LOOKING BACK TO LONDON ...
Four years on and with Brazil soon to have the chance to begin the Games, a chance to consider just what went into making Danny Boyle’s spectacular for London 2012 quite so good. A global audience of an estimated 900 million watched the opening ceremony and before it began there was no guarantee of success; many predicted a typically British disaster. In One Night in 2012 (Sunday, BBC1, 10.30pm), Alan Yentob meets Boyle and the team behind the show to discuss just what made it such a triumph. They reveal the doubts, obstacles and the sheer scale of ambition that their vision presented in a witty and emotional recollection, that includes the volunteers without whom it would not have been possible. Behind-the-scenes footage also reveals the other side of what turned into the perfect opening to a remarkable Olympic Games – where Britain showed its very best side in welcoming the rest of the world into our country.
SOLENT SAILING ...
After a hugely successful event last year, the America’s Cup World Series returns to Portsmouth as part of the buildup to the competition proper which will take place in Bermuda next June. It is the home race for Sir Ben Ainslie and Britain’s Land Rover BAR team. They are currently second in the standings, equal with Oracle Team USA and 10 points behind Team New Zealand but the series is not of vast importance in ultimately deciding who will challenge Oracle for the Cup – the winner receives two points and the runner-up one towards the America’s Cup qualifiers proper – but the AC45 catamarans are stunning to watch and will again doubtless attract a huge crowd (Saturday, BT Sport 2, 12.45pm).
HEPTATHLON HOPEFUL ...
Katarina Johnson-Thompson described her qualification for the Rio Games in Austria in May as shaky, after a poor long jump and shot put and she knew it was below her potential. She finished in sixth behind Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton who, alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill, is one of the favourites for the heptathlon at this year’s Olympics. Darren Campbell, who won gold as part of Great Britain’s 4x100m relay team in Athens in 2004, presents a programme following the 23-year-old as she was going through the process of qualification, including the career-changing surgery on her knee and her life away from the track in KJT: My Olympic Dream (Saturday, BBC1, 12.10pm).
TEST SERIES ...
After feeling on top of the world having vanquished England at the T20 World Cup, West Indies face a far sterner examination back in the serious business of Test cricket against India. They welcome the tourists in the first of a four-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua (begins Thursday, Sky Sports 5, 2.55pm). Now eighth in the world in the Test rankings against India’s second, the side have a lot to prove in the Test arena and have a burgeoning if somewhat erratic talent with which to attempt to do so. The new chairman of selectors Courtney Brown wants to focus on the future and has named 25-year-old fast bowler Miguel Cummins in his squad, to replace Jerome Taylor who has retired from Test cricket. The batsman-heavy side, however, may still lack the penetration to defeat India, a feat they have not accomplished since 2002 – home or away.
