Today is quite as a special day, not only in Great Britain but also linked to my project as it is the official opening of the London 2012 Olympics, hosted in our own country. In the lead up to today I have been watching documentaries on BBC that have helped me to understand the opinions and feelings of athletes competing in order to gain primary research.
I have watched both 'London 2012: Victoria Pendleton' and 'London 2012: Tom Daley', these are two very different athletes, one a teenager younger than myself and one a grown adult with very different experiences of different sports but both talked about how their homelike can affect training.
Watching these was very engaging and emotional whilst at the same time allowed me to gain knowledge about the posts and view the olympics not only from the view of spectators but also from the view of the participants and how their lives are affected. Here are some things that I used to expand my knowledge after the documentaries we're broadcast:
London 2012: Victoria Pendleton feels 'trapped' by her success
Victoria Pendleton says she sometimes feels "trapped" by her success as she targets more Olympic gold in London.
Britain's greatest female track cyclist is tipped to retain her sprint title when the Games begin later this month.
But in a BBC One documentary to be aired on Wednesday, the multiple world champion says she can struggle with the huge expectation on her.
"My success has got so great, it's like I'm trapped, almost, within it," said Pendleton.
Pendleton, 31, started grass track cycling at the age of nine and has gone on to win one Olympic gold and nine world titles. She plans to retire after London 2012.
"I compete in a sport on an individual basis but I have never done it for me," she said. "I was always cycling for my dad. Then the coaches got bigger and my results got better.
"Suddenly the responsibility grows and I'm doing it for somebody else, I'm doing it for a programme, I'm doing it for the country, I'm doing it for, like, everybody."
In 'Victoria Pendleton: Cycling's Golden Girl', she also revealed that the day she won Olympic gold in Beijing was the "saddest" of her life.
Just hours after her victory, her relationship with Scott Gardner, a key member of her support team, became public knowledge, causing resentment amongst some members of British Cycling.
"Winning the gold medal should have been the happiest day of my entire life and it just wasn't," said Pendleton.
"It felt like the saddest day of my life.
"Everyone was so angry with us, that Scott and I had fallen in love, because it was so unprofessional and we were a disgrace and had betrayed everybody."
Gardner, now her fiance, was initially banished from British Cycling but continued to work with Pendleton.
However, the Australian was eventually reinstated in an effort to reverse Pendleton's dipping fortunes.
"Scott having to leave the team and everything he's worked for with us was a really huge deal," said Pendleton.
"I think I will be forever in his debt.
"He has given up everything to be with me. That means a lot. That's why I need to do him proud at the London Olympics as well and prove it wasn't in vain or for no reason, just that it was all worth it."
Pendleton has dominated her sport for eight years but tells documentary makers that one weakness is her lack of confidence.
"When I am at competition, I spend a lot of time questioning myself," she said.
"It's one of my biggest flaws, caring what other people think of me. I don't want to be a let-down."
She adds: "Maybe I do kind of seek some kind of approval in the people around me. It really matters what they think. I want them to be proud of me and I want them to be pleased with what I've done. That makes me feel good about myself."
Pendleton has managed to keep her emotions in check but credits British Cycling psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters with helping her.
In the BBC One documentary, Peters said he had spoken at length with a very emotional Pendleton following her disappointing Olympic campaign in Athens, where she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in the women's 200m sprint.
"She basically cried for two hours," he said.
"Vicky had no self-confidence, she had no way of controlling impulsive thinking, she had no way of containing emotion, she didn't know how to deal with emotion, she couldn't communicate well with people, she wasn't assertive... the list went on and on."
Pendleton says the discussion had a positive impact on her, helping to turn her from Olympic failure to Olympic champion.
Now, as she prepares to defend her title in London, Pendleton says she intends to bow out of the sport a winner.
"The only thing that really matters to me is going well in London," she said. "That's all that matters. That's all I'm trying to do. I want it to be the most amazing exit that I could possibly have from the sport."
London 2012: Diver Tom Daley 'stronger' after family heartache
British diver Tom Daley says he wants to win an Olympic medal for his family after a turbulent year.
The teenager lost his father, Rob, to cancer in May 2011 and was also criticised for spending too much time on media commitments.
"It's about time we got some good news in our family," he told BBC Sport.
"It's definitely been a tough year, but it's helped me gain a lot of motivation and inspiration and made me stronger."
Daley's father was believed to be in remission following the removal of a brain tumour in 2006. However, a scan in 2010 revealed it had returned. He eventually lost his fight for life in May last year.
"We kind of knew that it was inevitable, it was just a question of when," said Daley, 18.
"It brought me closer to my dad. I think if he didn't have that brain tumour, we wouldn't have been so close. It's great that we've had that really strong connection."
Daley, who made his Olympic debut in Beijing four years ago, continued to compete while his dad was ill.
He won European gold in the 10m platform event in 2008 and became world champion in 2009. He then won double gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
But just eight weeks after his father's death, he finished fifth at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
"I wasn't prepared properly because I had just lost my dad and it was about going in there and giving it my best shot," said Daley. "I know he would have wanted me to have carried on."
In February of this year, GB diving performance director Alexei Evangulov criticised Daley for spending too much time on media work.
Daley insists he has never lost focus and pays little to what is written or said in the media.
"To be honest, I don't watch anything, I don't look at the papers," he said.
"I look at some of the pictures and watch some of my dives back but apart from that I focus on training and competitions. I can't focus on what others are writing or saying, so I have to focus on myself."
Daley claimed overall victory in the World Series in April and followed that up with European Championship goldand new British record score in Eindhoven in May.
He then secured qualification for London 2012 with victory at the GB Olympic trials in Sheffield.
His first event in London, the 10m synchro, will take place on Monday, 30 July. He will then return for the 10m individual preliminaries on 10 August.
"London 2012 is the biggest thing in my life," said Daley. "It's going to be an amazing experience and I'm going to really try and go in there and do the best six dives that I could ever do. For me, it means everything."
