Dickenson,Matt Chilton and Nick Mullins, and reportersColin Jackson, Eddie Butler, Jill Douglas, PhilJones and Nelson Kumah. Expert analysis isprovided by specialist summarisers TusharPatel, Dan Johnson and Paul Noble.

Viewers can see live coverage every evening (6-7.30pm, BBC TWO) and inGrandstand and Sunday Grandstand during the Paralympics.

The host broadcaster will offer multi-cameracoverage of a number of key sports: swimming,athletics, wheelchair basketball, wheelchairtennis, track cycling and football. Swimming andathletics will comprise the backbone of the



BBC’s TV coverage throughout the Games, butwill be supplemented by coverage of, andfeatures about, not only these sports, but alsoa range of others particularly relevant toBritish hopes, such as the Men’s WheelchairBasketball in which Team GB has a strongmedal hope.

BBC Radio Five Live will have regular liveupdates from Athens as well as some livecommentary. Simon Mayo’s (above) show willcome live from the Paralympics for some ofthe competition, as will Midweek Sport On Five.There will also be reports on BBC Radio 4and BBC World Service.

The BBC’s network of National and RegionalTV and radio stations will be offering coveragefrom a more local perspective.The stories ofthe successes and failures of the localcompetitors will be told within the 6.30pmRegional TV News Programmes in 14 regionsand across the network of 46 BBC National

and Regional Radio Stations throughout theUK. In addition, there will be features on theWhere I Live sites on bbc.co.uk

BBC Nations and Regions is deploying itslargest ever bi-media team to the Paralympicsto enhance coverage of the sportsmen andwomen in Athens.

At bbc.co.uk/paralympics there is a specific sitededicated to the Paralympics where viewersand listeners can find out everything there isto know about the Paralympics past, presentand future – the Paralympic sports,Team GBParalympians, qualification, classification andconstantly updated news.There will also becolumns and features from leadingParalympians Tanni-Grey Thompson and AdeAdepitan.



To celebrate the return of the Olympic Gamesto Greece, BBC TV has selected a speciallycommissioned new piece of music toaccompany the programme, which reflects thehistory, spirit and all that the Olympic Gamesstand for.

The song, Olympia – Eternal Flame, isperformed and recorded by the celebrated“world’s first opera band”,Amici forever(pictured above).The song was written byGreek musician/writer/producer John Themis,Rick Blaskey, who has previously been involvedin the official music for many of the world’smajor international sports events, and Greekpoet Avraam Demetriou.

The melody is based on a traditional oldGreek dance called the Karagouna.The danceoriginated in Thessaly, just south of MountOlympus, abode of the Ancient Greek gods. It was danced by people wearing black (Kara)capes (Gouna) made of bear skins (bears arenative to this area), hence the nameKaragouna.This social dance is still popularand is danced by Greeks everywhere.

The lyrics of the piece encompass what theGames are all about.The opening sentiment istranslated as,“O come young people, all joinhands, with one heart, resolve yourdifferences”, reflecting that this was, indeed,how the Olympic Games came about.This isfollowed by the sentiment, in Greek, whichexpresses that this is a “song of peace, to thepeople of the world, for a bright future, Greekspirit of immortality, prosperity andcompleteness of body and mind”.AncientGreeks were especially focused on thedevelopment of these attributes.

The third section reflects the five colours ofthe Olympic rings (red, green, black, blue andyellow), as well as five symbolising the unity ofthe five continents. It also translates as “Archof Heaven”, a rainbow, signifying the unity of allcolours, races and creeds; and as “Time youreturned home: welcome back to yourbirthplace, O Olympiad”.

The Olympia chant that runs throughout thesong is a reference to Olympia, the birthplaceof the original Olympic Games.The additionalrecurring refrain of Eternal Flame reflects theenduring spirit of the Games that issymbolised by the Olympic Flame and thesymbolic Olympic Torch that carries the Flameand the spirit through time.

