OLYMPIC HOPEFULS
Over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will be competing at the Beijing Olympics, which begins on August 8, and Velocity has cherry-picked five youngsters who may be among the medals not just this year, but also in four years' time at the London Games in 2012.
There will be 302 events (165 men's, 127 women's, and 10 mixed - nine more than in Athens 2004) in 28 sports and athletes will be striving to achieve the Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius and Fortius" (Latin for "Swifter, Higher and Stronger"). In all, 31 venues will be used, including the 80,000 capacity national stadium known as the "Bird's Nest", and more than 4 billion people are expected to tune into the Games on television, with over 20,000 journalists covering the event on the ground.
Four years ago in Greece, America topped the medals table, with 35 golds, 39 silvers and 29 bronzes. China were a distant second (32, 17, 14) but are expected to challenge the USA more closely on home turf. Russia (27, 27, 38), Australia (27, 16, 16) and Japan (16, 9, 12) followed. Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch says the Games in China's capital will be "the best in Olympic history". Below are five names to look out for:
Elise Matthysen
The swimmer, who will be 16 years old in August*, will be competing for Belgium in the 100m breaststroke, and is the first Belgian woman to qualify for the Games in eight years.
Matthysen has been compared to Belgian legend Brigitte Becue, who was also 15 when she qualified for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. She broke Becue's Belgian 100m breaststroke record at the European Championships in Eindhoven this year.
In the heats she clocked a time of 1:09.10 - 0.06 seconds faster than Becue's time in 1998. Matthysen then went onto finish fourth in the final with a time of 1:08.95 - a result that has left her craving a medal in Beijing.
"I was nervous before the final, but the nerves disappeared during my warm-up," she says. "My first reaction after seeing that I finished fourth was one of disappointment. I was so close to winning a medal. But the time I swam made me feel better."
Matthysen's coach is Dutchman Ronald Gaastra, who helped Frederik Deburghgraeve win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Deburghgraeve also competed in the 100m breaststroke, setting a world record in the final. Gaastra's long-term goal with Matthysen is winning an Olympic medal in London 2012.
Jeroen Hertzberger
The Netherlands will be among the favourites to win the gold medal in Beijing in the men's and women's hockey, and 22-year-old Herzberger is likely to be firing in the goals for his country. The striker plays his club hockey - along with his two elder brothers - at home-town club Rotterdam, where he also studies at the Randstad Topsport Academy.
Herzberger starred for his country in the Champions Trophy at the end of last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, scoring the winner against Korea to seal third place for Holland. The Dutch won the gold medal in 1996 and 2000, but lost out to Australia in the 2004 final. Having come through the national youth ranks, Hertzberger cannot wait to take part in his first Olympics and try to win the gold back for his country.
"The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world," he grins. "I'm really excited and expect the Games to be amazing. I've been talking to some of the other guys who have been telling me what to expect.
"The Netherlands are a good candidate for the gold medal in Beijing. Australia and Germany will also be strong - it'll be close. The difference in standard between us three is so small."
Will Clarke
The triathlon became an Olympic sport in 2000, and Great Britain's 23-year-old Clarke is in with chance of a podium finish in Beijing, although he is focusing more on winning the gold medal when the Games come to London in 2012. Going into the Beijing Games, the UK are yet to win a medal, of any colour, in either the men's or women's events.
However, that drought could soon be over. Clarke was Britain's top male triathlete last year, finishing fifth at the World Championships in Hamburg and seventh at the Olympic Games test event in Beijing. The 2006 European and World Under-23 Champion is in good form ahead of the Olympics.
Cambridge-born Clarke has a tendency to celebrate his victories with a somersault. "The somersault thing is something I do a lot," he smiles, "because the crowd love it.
"It'll be nice to have Beijing as a practice run, but I am more than likely to do better in London 2012. I'll be a bit older, wiser and stronger."
In 2012, Clarke will be 27, and hopes to be at the peak of his powers. If he continues to improve, there is no reason why he cannot win the gold medal for Britain in 2012 - and you can bet a somersault would follow.
