Potteries' Olympic Hopefuls - Steve Lewis

Stoke-on-Trent pole vaulter Steve Lewis is looking to continue his good form which saw him finish 5th in the indoor championships held in Istanbul in March 2012.

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The 26 year-old is hoping to achieve his dream of claiming a medal in the London Olympics and thanks to a rival who is also a mentor, he may succeed.

No less than the current Olympic Champion Steve Hooker has been helping Lewis with his training regime, with the two athletes sharing sessions last year in both Australia and Europe.

Lewis started his run-up to the Olympics with a specially desinged training programme that began in October and is now in the final stages of it as the serious matter of Olympic glory comes into view.

It wasn't as if Lewis anticipated that he would be an Olympic pole vaulter. The Stoke-on-Trent athlete took up the sport after a PE teacher at Holden Lane High School suggested a group he was in tried out for athletics at Northwood Stadium.

Since then Lewis has not looked back and has represented Great Britain in the Commonweath Games, The World Championships and hopefully at the Olympics.

Lewis was a candidate at the Beijing Olympics but failed to qualify for the final rounds - something which is going to spur him on this time around to at least go one stage further.

A silver medalist in the Delhi Commonweath Games, Lewis hopes that the preparation and hard work will propel him into the pantheon of greats come August.

Describing it as a dream job, Lewis refuses to criticise the training regime, which sees him training from 6.30am through to 6pm most days of thew week, with the actual vaulting only accounting for two sessions.

Lewis is able to focus entirely on his Olympic dream thanks to the backing of local former Commonwealth athlete Duncan Matthieson, who is sponsoring Lewis for the forseeable future.

As with the majority of Olympic hopefuls, Lewis is hopeful for favourable conditions when he takes to the run-up. Relying on the British weather to produce a warm day with plenty of tail wind may be asking a little too much though, especially considering the summer this country's experienced so far!

Listen to our interview below