The song also features the ancient Greekinstrument that pre-dates the Olympics.ThePontic Lyra is as old as the Trojan war – whenthe Trojans won the war, they devised a victorydance performed to the sounds of the Lyra,which sounds like a cross between a hurdygurdy and a fiddle.The Zither was also used inthe piece and, while not as old as the Lyra, the


An Olympic theme:Olympia – Eternal Flame

Greeks use this in a lot of their traditionalmusic and call it a Santouri.

The band has been nominated for a ClassicalBrit Award for their album The Opera Band,which entered the classical charts at No. 2.The inspirational Olympia – Eternal Flame willbe added as a bonus track to the album from23 August.

Amici forever will perform Olympia – EternalFlame, live at the BBC’s Olympics MediaLaunch on 6 July.

Backgrounds

Classically trained John Themis has animpressive list of credits as a musician,producer, arranger and writer.As a musician,he has played with Dido, Stevie Wonder,George Michael, Madonna, Craig David,TheSpice Girls, Michael Kamen, Elton John, Cher,Will Young, Rod Stewart and many more; as asongwriter, he has written for Blue, Kylie,Sugababes,Atomic Kitten, Blazin’ Squad,Charlotte Church and Dolly Parton, amongothers; and as an arranger, he has worked witha multitude of artists as well as on movies andTV commercials.

Rick Blaskey has served as executive producerof official music for many of the biggestinternational sports events in the world over the last few years.These include footballWorld Cups (Ricky Martin) EuropeanChampionships (Three Lions) and rugby WorldCups (Swing Low/World In Union). He has alsobeen involved as a co-writer for some of thesemajor event anthems.

Rick is executive producer for Amici forever, arole he has also played for Russell Watson,Opera Babes and other artists. He has previouslyworked closely with such international artists asWhitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Cliff Richardand Tina Turner; and he runs The Music and

Media Partnership, a company that puts togethermusic-marketing communications for majorbrands – his latest is the current internationalCoca-Cola commercial.

Poet Avraam Demetriou also works full timeas a dentist.

Amici forever are Jo Appleby, soprano, fromLancashire;Tsakane Valentine, soprano, fromSouth Africa; Geoff Sewell, tenor, from NewZealand; David Habbin, tenor, fromBournemouth; and Nick Garrett, bass-baritone,from North London.


An Olympic theme:Olympia – Eternal Flame

As the countdown continues to Athens2004, here are some facts and figuresabout the big event.

• Greece was the birthplace of the ancientOlympic Games, with the first recorded eventstaged in 776 BC.

• Athens will host the Summer Olympics forthe second time in modern history.The firstofficial Games were held in Athens in 1896.

• Greek lyric poet Pindar, in the 5th centuryBC, declared:“As in the daytime there is nostar in the sky warmer and brighter than thesun, likewise there is no competition greaterthan the Olympic Games.”

• Athens won the race to stage the 2004Summer Games on 5 September 1997 at the106th IOC session in Lausanne, defeatingRome in the final round of the vote by 66 to41. Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Stockholmfell out in earlier stages, while Istanbul, Lille,Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville and StPetersburg did not make the shortlist.

• Some 28 sports will be represented in 35venues.A total of 301 medal ceremonies willtake place over a period of 16 days. More than10,500 athletes and 3,000 team officials from199 countries will participate.

• The first modern Olympics, held in 1896 inAthens, was attended by only 14 nationalcommittees.The lowest attendance was 12,set eight years later in St Louis.

• Around 21,500 members of the world’smedia are expected to cover the Games from Greece.

• The Olympic Village will house 16,000athletes and team officials during the Olympic Games and 6,000 during theParalympic Games.

• Some 45,000 security personnel are due towork at the Olympics, with 60,000 trainedvolunteers from around the world.

• The IOC will give just over $1bn to the Athens Organising Committee from the sale of broadcast rights and worldwidesponsorship, which is roughly 60 per cent of the Games’ operating budget.The remaining 40 per cent will be financed from local sponsorship, ticketing and licensing sales.

