Team GB's Olympic heroes celebrated in radio doc
Rebecca Adlington will present the show profiling Great Britain's Olympians
- Published
Olympic medallist swimmer Rebecca Adlington marks Team GB's homecoming with a radio documentary celebrating the stories of Britain's Olympians.
She started swimming at the age of three, and says the support she received from her family, friends and coaches allowed her to represent Team GB at four Olympic games, where she won four medals including two Golds in Beijing in 2008.
That is her story, and in Adlington's Grassroots to Glory show she explores the journeys of fellow Olympians including rower Lola Anderson, swimmer Matt Richards, shooter Amber Rutter, and BMX cyclist Kieran Reilly.
Here are some of their stories.
'Dad would be so, so proud'
London’s Lola Anderson, who features on the programme, felt the support of her late father when she and her team won gold in the women's quad sculls rowing competition.
She was 14 when rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning took gold at London 2012.
"I remember watching them win and being hit by this really strong wave of inspiration," Anderson said.
"I was already late for training by this point, I ran to go and get my mini-diary, pink highlighter and just scribbled in this affirmation, [which] said: 'My name is Lola Anderson, I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics for Team GB and represent British rowing and, if possible, win a gold medal'."
After writing it, she said she got very embarrassed and ripped the page out of her diary and threw it away.
What Anderson didn’t know is that her dad Don found that page and six years later, shortly before he died, he returned it to her, telling her to follow her dream.
During a tearful interview with the BBC when she and her team won gold on 31 July, she said her dad would be "so, so proud”.
“I’m thinking a lot about him right now," she said.
Lola Anderson's emotional interview after winning gold
'We're there every step of the way'
After 21-year-old Matt Richards scooped a gold medal for the 4x200m freestyle relay, and silver in the the 200m freestyle final, crowds welcomed him in his hometown of Droitwich.
Watching the relay on a sofa with his grandparents Pete and Meg was BBC reporter Tom Edwards.
"Tonight I'm nervous for Great Britain, because this is huge thing for British swimming," his grandmother said before the race.
After the result, she said she couldn't ask for more than his "wonderful" win.
Matt Richards' grandparents Pete and Meg said they were excited to watch him compete in the Olympics
"To be there and in the arena was just incredible," his dad Simon added.
"The crowd in that arena are unbelievable, 18,500 people. Where we were, we were able to get down right to the hoardings, so as they came around we were able to give them a hug.
"He started at Droitwich leisure centre when he was five, and he's 21, and we're still there every step of the way."
Matt Richards' family react to the Olympic gold medallist's victory
Motherhood to Olympic silver in three months
Berkshire shooter Amber Rutter won silver in the women's skeet just three months after becoming a mum.
She only began training for the Olympics weeks before, having "not picked up a gun since February", and had been forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 after contracting Covid-19 on the eve of the games.
"Tokyo just destroyed her, and we didn't know whether she was even going to compete," said her mum Joanne Hill.
"She decided to just change her life and just go around and just get married and have a baby a couple of months before, which we all thought was a bit mad," she added.
Following her win, 26-year-old Rutter said there was "something about having kids which just changes your perspective completely".
"The fact I was able to do it not just for myself now but for my son Tommy, and seeing him once I secured the silver medal, I turned around, saw him and just ran over and gave him the biggest hug," she said.
"It is a moment that I will treasure forever because it was just so incredible."
Berkshire shooter Amber Rutter nearly gave up the sport, but won silver in Paris.
You can listen to more of the stories of Team GB Olympians and Paralympians across BBC Local radio here on Paris: Grassroots to Glory.
The one-hour special will air at 09:00 and 18:00 BST on Sunday 18 August across Local radio, and will be followed by Team GB's homecoming event that you can watch from 20:30 BST on BBC One.
