大象传媒

What does it take to get to the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Paralympian Scout Bassett, comedian Eliza Skinner and athletics commentator Ed Harry interview athletes with remarkable personal stories about the journeys they took to star on sport鈥檚 biggest stage.

When Maarten van der Weijden was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 19, he thought it was not only the end of his sporting career, but his life. According to Maarten, he was a 'lazy' patient and didn鈥檛 'win a fight' against cancer; he says he survived simply because he was 'lucky'. But having been given a second chance at life, he was determined to make the most of it.

Just a few years after recovering from cancer, Maarten won open-water swimming gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He reveals the techniques and mindset that got him through his darkest days, and the significance of setting goals in order to achieve things, whether that be in sport or life.

He retired from competitive swimming after winning Olympic and World championship gold in 2008, and dedicated himself to raising funds for other leukaemia sufferers by completing the most severe of swimming challenges. So far, he has raised more than $15 million.