• Afghanistan will return to the Games after asuspension in 1999, which was enforced partlybecause of the Taleban’s ban on theparticipation of women athletes.

• The Athens Games’ official mascots arePhevos and Athena, who are brother andsister.Their creation was inspired by an ancientGreek doll.The names derive from twoOlympian gods: Phevos, the god of light andmusic, known as Apollo; and Athena, goddessof wisdom and patron of the city of Athens.The Olympics Games mascot was firstintroduced in 1968 during the WinterOlympics in Grenoble.


Olympic facts and figures

• The Athens Olympic torch is designed toresemble an olive leaf. It weighs 700 grams and is 68cm long.

• The Games’ emblem portrays an olivewreath, or kotinos, a branch from an olive treeintertwined in a circle. During the ancientOlympic Games, the kotinos was the officialaward of Olympic champions, while the olivewas the sacred tree of Athens.

• Before the Games start, more than one million large bushes, 290,000 new treesand 11 million shrubs will be thrivingthroughout Athens.

• During the Games, 50,000 meals will beprepared daily at the Olympic Village, utilising100 tons of food.

• During the Olympic Games, the OlympicVillage will provide accommodation and free-of charge services to 16,000 athletes and team officials.

• A record-breaking number of Greeks areparticipating in the Athens Paralympic Games:athletes are preparing for 13 sports, while inSydney, they participated only in five.

• Four-and-a-half million copies of printedmaterial, weighing 55 tonnes, and thousands ofparcels of electronic material have been mailedfrom Greece to 202 countries.

• The Olympic Stadium roof extends over atotal area of 25,000sq m, covering the majorityof seated areas.

• The maximum height of the Olympic Stadiumroof is 80m and it weighs 18,700 tonnes.

Sources: bbc.co.uk/sport;www.athens2004.com


Olympic facts and figures

Greek Gods And Goddesses:TheOdyssey/Jason And The ArgonautsSunday 25 July BBC ONE

Greek Gods And Goddesses sails back in time to revisit the lives of two of the greatestheroes of ancient Greece: Jason, who led his Argonauts on a fantastic quest for themagical Golden Fleece, and Odysseus, whoseepic journey home from Troy was recorded by Homer.

Presented by former Olympic athlete JonathanEdwards, the programmes bring the Greekmyths alive and relive the stories that havebeen a source of inspiration and revelation for generations.

Through dramatic reconstructions, bothprogrammes explore the meaning of thesemyths and what they reveal about ancientGreek society and their religion.

A Question Of Sport – Olympics SpecialFriday 6 August, 7.00pm, BBC ONE

Quiz-master Sue Barker hosts a special editionof the popular sports quiz, themed aroundOlympic Games past and present.Teamcaptains Frankie Dettori and Ally McCoist arejoined by Olympic gold medal winners MarkSpitz, Lord Coe, Sir Steve Redgrave and Sean Kerly.

Songs Of PraiseSunday 8 August, BBC ONE

Gold medallist Jonathan Edwards visits Athensto find out how Christians are preparing forthe Olympics.

Sprinter Darren Campbell talks about how hissporting life and Christian faith interact;Jonathan meets the Rev Malcolm Bradshaw, anAnglican chaplain, who will provide pastoralcare for the athletes; and he visits the newEcumenical Chapel at the Olympic Village.

Also in the programme, Jonathan takes viewerson a whistle-stop tour of Athens and looks atthe history of the Olympic Games.

Music comes from Greek tenor MarioFrangoulis and singer Nana Mouskouri.

Animal GamesSunday 8 August, BBC ONE

Is the flea the greatest jumper in the animalworld, or a skittering frog one of the hotcontenders for the swimming title? AnimalGames looks at how some of the planet’s mostamazing creatures would fare if they were ableto take part in the world’s greatest sportingchallenge.

In an arena filled with an animal audience, andnarrated by sport commentators, this is theOlympic Games as never seen before, withspecial effects scaling the competing creatures


A selection of Olympic-relatedprogrammes from across

the BBC

to human size.The tiger beetle, only 20mmlong, has a running speed of 800km per hourwhen scaled up, but does this make it thechampion sprinter in the Olympic arena?

