Almost a year on from the spectacular London 2012 Games, BBC Sport has announced it is to launch a new Olympic magazine series and broadcast campaign encouraging sports participation across the UK.
Inspire: The Olympic Journey – a new monthly series airing on Saturday afternoons on BBC One – will celebrate the biggest names, the rising stars and the unsung heroes of Olympic sport.
Presented by Gabby Logan, the series will be accompanied by Get Inspired, a multiplatform, pan-BBC initiative to promote participation and help individuals get more involved in grass-root sporting activities.
The new BBC One series will take an in-depth look at the stories behind the sports, tackling the big issues and discovering the inspiring figures behind our most promising and high-profile sports men and women.
Featuring a variety of reporters, including Matthew Pinsent, and a range of contributors from across the sporting world, each episode will explore the characters behind the Olympics, Paralympics and Commonwealth Games.
Launching exactly one year after the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony (July 27), the first episode will air from the Commonwealth Games site in Glasgow.
Accompanied by Sir Chris Hoy, Logan will visit the Velodrome named in his honour and look back at his illustrious career.
She will meet some of the logistical and sporting teams preparing for Glasgow 2014, while Pinsent will explore the true meaning of the Olympics Legacy.
Barbara Slater, Director, BBC Sport, says: “London 2012 was a once-in-a-lifetime event that inspired the nation and provided the ideal opportunity for us to harness an unparalleled enthusiasm for sports.
I’m delighted that Gabby Logan – one of our most popular presenters – will present Inspire: The Olympic Journey, continuing our ongoing commitment to Olympic and Commonwealth sports.
Alongside the new BBC One series, BBC Sport announced the launch of Get Inspired, a new initiative encouraging sports participation.
Working alongside sports bodies across the UK Get Inspired will use multiple broadcast platforms in order to encourage audiences to find out more about sports participation.
Slater added: “The Get Inspired initiative will take advantage of the BBC’s role as the nation’s leading sports broadcaster, encouraging sports participation across the UK and providing viewers with tools to help get involved.”
Inspire: The Olympic Journey and the Get Inspired initiative will support the BBC’s increased commitment to Olympic and Commonwealth sports.
The TV series is the first regular all-round sports show to air on BBC One since Inside Sport, which ran from 2007 to 2011 and was also presented by Logan.
EPISODE 1 Saturday 27th July – 12.45pm-1.30pm BBC One
The first episode of this new series is presented by Gabby Logan, who is in Glasgow to mark one year until the Commonwealth Games.
She’ll be given a guided tour of the city by Sir Chris Hoy, who’ll also show her around the velodrome named after him.
Matthew Pinsent will look back on the legacy of 2012 a year on from the Olympic Games, and fellow rowing star Katherine Grainger joins the team to reflect on life after London for some of the key personalities from last summer, including Victoria Pendleton, Helen Glover and Dai Greene.
And in the first of a regular series of features introducing the potential stars for Rio in 2016, we meet 17-year-old swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, from Bath.
.
EPISODE 2 Saturday 31st August – 1.00pm-1.30pm BBC OneGabby Logan visits London’s Hackney Marshes to learn more about projects designed to get young people involved in sport.
Rowing gold medallist Katherine Grainger travels to the Swiss Alps to spend time with the British triathlon team in order to discover the secret of their success.
Helen Skelton meets slopestyle skier and Winter Olympics medal prospect James Wood in his home town of Sheffield.
And Sir Matthew Pinsent joins Chicago Bulls and NBA star Luol Deng in Brixton, where the pair visit the club Luol joined as a boy to meet up with his old coach.
.
EPISODE 3 Saturday 21st September – 3.00pm-3.30pm BBC OneGabby Logan travels to the Huntingdon Gymnastics Club to catch up with gymnast Louis Smith and meet the people who helped him to his Olympic silver medal last summer.
She’ll also meet the future generation of British gymnasts who are training at the club, under the watchful eye of British coach Paul Hall.
There’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes feature with cyclist Lizzie Armitstead as she prepares for one of the toughest road races of her season.
Plus, it’s a case of young and old at the Kings Eventing Yard in Devon, as Lee McKenzie spends the day with six-time Olympian Mary King and her daughter Emily, who’s hoping to follow in her mum’s footsteps.
.
EPISODE 4 Saturday 19th October – 1.15pm-1.45pm BBC OneGabby Logan is in Weymouth with the British sailing squad, chatting to some of the next generation of talent who will be stepping into Sir Ben Ainslie’s shoes at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Denise Lewis heads to Stratford to catch up with 400m world champion Christine Ohuruogu, and the programme visits Sheffield to meet some of Britain’s brightest young boxers, who will be competing at the World Championships this month.
.
EPISODE 5 Saturday 30th November – 1.15pm-1.45pm BBC OneGabby Logan is in Manchester to meet cycling’s new superstar Becky James after her amazing breakthrough year.
Katherine Grainger travels to Norway to catch up with Shelley Rudman, one of Great Britain’s best hopes for a gold medal at the Winter Olympics next year, to find out how she combines competing with being a mum to six-year-old Ella.
And Olympic rowing gold medallist Heather Stanning tells us what it was like swapping life on the water for life in Afghanistan, as she returns to training after serving as an officer with the British Army.
.
EPISODE 6 Saturday 21st December – 1.15pm-1.45pm BBC OneGabby Logan visits Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson in his hometown of Glasgow.
The Scottish swimmer takes Gabby to the family home to meet his parents, and also to Tolcross pool, which is where he learned to swim and where he will compete for gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Steve Cram travels to Africa to cover the Tour of Rwanda, a cycling event that has helped unite a nation and heal its painful past.
.
EPISODE 7 Saturday 25th January – 1.15pm-1.45pm BBC OneIn a Winter Olympics special, Gabby Logan spends the day in Scotland with one of Team GB’s best hopes for gold in Russia – the women’s curling team.
Steve Cram travels to Norway to meet Andrew Musgrave, an unlikely British competitor in the cross-country skiing event.
The programmes also catches up with the British bobsleigh team hoping for success in Sochi, led by John Jackson as he continues his remarkable comeback from a career-threatening injury to compete at the Winter Games.
.
