Children of the Olympic Bid - Series 5 - Episode 1

When Sebastian Coe presented London's bid for the 2012 Games at the IOC meeting in Singapore on July 6th 2005 he was flanked on the stage by the London teenagers. They were seen as crucial in helping secure victory over Paris - representing the sporting dreams of the nation and the rich cultural, ethnic and religious mix of the capital. Since then Peter White's been following them, their families and those who train alongside them. This is a unique insight into youngsters from very diverse backgrounds who played such a crucial role in securing the Olympics and who are now making the transition from childhood to living independently, starting college, going to work, falling in and out of love and for some staking all on the hope of competing in 2012. Twenty year old athlete, Jessica Manning, who stopped competing in Heptathlons following her family's decision to move to Canada, helped lead the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Meanwhile eighteen year old Janani, a key activist in student sit-ins supporting the Tamil Tigers, achieved four A grades at A Levels. She is set to take up a place at University College London - if only her uncles can talk her out of her increasing allegiance to protest groups Thomas Brown, a promising swimmer who narrowly missed out on competing in Beijing, is in family melt-down: not speaking to his Mum and living in a flat with his friend Jack. His excuses for missing training are getting ever more elaborate and Michelle, his coach, despairs of him ever making the Paralympic 2012 team. Not so for the more committed Ellie, who has been selected to represent England in the Commonwealth Games. The image of her diving from the Thames Barrier was one of the most abiding in London's bid for 2012. Today she is equally committed to her sport - although her family now lives in Australia where 50 metre pools are in plentiful supply: "When we did the London bid it was just like some random thing, but then I got off the train at Victoria and saw the shots of me on a massive billboard. Suddenly there were pictures of me all over the UK - I just never thought it would be that important. "It was so exciting - we thought it would be so great for the Olympics to be in London. I was 14 and had always had the dream of going to the Olympics. Part of me was like, of great.I've got to do another eight years of swimming! "We had a fast track team, it seems like years ago now, and a couple of us are still going at it. I got into swimming because my brother joined a club and I just tagged along, it wasn't anything I'd planned to do. "I just stuck at it and progressed. I just love being in the water, I love how it feels. It feels free, it blocks out all of the noise and it's just a lovely feeling." For Amber Charles the dream of Olympic competition is a step nearer thanks to a basketball scholarship to a prestigious American University. She is now able to combine studying for a psychology degree with playing for a college team - and as if that wasn't enough, she's also fallen in love! "It has been the most amazing year of my life - going away from home and being so happy. I can't believe it's all happening like this and it seems unreal to come back to the UK for holidays. When I first went I missed friends in particular, but now I miss being in the States and can't wait for college to start again!".