Going for Gold

As the days, weeks and months count down, athletes throughout the land will look to attain the qualifying standards and times, impress the selectors and work towards peaking as Britain prepares to stage the greatest sporting show on earth.

Today we put the spotlight on the best of the local talent — all of whom are in with a sporting chance of competing in the Olympics in their respective disciplines.

Jason Kenny - Cycling

BEIJING gold medal hero Jason Kenny remains the town’s best hope of medals at the London Olympics in 2012. The 21-year-old added to his gold and silver medal when he picked up his MBE at Buckingham Palace recently and must be favourite to improve on his tally as he approaches his physical peak at London. And Kenny — the first Boltonian ever to win an Olympic gold — is hoping his success will inspire the next generation of successful local sportsmen and sportswomen. “The more kids who get involved in cycling, the better.” said Kenny, not long after returning from Beijing. “It pushes everyone on if they’re pushing for a place, and we all have to get better to defend our places.”

Oriel Hardman - Athletics

ORIEL Hardman has accelerated to fourth in the British 800m under-20s rankings this season. And, considering the Edgworth girl is still only 16 and the best under-18 in the country, she has a chance of getting to the London Olympics — especially if she continues to improve. She has hacked a massive 11 seconds off her personal best in just over a year. If she can take another seven off it in the next three years she will dip under the magical two-minute barrier and secure the Olympic qualifying time. In the meantime, the former Withins High School girl, who is coached by Bolton’s former British 10,000m record holder, Mike Freary, at Bolton Harriers, is concentrating on building on her international career, which began when she won her first international vest in Italy earlier this month.

Jenny Wallwork - Badminton

BADMINTON ace Jenny Wallwork has a harder act than most to follow in her bid for Olympic glory. The Bolton-born star will partner Nathan Robertson in the mixed doubles as the duo strive to reach London 2012. Robertson formed one half of Britain’s favourite sporting couple when he and Gail Emms won silver in Athens in 2004. And, when Emms retired four years later after a disappointing Games in Beijing, Wallwork was selected to take her place. Their partnership is still in its infancy, but the 22-year-old is hopeful she can emulate her predecessor. “It will be a hard job to fill Gail’s shoes, but I’m excited by the challenge,” she said. “We’re just trying to get to know each other and the more we play together the more we’ll improve.”

Cerys Walker - Athletics

CERYS Walker is looking to be there at the beginning of Great Britain's Olympic handball era. The host nation will be entering a team in the Games for the first time and 19-year-old Walker has established herself as the goalkeeper. She showed huge potential from an early age and moved from Breightmet to Denmark just before her 16th birthday to play in the top-quality Danish league. She lived in Denmark, a hotbed of handball, for two years before being forced to switch to a team in Norway at the beginning of this year. The former Withins School head girl only took up the sport at 15 but quickly developed into the top goalkeeper in the country. She played in Great Britain’s World Championships qualifiers in which they impressed a number of the top teams.

Joshua Ramm - Judo and Wrestling

JOSHUA Ramm is on course to become a dual-sport Olympian. The 17-year-old from Harwood is the national number one in his age group at both judo and wrestling. He is the current English and British schools wrestling champion and silver medalist in this year’s Great Britain Under-20s national judo trials, in which he lost to the current World Junior Championships bronze medalist. He is a member of the England and Great Britain junior judo squad and is on the national world class talent squad. He is also part of the British wresting academy team. The former Turton High School student has targeted London 2012 to make his Olympic debut. His biggest decision appears to be which sport he should concentrate on — or whether he should do both.

Robyn Nicholls - Water Polo

One local sportswoman looking nailed on for London is Tyldesley teenager Robyn Nicholls, who is the Great Britain water polo goalkeeper. The Bolton-born 18-year-old started playing the sport when she was 12 at Tyldesley Swimming and Water Polo Club, where she was coached by Eric Harrison before she was selected for the British senior team. She trains about four to five hours a week at the Manchester Aquatics Centre and at a centre in Miles Platting as well as studying for a degree in accounting and finance at Manchester Metropolitan University. “Training is really hard, but when there is an Olympic place at stake, you put the work in,” she said. “Water polo is known to be one of the most physically demanding sports, so the work has to be done."

Haroon Khan and Chris Blinkhorn - Boxing

HAROON is already older than when his brother, Amir, won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, but the 18-year-old still has plenty of time on his side. He finally won the ABA Junior title earlier this year but has the chance to make a real statement when he competes in the European Junior event next month. BLINKHORN is another ABA junior champion with Olympic aspirations, but he has a bigger mountain to climb than his local rival Khan as he has not been picked for the European Championships, although he has represented England this year.The Withins School Police Club member has had an impressive year and the 18-year-old from Deane will be hoping to contiinue his rapid progression when he steps up to the senior ranks.

Alice Fitton - Pentathlon

ALICE Fitton will only be 17 when the London Olympics come around. But the modern pentathlete has made such rapid progress in the last two years that she has made the sport’s national officials think again about whether she will be ready to compete. The Farnworth St James’ pupil has been earmarked for some time as one of Great Britain’s most exciting prospects in the five-event sport. But her rate of improvement in the last year has made officials think the Atherton girl could be ready earlier than previously expected. She is the best in Great Britain in every age group up to under-19s and is already proving competitive at open-age level, her 200m swim several seconds faster than Britain’s top senior modern pentathlete, Heather Fell, and her run on a par with the seniors.

Kelly Kay - Wrestling

SIX-TIME British champion Kelly Kay has one eye on representing her country at London 2012 after a series of impressive results have established her as an exciting prospect. The 16-year-old, who fights out of Smithills Olympic Wrestling Club, became the youngest British senior champion last year. She has also picked up medals at international events in France and Finland. “Kelly has got a fantastic record and to be British champion six times is a fantastic achievement,” said head coach Eddy Kavanagh. “It underlines what a great talent she is.” Kelly is one of five international wrestlers at the club, with three-time British champion Lawrence Carson and two-time British champion Jack Cartwright also serious prospects according to Kavanagh.

Tom Lancashire - Athletics

IF all goes to plan in the next three years Tom Lancashire will be targeting a medal on the track at the London Olympics. Britain’s number one 1,500m runner, the Bromley Cross athlete already has one Olympics under his belt and has made great strides since the Beijing Games last year. He ran the fastest 1,500m by a Brit for four years in June, the 15th fastest of all time. He took over from Andy Baddeley, a finalist in Beijing, in the GB rankings this year, and the two of them will represent Britain at the World Championships in Berlin next month. Lancashire’s best time of 3 minutes 34.29 is less than five seconds outside Steve Cram’s British record, while his best time for the 800m still ranks him among the best in the country.

Alexandra Barnett - Synchronised Swimming

ADOPTED Boltonian Alexandra Barnett and her partner Zoe Cooper, of Shropshire, were in perfect harmony when they became British champions at the national synchronised swimming championships in December. Barnett equated their success to “winning the FA Cup”, describing their Gloucester triumph as the fulfilment of a childhood dream. But the pair refused to rest on their laurels and immediately set their sights on London 2012. To achieve that, however, they are up against Jenna Randall and Olivia Allison who finished 13th out of 28 when they competed at the Beijing Games and finished 11th in the World Championships in Rome last week and at this stage are favourites to win the selection race.