Stephanie Twell
At 15, Twell was the youngest member of the Great Britain team at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships, and ever since has been touted as the heir apparent to World Champion middle-distance runner Paula Radcliffe.
In just over a year, in 2006/07, Twell, who will turn 19 on August 17, won two European Junior Cross Country titles, took the 1,500m silver medal at the summer's European Junior Championships, headed European Junior rankings for the year at 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m, topped the World Junior rankings at 1,500m - and achieved the qualification mark for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Colchester-born Twell, who carries a London 2012 badge with her everywhere she goes, has targeted the Games in four years. "I live it, breathe it, dream it," says the strength and conditioning science student at St Mary's University College in Twickenham of the London Olympics.
Brendan Foster, Britain's 1976 Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist and one of the most respected pundits in the UK, said: "She seems to have that X-factor."
Andy Schleck
Luxembourg cyclist Schleck rides for Danish team CSC alongside older brother Fränk, who won the Alpe D'Huez stage of the Tour de France in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old Andy has been earmarked as a gold medal prospect in the Beijing road race, along with Fränk and Kim Kirchen.
Team CSC sport director Kim Andersen believes that the younger Schleck has more potential than his brother. "He has an enormous capacity," Anderson says. "You can tell he has a good head and he's a hard worker, just like his brother."
Schleck believes that winning the Olympics would be even more satisfying than wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. "The Olympics road race is perhaps a bigger dream than the Tour," he enthuses.
"We will have three riders: Kirchen, Fränk and me. It is maybe arrogant to say, but we have three riders that can go for a medal.
"I am from Luxembourg, which is a small country, and it may sound silly but I am really proud of it - I love my country. It is my home, it is where I am from, and I am proud of that and I want to do well at the Olympics. Once you have an Olympic medal no one can take that away from you."
*All ages are correct to August 8.
Over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will be competing at the Beijing Olympics, which begins on August 8, and Velocity has cherry-picked five youngsters who may be among the medals not just this year, but also in four years' time at the London Games in 2012.
There will be 302 events (165 men's, 127 women's, and 10 mixed - nine more than in Athens 2004) in 28 sports and athletes will be striving to achieve the Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius and Fortius" (Latin for "Swifter, Higher and Stronger"). In all, 31 venues will be used, including the 80,000 capacity national stadium known as the "Bird's Nest", and more than 4 billion people are expected to tune into the Games on television, with over 20,000 journalists covering the event on the ground.
Four years ago in Greece, America topped the medals table, with 35 golds, 39 silvers and 29 bronzes. China were a distant second (32, 17, 14) but are expected to challenge the USA more closely on home turf. Russia (27, 27, 38), Australia (27, 16, 16) and Japan (16, 9, 12) followed. Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch says the Games in China's capital will be "the best in Olympic history". Below are five names to look out for:
Elise Matthysen
The swimmer, who will be 16 years old in August*, will be competing for Belgium in the 100m breaststroke, and is the first Belgian woman to qualify for the Games in eight years.
Matthysen has been compared to Belgian legend Brigitte Becue, who was also 15 when she qualified for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. She broke Becue's Belgian 100m breaststroke record at the European Championships in Eindhoven this year.
In the heats she clocked a time of 1:09.10 - 0.06 seconds faster than Becue's time in 1998. Matthysen then went onto finish fourth in the final with a time of 1:08.95 - a result that has left her craving a medal in Beijing.
"I was nervous before the final, but the nerves disappeared during my warm-up," she says. "My first reaction after seeing that I finished fourth was one of disappointment. I was so close to winning a medal. But the time I swam made me feel better."
Matthysen's coach is Dutchman Ronald Gaastra, who helped Frederik Deburghgraeve win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Deburghgraeve also competed in the 100m breaststroke, setting a world record in the final. Gaastra's long-term goal with Matthysen is winning an Olympic medal in London 2012.
