Grounds for optimism increase as countdown continues

BRITAIN ruled the world on the velodrome track in Beijing and thanks to a trio of cyclists from Yorkshire, they could do so again in 18 months at the London Olympics.

For as the countdown to the biggest sporting event to hit London reaches another landmark today, Ed Clancy, Lizzie Armitstead and Ben Swift are forging ahead in their bid to win Olympic gold in front of an expectant home crowd.

More than 300 athletes represented Great Britain in China three years ago, with 27 of those either being raised here in the White Rose county or trained at the numerous international-standard facilities on offer.

Both participation numbers are set to double for the next Olympics and Paralympics which begin in London on July 27, 2012, as every sportsman and woman from archery to athletics trains and works towards competing at an event that will define their careers.

Yorkshire could produce more than 50 Olympians and Paralympians to compete for medals and sporting immortality in their own backyard, all of whom face an important 2011 as they continue building momentum towards London 2012.

An impressive haul of 47 medals were won in Beijing, and with expectation on the shoulders of all home athletes in London and a British crowd roaring them on, the minimum target is for that number to almost double.

The cyclists, at least, should not disappoint. They excelled themselves in Beijing, with Sir Chris Hoy leading them to 14 medals, eight of them gold.

A levelling of the equality field in the Olympic track programme by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) may mean fewer medals for the leading Britons to go for but the team shows no sign of weakening.

Complementing the likes of Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton are Clancy – who already has an Olympic gold after his exploits with the pursuit team in Beijing – Armitstead and Swift.

Rotherham-born Swift, 23, could challenge for two Olympic titles in the road race and the team pursuit and has recently shown the kind of form that could put him on the podium.

Otley's Armitstead, 22, will also contest the road race and is a genuine medal contender on the track in the omnium and the team pursuit. She has shown at past championships she has the endurance to contest multiple events.

Barnsley's Clancy, 25, could ride alongside Swift in the team pursuit and, after a change in the Olympic programme, could now cycle for two gold medals in London.

For as well as defending the team pursuit title he won alongside Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Paul Manning three years ago, Clancy is also now hoping to go for gold in the omnium, a discipline in which he is already a world champion.

When he won his world title in Denmark last March, the omnium was still proving a thorny issue among the ranks after its introduction to the Olympic programme came at the cost of a number of disciplines the dominant British team excelled at in Beijing.

Although tempering that frustration by winning world gold, Clancy believed then that he would not be able to add the Olympic title in the London VeloPark because it clashed with his favoured team pursuit on the early schedules.

Now, though, having sensationally won a World Cup gold medal in the multi-discipline event in Cali, Colombia, in December, the schedule has changed and the Barnsley bullet will bid for double glory in front of his home fans.

"They've changed the programme now; making it two days of team pursuit, a day off, and two days of omnium so I'm thinking about doing the omnium and going for those two gold medals," said Clancy, who is not arrogant enough to think he has a divine right to win both titles.

The omnium tests riders over six disciplines; the flying lap, points race, elimination, individual pursuit, scratch race and time trial, and Clancy said: "The omnium is so hard.

"With the pursuit, nine out of 10 times the best team is going to win. Tactically things can go wrong but the teams in pursuit are usually pretty sharp.

"With the omnium, you can be the strongest rider and be fifth, sixth, first, second say in the races and still not win.

"You can improve your odds by being the best but it's such a massive test of endurance that it's never as easy as doing that.

"Only six to eight European nations can qualify for the omnium so that makes it that much tougher, when I think it should be easier.

"Plus there'll be other British riders vying for the omnium like Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins, but for me right now it's so far, so good.

"I've put together some good races and hopefully I get a chance to have a go at it."

His victory in Cali takes off a lot of pressure, for since the European Championships last November, the qualification process has already begun for cyclists bidding for a ride at the 2012 Olympics.

Along with Armitstead and Swift he will also get the chance to lay further claim to an Olympic seat at the final World Cup meet in Manchester next month, which is quickly followed by the World Championships in Holland in March.

"For us the qualification began at the Euros last November. From now on everything; Euros, World Championship, World Cup meets, count towards the Olympics," the self-confessed team player told the Yorkshire Post.

