Triple jumper Phillips Idowu has told how he escaped an impoverished childhood in Hackney to become a world champion.
The 32-year-old said winning Olympic gold in London next year would make up for the heartache he suffered as a boy and said it would bring him "full circle".
Idowu revealed he spent part of his childhood in foster care and said that he does not know how many brothers and sisters he has. He had so little money as a boy that he used to jump the fence of Mile End Stadium to train because he could not afford the £2 fee.
"This is my home Games, not just in London but right on my doorstep, where I was brought up," he said. "Winning that gold medal would be a massive achievement considering my upbringing."
Idowu said his PE teacher, Humphrey Long, at Raines Foundation School in Bethnal Green, had a huge influence on his career after convincing him to switch from basketball to athletics when he was 12.
In 2009 Idowu won gold at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin and said he would settle for nothing less at the London Games after taking silver in Beijing in 2008.
