Athletics on TV

In a brand new sports science documentary, journalist Ian O'Riordan examines how athletes are using science and technology to enhance their performance, asking whether or not we can ever again truly believe in the purity of sport.

The Olympic Games are meant to represent all that's good and pure about sport- heroic acts of courage, fair play, being all that you can be. But ever since Ben Johnson failed a drug test in 1988, the biggest sporting show on earth has been dogged by scandal and suspicion. And now, with the curtain about to rise on London 2012, Ian O'Riordan of The Irish Times looks at the growing impact science and technology has on sport - legal and illegal - and wonders if sport can ever regain our trust.

A lifelong sports fanatic, Ian O'Riordan's world changed when Ben Johnson was caught. Ever since, as a competitive distance runner, through his career as a sports journalist, he's been trying to answer the question that was raised that September morning in 1988 - is any of this real?

In Faster, Higher, Stronger, Ian looks at a range of performance enhancement techniques, both legal and illegal, to discover if science has become more important than good old-fashioned hard graft and talent. He spends time with members of the Irish Olympic Team for 2012, to get inside the mind of the people that go to extraordinary lengths to gain a competitive edge.

Ian meets race-walker Colin Griffin, who's living in a bespoke altitude house in Limerick, fitted out to mimic the air density of Kilimanjaro. While Rob Heffernan, another walker, has to make do with a tent over his bed to get the same effect. Ian asks if this method of manipulating the body's make-up is really fair, using the example of a banned swimsuit as an instance technology was outlawed.

He reconnects with Martin Fagan and Geraldine Hendricken, two Irish athletes who received bans for failed drugs tests. He looks at the world of sports supplements, asking if these are really just legal performance enhancers.

The next big threat to fair play in sport is genetic doping. Travelling to the world centre for genetic doping, via a herd of Supercows in Laois, Ian explores whether messing with the DNA is a real problem or just science fiction. He meets the main players in the war on doping for London 2012 to discover how sport is putting up a fight against the cheats.

And in attempt to get inside the mind of a cheat, Ian undertakes to go on a course of performance enhancing drugs. In doing so, he discovers that the results might be more dramatic than he could ever have imagined.

Faster, Higher, Stronger is a comprehensive exploration of performance enhancement that combines an in-depth look at the science of sport with a personal search for the truth about fair play.

This week London Calling follows Brian Gregan the 21-year-old 400m sprinter from Tallaght trying to make the breakthrough, we meet Camilla Speirs the bright young star of Irish Three Day Eventing who trains her own horses as well as Michael McKillop a middle distance runner with Cerebral Palsy who is not only Paralympic 800m Champion but also regularly competes with able bodied athletes.

Brian Gregan is a full time athlete and student. Balancing studies and training, Brian must forgo many of the 'perks' of being a student. Drinking and frozen pizzas are definitely not on the menu, as he sticks to a meticulously planned diet. Having been crowned National Champion at the 2011 National Indoor Championships, Brian heads to Paris for the European Indoors to make his mark on the international stage. But nothing goes to plan, and after finishing his only race a medical drama ensues. Will he be able to race again?

Camilla Speirs is one half of a mother and daughter team that are competing with the very best in the equestrian world of Three Day Eventing. While other riders have the support of big teams and money, this duo from Co Kildare have risen to the top with cheaply bought horses that they break in themselves. Camilla's current steed, Portersize Just A Jiff, is known around the circuit for being the smallest horse to compete at the top level of the sport.
The episode gives an insight into the many long and hard hours the Speirs' put into their training, whatever the weather.
In April 2011 Camilla returns to Badminton, the world's most prestigious event, where she had first announced herself on the global stage in 2010. But Badminton 2011 was to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. This rider and 'little horse that could', come a cropper over the feared cross country course and Camilla finds herself being airlifted to hospital.

Michael McKillop has cerebral palsy. Because of this condition he has greatly reduced strength and coordination down his entire right side, and as he says himself he can't run in a straight line. But despite this he has become a World Record Holder, World Champion and won gold in T37 800m at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Trained by his father Michael, they both work hard to overcome his disability, and he regularly competes at the highest level of able bodied athletics. Like any other 22 year old Michael likes to spend time with his friends and going out, but he has to be careful not to burn the candles at both ends, not just because of his training but also because of his epilepsy. Michael has blossomed into an accomplished athlete and he underlined by this fact by becoming the first man to set a world record in the London 2012 Olympic stadium. Preparations on course he seems set to win double gold at the Paralympics in September.

Rob and Marian Heffernan from Douglas, Co Cork, are the full time parents, husband and wife team looking to qualify for the London Games. Rob qualified for London in Episode 1, but now Marian's campaign to join him starts in earnest. However tragedy strikes as the death of Rob's mother just before the 2011 World Championships means that they both have to return from Daegu, South Korea. However Rob convinces Marian to return and she lines up with the Irish Women's 4 X 400m as they break the national record. But the drama does not end there. As Marian continues her preparations she is injured in the National Indoors in Belfast- will all these setbacks derail her Olympic dream?