"The whole British cycling programme, though, is geared towards the Olympics.

"You've got to because a home Olympics is never going to happen again. You have got to give it your best shot."

Clancy, Armitstead, Swift and the rest of Yorkshire's Olympic contingent will all be ensuring that in 2011 they put themselves into contention for a golden bid at London 2012.

Jessica Ennis

Heptathlon

Sheffield's Jessica Ennis will be one of the faces of London 2012.

The striking and dedicated heptathlete suffered heartache when injury forced her to miss the Beijing Games but her revival since then has made her front and back page news. She won the world heptathlon title in Berlin in 2009 and last year added the European crown in Barcelona and won world indoor gold in Doha.

Ennis, who turns 25 tomorrow, defends her world outdoor title in Daegu, South Korea, this year and will look to continue growing her collection of major titles at the European Indoor Championships in Paris in March.

"There'll be so much pressure on all of us at a home Olympics, but that's sport, it's what you come to expect," said Ennis, who trains six days a week in Leeds and Sheffield.

Paul Goodison

Sailing

OLYMPIC and world laser champion Paul Goodison has another world title on his radar in 2011 but two events closer to home are dominating his thoughts.

For the 33-year-old from Rotherham trains at the London 2012 sailing venue at Weymouth which this summer stages a Sail for Gold regatta and the Olympic Test event, an equivalent race Goodison won before the Beijing Games.

"Trying to win both of them is the goal," he said.

"It's really about spending quite a bit of time in Weymouth to then really perform the best at the Sail for Gold and then to try to take the momentum into the pre-Olympics test event. That's a very different environment but one I do well in because it feels like the pressure's on; it feels like it's the Olympics."

Lizzie Simmonds

Swimming

Lizzie Simmonds, 20, of Beverley, won the European 200m backstroke title in Budapest last year and a Commonwealth Games silver medal.

Her rivalry with fellow Brit and world record holder Gemma Spofforth is helping her improve at every major championships since making her debut at the Beijing Olympics.

The world championships in Shanghai in July is the main event in Simmonds's sights for 2011, when she will vie with Spofforth for gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

"I think everybody, in the back of their minds, has their thoughts on London 2012," said Simmonds.

"But there are a lot of stepping stones on the way, so you have to ignore the fact that you've got a major one coming up and focus on each individual meet."

Jo Jackson

Swimming

Jo Jackson was a relative unknown outside her home in Northallerton when she won bronze behind Rebecca Adlington in the 400m freestyle in Beijing.

That achievement gave her the confidence that she belonged in such elite company and at the world championships in Rome the following summer, Jackson won medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle and in the 4x200m relay. 2010 was not as easy, as a lifelong asthma condition returned and made training and competing difficult as her ribs were popping out during swims.

However, she now has her health problems under control which has led to a more sustained run of training at a warm-weather camp in Australia.

Good performances at the British and the worlds will be high on the agenda in 2011.

Alistair Brownlee

Triathlon

the 2009 world champion, Alistair Brownlee of Leeds is among the favourites for gold in London.

The Beijing Games were the 22-year-old's first major competition but since then he has gone from strength to strength and can cement his place at a home Games via the Hyde Park and Beijing legs of the triathlon world series this year, with two men's and two women's qualifying places up for grabs.

"With the Olympics getting ever closer it really does increase the tension and excitement," he said. "Qualification is the first step and it's on everyone's mind."

Alistair's younger brother Jonathan, 20, could also prove a contender in London, although as a junior he must qualify for the Hyde Park and Beijing events to earn the right to try to qualify for 2012.

Andy Hodge

Rowing

patience and perseverance will be the keys for Hebden Bridge's Andy Hodge over the next 18 months.

A double world champion and Olympic gold medal winner in the men's four in Beijing, he and Pete Reed made the bold decision to form the Great British pair in 2009.

Success has not been as forthcoming, with the British pair finishing second to the New Zealand duo of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray a staggering 13 successive times in major regattas.

There is speculation the 31-year-old and his colleague may return to the men's four in the build-up to London. But with qualification for the Olympics an almost certainty in the men's pair, and a world title to be contested in Slovenia later this year, Hodge is the type of competitor who will relish the challenge being laid down by the Kiwis.