Through a fusion of science and entertainment, mammals, fishes, birds,reptiles and invertebrates demonstrate their unique talents in six Olympic events.

NewsroundWeekdays CBBC ONE and THE CBBC CHANNEL

Newsround, the only dedicated news service forchildren, is viewers’ one-stop shop for all thenews during the Olympic Games.

In the run-up to the Games, Newsround has beengiven exclusive access to British medal hopefulMark Lewis-Francis.The programme followsMark’s training, his hopes and his fears as heprepares for his first ever Olympic Games.

Presenter Ellie Crisell will be based in Athensfor the duration of the Games, reporting onGreat Britain’s medal progress and also goingbehind the scenes of one of the world’sbiggest sporting events and chatting to localchildren in Athens.

Newsround will also be giving one lucky viewerthe chance to go to Cyprus to report fromTeam GB’s training camp.

XchangeWeekdays, 7.30am (repeated at1.00pm) and 4.30pm THE CBBC CHANNEL

Xchange is going sport crazy this summer! Theshow that is packed with celeb gossip, music,film,TV news and guests galore will beproviding daily updates during the OlympicGames.The usual crew – Ortis,Anna, Sarra,Steve, Joe,Tony, Rhodri and Vinnie the Ferret –are on hand to keep viewers posted on what’sgoing down in Athens.

Xchange will also be celebrating theParalympics every day in a Tips & Tricksfeature. Xchange’s very own Paralympianpresenter,Ade Adepitan, will look at a different Paralympic sport each day for thetwo weeks of the Games, explaining the rules and different skills required for a variety of categories.

Ade’s usual hectic schedule of switching fromTV presenter to basketball player is hard workand, for the past few months, he’s has beenbusier than ever, training hard to compete tobe part of the Team GB Men’s Basketball Teamin the Paralympics. Xchange has been filminghim in training and will follow the team’ssuccess this summer with regular reports from Athens.

Xchange is The CBBC Channel’s daily magazine show and transmits live twice a day, five days a week.


Olympic-relatedprogrammes

Wheels Of GoldBBC ONE

Wheels Of Gold is an observationaldocumentary following the Great Britain Men’sWheelchair Basketball team as they preparefor the Athens 2004 Paralympics.At theSydney Paralympics, the Great Britain teamcame fourth, narrowly missing out on bronzein the dying seconds of the match. Four yearslater, only gold will do. Coach David Titmusshas brought in new training techniques,nutritional advice, sports psychology andexpertise from around the world to make sure this Great Britain team is in better shape physically and mentally than any previous squad.

However, their biggest challenge is selection –only 12 players will make it to Athens from asquad of 17.

BBC Sport has had full access to the squadover the last year.The programme followsindividual players in their battles againstbroken bones, learning the sport from scratchand fighting each other for a coveted place onthe team for Athens.Through traditionally shotfootage and the players’ own personal homevideos, viewers hear their private thoughts andlearn how they juggle family life with theexpectations of a demanding coach and toughtraining regime.The programme also explainsthe personal stories about their disabilities andhow much it means to them and their familiesto make it on to the team for a shot at gold.As the deadline for selection looms, self-doubtand bad performances creep in for the playersas the coach makes his final decision.

This is a programme about a unique bunch oflads preparing for the biggest competition oftheir lives.

The Elgin Marbles Saturday June 26, BBC TWO

In the year in which the Olympic Gamesreturn to Greece, art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon unearths the many layered story whichlies behind the greatest artistic controversy ofthe last 200 years – the Elgin Marbles.

This is the tale of an extraordinary man andthe sculptures he took – some say stole –from the Parthenon in the early 1800s.Anaristocrat, lieutenant colonel in the Army,elected MP and British ambassador to theOttoman Empire, Lord Elgin was a highlysuccessful man, married to a beautiful youngheiress and with a bright future ahead of him.Yet his obsession with the marble sculptureswas to destroy his fortune, reputation, healthand marriage, and create a bitter controversywhich continues unabated today.

