It’s the Greatest Show on Earth – and the Daily Mirror will be right behind Team GB every hop, skip and jump of the way.
With less than 500 days to go until the London 2012 Olympics, hopes are rising for a memorable Games for British athletes. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd on the world stage is providing a huge motivational boost as our top performers gear up in a marathon push for medals.
Over the next six weeks, we will be profiling some of our rising stars aiming for gold.
Here, we present the first four of our 2012 hopefuls.
And although this may be the first time you’ve heard of them, it certainly won’t be the last.
Tickets are on sale until April 26, 2011 - with 645 separate sessions in 26 sports at venues across the UK. Prices start at £20 for adults, with concessions for under 16s and over 60s at 220 events. For your chance to apply go to www.tickets.london2012.com
CORINNA LAWRENCE, 20 FENCING
Corinna Lawrence is Britain's No1 female fencer and will compete at east London's Excel Centre.
Based in London, she took up the sport when she was just seven - following in the footsteps of her two elder sisters.
She says: "When I was about nine, my coach told me I had something special and by the age of 13, I was up against girls of 17 or 18. I was in the British top four around the age of 14." Corinna, from Plymouth, trains about 20 hours a week and admits she is getting really excited about the Games.
She adds: "Fencing once had a bit of an aristocratic reputation, but has become increas-ingly popular.
"Like boxing, it is a pure one-to-one sport. It's very tactical and always seems to create a very tense close contest."
AMY OLIVER, 23 ARCHERY
Being in the top flight of Britain's archers is a talent that comes naturally to Amy Oliver.
She says: "I started shooting about eight years ago. My parents and grand-parents were always involved, so it runs in the family."
Amy, from Rotherham, York-shire, will be aiming for gold at Lord's cricket ground.
Last year the Dearne Valley sharp--shooter won silver with Team GB in the Commonwealth Games. "It was a brilliant experi-ence," she recalls. "And we were only a few points off gold, so were very proud of what we had achieved." But the Olympics will be a different challenge altogether, as Amy knows.
Since 1972, when the modern version of archery made its Olympic debut, Great Britain has only ever won four bronze medals
But Amy is relishing the chance to show her skills at next year's Games.
She says: "Every-thing is going to plan with my training so I'm really looking forward to performing for the team.
"It's a great venue and the competition will be intense."
BOBBY WHITE, 27 HANDBALL
Bobby White is the acrobatic goalkeeper for Team GB men's handball team.
The London 2012 Olympics is the first time that Great Britain has entered a team into the competition.
It is a sport that has yet to take off here like it has across Europe, but that is expected to change after next year.
Bobby, from Milton Keynes, Bucks, says: "Here in the UK, we have a tradition of foot-ball, rugby and cricket - so sports like hand-ball and basketball are not as big.
"But handball is massive all over Europe and next year we have the opportunity to create a legacy and get people interested in the sport."
Bobby adds: "I used to play semi-pro football for Newport Pagnell, but in 2007 I was picked up by UK Sports' Sporting Giants programme who helped me get into handball.
"I didn't know what the sport was about at first but after my first taste I was hooked." The team will play in a newly-built arena at the Olympic Park - and Bobby is hoping to perform in front of a capacity 7,000 crowd.
PETER BAKARE, 21 VOLLEYBALL
Peter Bakare is originally from Canning Town, East London.
He now lives in Holland where he plays volleyball professionally for Landstede Zwolle.
The British team will play their matches at the iconic Earls Court in West London during next year's Olympics.
Peter says: "I used to be a basketball player, then one day just two years ago my coach asked me to try volleyball. I was spotted playing at the London Youth Games, then got asked to try out for England Juniors.
"From there, I went to the GB development programme in Sheffield. It was a real crash course in volleyball for me."
He admits he's nervous about the Games, but adds: "I'm also really excited."
