The countdown is on to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London.

It's also the culmination of years of work for three Channel Islands athletes who will be competing at London 2012.

Guernsey's Lee Merrien will compete in the marathon.

He originally missed out on a place in Team GB after his time at the London Marathon was slower than he'd hoped for, but the selectors reconsidered his case and then invited him into the squad.

On hearing that news he told Channel Television: "The support I've had over the past week from the Guernsey public and from the UK public has really been like very overwhelming and I am made up with the decision."

Guernsey's Heather Watson had more good news this week.

She knew she was taking part in the tennis doubles, but just a couple of days ago learned she'd also be playing in the singles this weekend.

"I'm in the singles" she announced on twitter when the good news was given to her.

Sark's Carl Hester is one of the four-strong dressage team which will compete at Greenwich Park.

When Carl learned he's be competing in London he said: “Obviously it’s something that is a dream come true and it is a real ‘dream team’. I think the fact that we went to the Championships last year with such a strong team meant that we got to work together to deliver that result, and we will try and go for a repeat success at London 2012.”