Filmed on location in Greece, Scotland,Germany and London, The Elgin Marbles usesdrama reconstruction, computer-generatedimages and expert debate to tell the storyfrom its origins in 5th-century BC to thepresent day.The film hears arguments fromboth sides of the debate, enabling viewers todraw their own conclusions about whetherthe marbles should be returned to Greece orremain in the British Museum.

Sunday Grandstand – 50 Greatest Olympic MomentsSunday 8 August, BBC TWO

In a special Olympic Grandstand, BBC Sportreveals the results of the public’s top 50Greatest Olympic Moments. From Jesse Owenswinning the 100m at the 1936 BerlinOlympics, to Sir Steve Redgrave’s fifth Olympic



gold at Sydney 2000, the Olympic Games have produced countless moments ofunforgettable drama.

Hazel Irvine presents the programme live fromthe Greek capital, with Sue Barker and SteveRider, and Steve Cram is at the BritishOlympic training camp in Cyprus.Theprogramme talks to the athletes who areresponsible for some of the most memorableOlympic moments, such as Mark Spitz, seven-times gold medal winner at the MunichOlympics; Carl Lewis, four-times gold medalwinner at the LA Olympics; Steve Redgrave,five-times gold medal winner and one of thegreatest Olympians of all time; Lord Coe; andMichael Johnson, the fastest man on Earth.

The phone lines are now closed, but viewerscan still vote by logging on tobbc.co.uk/Olympics

Sunday Grandstand – The Big InterviewSunday 12 September, BBC TWO

Clare Balding speaks to Great Britain’s mostfamous Paralympian,Tanni Grey-Thompson,about her aspirations for Athens, following hersuccess at the last Olympics in Sydney.

Horizon – First Olympians BBC TWO

Two and a half thousand years ago, sport was tough. Few athletes survived the rigours of the great sporting arenas of theAncient Greeks and only one athlete hassurvived the ravages of time to offer a uniqueinsight into a remarkable ancient world. First

Olympians tells the “Athlete of Taranto’s”fascinating story.

Fifty years ago, a skeleton was found in Tarantoin Southern Italy. On opening an ancient tomb,archaeologists found the skeleton with fourrichly decorated jars in each corner of thetomb, revealing that the owner had anobsession for sport.

In First Olympians, scientists explain how themystery of the tomb and its contents wassolved and, using dramatic reconstruction, theprogramme brings to life the world in whichthe athlete lived and competed – the world ofthe ancient games.

My Big Fat Greek Olympic DreamBBC THREE

As a gangly teenager, BBC Radio 1 DJ NemoneMetaxas had two big dreams: one was tobecome a Radio 1 DJ and the other was torun the 400m at the Olympic Games.

A decade on and she’s already a regular onRadio 1 but her other ambition has, until now,been just out of reach. In My Big Fat GreekOlympic Dream, cameras follow Nemone in hertraining as she bids to be fast enough tocompete at the highest level.

Gory Greek Gods – DivineViolence/Divine SexBegins Sunday 1 August, BBC THREE

The Olympians – the mythical Greek Gods –operated like a fantasy family firm of mobsters.While not dealing directly in crime, theseancient-world Sopranos were certainly in theprotection business … divine protection.



Presented by Ninia Benjamin of 3 Non-Blondesfame, Gory Greek Gods illuminates thesometimes outrageous world of these mythicalGods and their ancient worshippers.

In this two-part series – Divine Violence andDivine Sex – rotoscope animation is used tobring to life the world of the Gods in all itsgory detail, while the documentary exploresthe life and legacy of the ancient Greeks.

Storyville – Track Dreams BBC FOUR

In August 2002, to celebrate the end of thecivil war, Sierra Leone sent its biggest everteam of athletes to compete in theCommonwealth Games in Manchester.TheGames were the first outing for the Sorbonne-educated and newly-appointed Minister ofSport – and he wanted to impress the world.

