大象传媒

Look up "dream" in a dictionary and phrases pop up like "cherished ideal" or "distant ambition, especially an unattainable one". Even the word "fantasy" will be there.

After being involved with the team, producing content for the Sport website for the last eight months, I wonder what the athletes being filmed would make of these words.

The programme is following some of Britain's stars as they aim for glory at the , or Beijing for some, with the new series transmitting every Tuesday night at 2235 BST over the next few weeks.

Growing up, most of us dream of sporting glory - scoring the winner at Wembley, wobbling on the Olympic podium clutching a gold. For most us, it just ain't gonna happen.

But tell cycling queen or table tennis star their sporting ambitions are "unattainable" or "fantasy", and you'll get a bike helmet or a ping pong ball aimed at your eye sockets. Even - desperately unlucky to miss out on Beijing after an ankle injury - will be plotting her route to winning medals at London in four years' time.

These dreams are real, and they're being strived for by proper athletes, British athletes, in many sports, right now. While some may scoff at the thought of a Brit having the cheek and confidence to have such lofty ambitions, I can tell you that I've seen them. They are out there, and they're good.

The likes of diver , Reade, or rower won't be just rocking up to Beijing this summer after a few weeks in the gym and a couple of runs round the park on a Sunday morning. Preparation takes years.

I was in Boston, Lincolnshire, just a few days before Christmas last year. It was the location for the and I was on duty with the boom (a big fluffy microphone on a pole, for those who don't know), with the country's top rowers in action for their winter assessment trials.

Character building they call it. For me that was. The pain of getting up at 5am was eased, though, as I watched these sporting giants - men and women - hoist oars above their heads as though they were umbrellas and stride through the icy waters without their trusted wellies on. We're talking bare feet. The rowing looked pretty easy after all of that.

Next up for filming was Ennis - Britain's great athletic hope in the heptathlon. She is , but don't forget she's still only 22 and she'll be back very soon. The TV producer and I set off for Sheffield the day after the rowing extravaganza with the words of Ennis's coach ringing in our ears. "It's just a bit of hill training," Toni Minichiello said.

It was a fitness session in a local park with Ennis and a few team-mates. Dogs were sniffing, birds were singing, and if trees could talk they would have been saying "nice day for a stroll". It started serenely enough, but a dozen 150 metre sprints up a hill and two freezing hours later, the coach's promise of the session making the runners fit and sick were bearing fruit. Chunky fruit.

And don't be fooled by her smiley exterior. Ennis's sporting passions and ambitions burn deep. As they do with everyone else featured in the series. Probably even more so now as she hobbles about on crutches.

With the Olympic Dreams cameras watching Ennis's injury nightmare drama unfold at the multi-event in Austria, it was a tough experience for the TV crew having followed her for over a year.

The series producer John Douglas calls it the "most difficult part of the year's filming, by far". He said: "Her injury brought her dream of an Olympic medal to an end which left us all absolutely gutted. She is such a lovely person and incredibly focused on her sport - it was heart-breaking to see her miss out".

Who else is involved in the series? I've already mentioned Daley - a diving legend in the making and only 14, and there's BMX and track cycling sensation Reade - put her in concrete slippers on a chopper and she'd probably still beat everybody. These two are in with a major shout for medals this summer. As could dressage Para-equestrian dressage rider .

Others being followed are table tennis stars Drinkhall and Darius Knight, top London judo player and sensational young Welsh gymnast . Not all of them will succeed. Some of them may even be dishing up burgers at your local takeaway come 2012. But that's not what's it all about. It's the beautiful journey.

Following the squad fight to be part of the 12-strong Paralympic squad was a major highlight for series producer Douglas. "They are great athletes, playing a skilful, brutal sport," he said. "They are also a great bunch of lads (and lass, with set to be the first British woman to compete in the sport at the Paralympics). They really deserve us to get behind them when the Paralympics starts."

is going out on 大象传媒 One every Tuesday at 2235 BST until 5 August.

Douglas added: "The series definitely reflects the highs and lows of elite sport and I hope will still be interesting to people who aren't as fixated with sport as I am. The human stories are intense, powerful and moving."

Having sneaked a preview of a couple of episodes, I can tell you this show will grab hold of your heartstrings and won't let go until you're blubbing like a baby. It's inspirational, stunning stuff. And if after watching you're not jumping up and down on the sofa shouting at the TV saying you want to start training for London 2012, then I will eat my laptop.

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