BBC marks two years until London Olympics

Today mark two years until the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The BBC’s international news services marks the occasion with World Olympic Dreams, a multi-platform project across TV, radio and online,

BBC World News, BBC World Service and bbc.com will follow the individual stories of athletes and teams as they prepare for 2012. From Sunday 1 August, Sportsworld on BBC World Service will be profiling all twenty six athletes every fortnight, to check on their progress and training in the build up to the games.

Viewers will be given an insight into each of the athlete’s unique stories and different personal circumstances as they work towards the same goal of Olympic success: personal training regimes; coaches; diet; family; friends; their likes and dislikes and the sacrifices they have to make.

World Olympic Dreams can be accessed online at bbc.com/2012 – a new dedicated site for all content, which also launches today. The site will contain updates on the athletes’ progress along with views from experts in the different sports.

BBC reporter and four-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Matthew Pinsent, will present World Olympic Dreams on BBC World News, bringing regular updates and reports on each of the individual stories. Every fortnight, a new story will air on BBC World News’ GMT with George Alagiah and BBC World Service’s Newshour, Sportsworld and The World Today. Regular documentaries will also be broadcast on radio, on TV and online.

To mark the launch of World Olympic Dreams, BBC World News will broadcast London 2012: Two Years to Go, a BBC News special live from the Olympic stadium in Stratford, East London. The programme, which is presented by Sophie Raworth and Jake Humphry, will air in Australia at 11.15pm Tuesday 27 July.

BBC World Service’s language and regional services will also be broadcasting regular reports and uploading World Olympic Dreams content to their websites.

Athletes featured include:
o Abhinav Bindra (27; India) Shooting
o Acheing Ajulu-Bushell (16; GB) Swimming
o Alistair Brownlee (22; GB) Triathlon
o Emily Seebohm (17; Australia) Swimming
o Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan (24; Mongolia) Boxing
o Hinrich Romeike (47; Germany) Equestrian
o Hoang Anh Tuan (24; Vietnam) Weightlifting
o Hamza Hussein & Haider Rashid (34/28; Iraq) Rowing
o Im Dong Hyun (24; South Korea) Archery
o Ivan Ukhov (24; Russia) Athletics (High Jump)
o Jehue Gordon (17; Trinidad & Tobago) Athletics
o Jonathan, Kevin & Olivia Borlee (22/22/24; Belgium) Athletics
o Julien Absalon (29; France) Cycling
o Linet & Moses Masai (20/23; Kenya) Athletics
o Luol Deng (24; GB) Basketball
o Majlinda Kelmendi (18; Kosovo) Judo
o MC Marykom (27; India) Boxing
o Merlyn Diamond (18; Namibia) Athletics
o Nader al Masri (29; Palestine) Athletics
o Olga Kharlan (19; Ukraine) Fencing
o Rohullah Nikpai (22; Afghanistan) Taekwondo
o Sarah Menezes (19; Brazil) Judo
o Shawn Johnson (17; USA) Gymnastics
o The Pakistan Hockey Team (various; Pakistan) Hockey
o Usain Bolt (23; Jamaica) Athletics
o Wu Min Zia & He Zi (24/20; China) Synchronised Diving