Instead, by the closing ceremony, 21 of SierraLeone’s 23 athletes had “disappeared”.Humiliated by a showdown with the BritishHigh Commission, the Minister swore never tosend a team abroad again. Track Dreams is arevealing look at Sierra Leone’s attempt tofield a team for the Olympics, uncoveringcorruption that not only engulfs sport’shierarchy, but also the talented SierraLeoneans, who are fighting to compete in themost prestigious competition on Earth.

Storyville – Selling Greece BBC FOUR

As Athens – the birthplace of the “Olympicspirit” – gets ready to host the 2004 OlympicGames, Storyville investigates just how

Athenians really feel about hosting the greatest show on Earth.

Following the story of the run-up to theOlympics, the film looks at opinions fromeveryday men and women on the street,cleverly juxtaposing their down-to-earthconcerns with the high ideals of the AthensOlympic Committee, senior politicians andlocal glitterati.

Two of the main characters are Helena Smithand Geirge Koumendakis. Helena is British, anda foreign correspondent, who is looking for ascoop behind the preparations for theOlympics, and the film follows her endeavours.George is the composer of the music for theOpening and Closing Ceremonies; he is tryingto avoid, at all costs, perpetuating thetraditional clichés and kitsch that haspredominated at similar events in the past.Thefilm reveals his fears and anxieties as he strivesto find the right “tone” for the event.

Selling Greece is a fascinating insight into Greeknational pride, as Athenians battle withorganisational shortcomings, and inbuiltprejudices, to achieve the unachievable.

Sunday Worship – Olympics:Run The Straight Race! Sunday August 15, 8.05-8.45pm,BBC RADIO 4

This special service to celebrate the Olympics comes live from the First GreekEvangelical Church in Athens and is led byJonathan Edwards.

An eclectic mix of people from throughout the world join together for prayers andreadings, hosted by the internationalcongregation of this lively central Athens



church.The preacher is Pastor PanagiotisKantartzis and music is provided by themusicians of All Souls Church, London, whoare visiting Athens during the Olympics.

Olympic StoriesBegins Monday 16 August Weekdays, 3.45-4.00pm,BBC RADIO 4

Diane Modahl presents five fascinatingprogrammes which explore what it is to be anOlympian through the remarkable stories ofsome very different sportsmen and women.

Programme 1: 1976 – Montreal: HenryRono.The programme looks at the realities ofthe lives of African sportspeople. Rono’schances were destroyed by the politics of thetime and the boycotts of that year.

Programme 2: 1988 – Seoul: Jurgen Schultand Sigrund Wodards. Schult, the GDR discusmedallist, tried to buck the system and wasimprisoned for speaking out.The programmelooks at how the relationship between athleteand coach was destroyed by the pressure.

Programme 3: 1992 – Barcelona: DavidGrindley.The programme looks at the highsand lows of a short-lived Olympic career, cutshort by injury and lack of interest fromsports bodies.

Programme 4: 1996 – Atlanta: Read Ahmed.The Iraqi champion defected to the US andwas sentenced to death in Iraq.Theprogramme asks whether the Olympics wasused to promote repressive regimes.

Programme 5: 2000 – Sydney: FatimaGerashi. Fatima Gerashi was the youngestcompetitor from Bahrain.The programme

examines the Olympic underdogs and askshow being humiliated can enrich an aspiringsports star’s life.

The OdysseySaturday 28 August, 3.30-4.00pm and8.30-10.00pm, Sunday 29 August,3.00-4.00pm, BBC RADIO 4

Homer’s The Odyssey is an amazingly modernpiece of poetic storytelling, dramatised forradio by one of Britain’s leading poets, SimonArmitage. It’s a great sea adventure in whichfabulous fantasy mixes with dramatic reality,and a major love story unfolds over 20 yearsas Odysseus struggles to sail home and theGods bicker over his fate.