Jeroen Hertzberger
The Netherlands will be among the favourites to win the gold medal in Beijing in the men's and women's hockey, and 22-year-old Herzberger is likely to be firing in the goals for his country. The striker plays his club hockey - along with his two elder brothers - at home-town club Rotterdam, where he also studies at the Randstad Topsport Academy.
Herzberger starred for his country in the Champions Trophy at the end of last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, scoring the winner against Korea to seal third place for Holland. The Dutch won the gold medal in 1996 and 2000, but lost out to Australia in the 2004 final. Having come through the national youth ranks, Hertzberger cannot wait to take part in his first Olympics and try to win the gold back for his country.
"The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world," he grins. "I'm really excited and expect the Games to be amazing. I've been talking to some of the other guys who have been telling me what to expect.
"The Netherlands are a good candidate for the gold medal in Beijing. Australia and Germany will also be strong - it'll be close. The difference in standard between us three is so small."
Will Clarke
The triathlon became an Olympic sport in 2000, and Great Britain's 23-year-old Clarke is in with chance of a podium finish in Beijing, although he is focusing more on winning the gold medal when the Games come to London in 2012. Going into the Beijing Games, the UK are yet to win a medal, of any colour, in either the men's or women's events.
However, that drought could soon be over. Clarke was Britain's top male triathlete last year, finishing fifth at the World Championships in Hamburg and seventh at the Olympic Games test event in Beijing. The 2006 European and World Under-23 Champion is in good form ahead of the Olympics.
Cambridge-born Clarke has a tendency to celebrate his victories with a somersault. "The somersault thing is something I do a lot," he smiles, "because the crowd love it.
"It'll be nice to have Beijing as a practice run, but I am more than likely to do better in London 2012. I'll be a bit older, wiser and stronger."
In 2012, Clarke will be 27, and hopes to be at the peak of his powers. If he continues to improve, there is no reason why he cannot win the gold medal for Britain in 2012 - and you can bet a somersault would follow.
Stephanie Twell
At 15, Twell was the youngest member of the Great Britain team at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships, and ever since has been touted as the heir apparent to World Champion middle-distance runner Paula Radcliffe.
In just over a year, in 2006/07, Twell, who will turn 19 on August 17, won two European Junior Cross Country titles, took the 1,500m silver medal at the summer's European Junior Championships, headed European Junior rankings for the year at 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m, topped the World Junior rankings at 1,500m - and achieved the qualification mark for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Colchester-born Twell, who carries a London 2012 badge with her everywhere she goes, has targeted the Games in four years. "I live it, breathe it, dream it," says the strength and conditioning science student at St Mary's University College in Twickenham of the London Olympics.
Brendan Foster, Britain's 1976 Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist and one of the most respected pundits in the UK, said: "She seems to have that X-factor."
Andy Schleck
Luxembourg cyclist Schleck rides for Danish team CSC alongside older brother Fränk, who won the Alpe D'Huez stage of the Tour de France in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old Andy has been earmarked as a gold medal prospect in the Beijing road race, along with Fränk and Kim Kirchen.
Team CSC sport director Kim Andersen believes that the younger Schleck has more potential than his brother. "He has an enormous capacity," Anderson says. "You can tell he has a good head and he's a hard worker, just like his brother."
Schleck believes that winning the Olympics would be even more satisfying than wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. "The Olympics road race is perhaps a bigger dream than the Tour," he enthuses.
"We will have three riders: Kirchen, Fränk and me. It is maybe arrogant to say, but we have three riders that can go for a medal.
"I am from Luxembourg, which is a small country, and it may sound silly but I am really proud of it - I love my country. It is my home, it is where I am from, and I am proud of that and I want to do well at the Olympics. Once you have an Olympic medal no one can take that away from you."
*All ages are correct to August 8.
Labels: Andy Schleck, Beijing Olympics, Elise Matthysen, Jeroen Hertzberger, London 2012, Stephanie Twell, Will Clarke