The Odyssey is the fantastic sea-farer’s tale ofOdysseus (the mastermind of the TrojanHorse) and his struggle to get back to hisisland of Ithaca, to reclaim his kingdom and hiswife, Penelope. Listeners join him in the lastmonth of his journey, after 20 years away: 10fighting at Troy and 10 buffeted around theseas by a vengeful God, Poseidon. En route, hehas many adventures involving sexyenchantresses, the ghosts of his dead warcomrades, man-eating giants, six-headedmonsters, whirlpools, cannibals, sea nymphsand the enticing Sirens.

Like The Iliad, it has big emotional themes,wonderful set pieces of fantastic adventure andall-too-recognisable human dramas of love andbetrayal, greed and stupidity. It’s a moral tale ofmen taking responsibility for their own actions(and not blaming the Gods for theirmisfortunes when it is their own fault).

Simon Armitage is a major contemporary poetand playwright. He has dramatised The Odysseyso that it brings the story and the language alivefor a modern audience. He has a particularly



direct way with words, full of humour and yetalso fully aware of poetic resonance, and haspreviously worked on Greek classics.

Tim McInnerny plays Odysseus;AmandaRedman is his faithful wife, Penelope; JanetMcTeer is the goddess Athena; John Wood isZeus; Cheryl Campbell is Arete; BenedictCumberbatch is Telemachus;Adjoa Andoh isCalypso; and Frances Barber is Circe.

The Odyssey is broadcast over a weekend tocoincide with the end of the Olympic Games.

A Game Of MarblesBBC RADIO 4

In this play about the Elgin Marbles, Lord Elginbattles to convince the Government of his daythat the Marbles are really worth buying.

Sports International – OlympicGames That Changed The WorldBegins Friday 23 July, 1.05-1.30pm,BBC WORLD SERVICE

Sports International investigates momentousevents in Olympic history. Politics, finances,drugs and controversies past and present allcome under the spotlight in the four-partseries Olympic Games That Changed The World.

The series is presented by Michael Johnson,one of the greatest athletes of all time, whomade Olympic history by winning both the200 and 400m at Atlanta in 1996.

Hitler used the Berlin Games of 1936 as amass rally to promote German supremacy, thefirst, but not the last, time the Games were

used for political purposes. Other notableexamples feature in the programme on Friday23 July. In Mexico in 1968, Black Americansprinters,Tommy Smith and John Carlos,bowed their heads and raised gloved fists in aBlack Power salute on the awards stand whileThe Star-Spangled Banner played.Their gesturereverberated around the world.

Munich 1972 was the first time terrorism everhit a sporting event.An attack on the Israeliteam by Black September shocked the worldand left 11 athletes, five terrorists and onepoliceman dead. In later years, there wereboycotts of the Moscow Games of 1980 andLos Angeles in 1984.

The Olympics is now a multi-billion dollarbusiness but that hasn’t always been the case.Montreal taxpayers are still paying for theOlympics of 1976. It was in 1984, at the LosAngeles Games, that the big money startedrolling in.The role of Peter Ueberroth, whoran those Games, is scrutinised on Friday 30July, as is the pervasive influence of adidas andits ties with former IOC President, JuanAntonio Samaranch.

The controversial issue of drugs in Olympicsport is investigated on Friday 6 August. In 1998,the world was shocked when Ben Johnson faileda drugs test after winning gold in the 100m.

On Friday 13 August, listeners discover howdifferent the 2004 Games are from those of1896, the last time they were held in Athens.

Discovery – The Ancient OlympicsBegins Wednesday 28 July 9.00-9.30am, BBC WORLD SERVICE

This weekly, four-part series about training,performance, gamesmanship and the special



qualities that make a champion, is presented by Jonathan Edwards.

Play Of The Week – Birth Of The Olympians Saturday 7 August 6.30pm BBC WORLD SERVICE

Zinnie Harris’s play looks at Greek myths froma modern perspective.

*Please note:All transmission times aresubject to change.



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Transcript of Contents · greatest-ever Olympian – Sir Steve Redgrave,” ... today as both Ian Thorpe and...