Excitement kicks in for London 2012

Ben Hardie and Eleanor Currie will be yelling at their televisions when the Olympic taekwondo programme begins in Beijing today, but it's their opponents who could take the full brunt in London in four years.
The Tauranga/Mount Maunganui fighters have got London 2012 on their minds after scooping black belt titles at the North Island taekwondo championships at the Mount Sports Centre.
Minus Beijing Olympians Logan Campbell, Matthew Beach and Robyn Cheong, the North Island competition threw together 300 competitors from 18 clubs, with Team Kesi O'Neill (Tauranga-Mount Maunganui) winning 23 golds and the trophy for top club.
Currie, 20, missed out on qualifying for the Athens Olympics in 2004 by 0.5 point.
Needing to make the medal dais at the Asian Championships in Thailand, Currie was an agonising fourth and dipped out.
New Zealand's qualifying path is now through Oceania, giving Currie _ who represented New Zealand between 2000-2007 _ confidence that London in four years is more than just a pipe-dream.
"Ben and I have talked about it and we're determined to get there together," said the 20-year-old former head girl of Te Puke High, now in her final year of a double science degree at Auckland University.
She won the North Island mixed female black belt title, downing Titirangi's Hannah Emson 6-2 in the final, while Hardie won the mixed male black belt final 5-4, from Bay City's Dallas Beneha
Hardie, a 20-year-old apprentice builder, is one of 11 from his club heading to the Australian Open next month in Sydney.
The second dan black belt has been to the world junior championships twice, finishing 13th and 16th, and was fourth in his only previous foray to the Aussie Open.
"I'm going over feeling confident with the way I'm moving.
"There's a few things to tweak but the Aussie competition is always a good, hard few days, and it should give me a decent indication of where I'm at in the sport.
"I'd love to get to the London Olympics but there's a few years to go yet before I need to start worrying about it."
Tauranga-Mount Maunganui Taekwondo results from the North Island champs:
Pattern competition:
Young junior: Male 7-9 years: Gold: Nick Campbell, Silver: Lee Ririnui.
Female 7-9 years: Gold: Breanna O'Neill, Bronze: Star England. Female 10-13 years: Bronze Caitlin Dougherty. Female 14-17 years: Bronze: Amy Stevenson.
Adult male: Gold: Dale Dawkins. Female: Gold: Lynette King, Silver: Erin Barton, Bronze: Elyse Dixon. Black Belts: Gold: Logan Pudney, Silver: Steve O'Neill.
Fighting: Young Junior:
Boys 8-6 under 127cm: Gold: Lee Ririnui, Silver: Robert Stephenson. Boys 8-6 under 129cm: Bronze: Adam Kwiecien.
Boys 8-6 135-139cm: Bronze: Bailey Williams. Boys 8-6 over 160cm: Silver: Paul Harrison. Boys 5-3 135-140cm: Gold: Jamie Kawiti. Boys 2-1 140-150cm: Gold: Tiarn Ririnui.
Girls 8-6 under 130cm: Gold: Teigen Heidkamp. Girls 8-6 140-150cm: Gold: Lily Kwiecien. Girls: 5-3 135-140cm: Silver: Taylah Murray. Girls 2-1 150-160cm: Gold: Danielle Kawiti.
Junior:
Male 8-6 welter: Gold: Troy Stevenson. Male 8-6 light middle: Gold: Logan Fullerton. Male 5-3 mixed: Silver: Ben Zeir. Female 8-6 mixed: Bronze: Hayley Mark. Female 8-6 welter: Gold: Enya Doo. Female 5-3 fly mixed: Silver: Amy Stevenson. Female 2-1 mixed: Gold: Shael Wood.
Male adult: 8-6 welter: Gold: Andrew Johnson. 5-3 mixed: Gold: Christian Thompson. 5-3 heavy: Silver: Anton Jackson. 2-1 welter: Gold: Dale Dawkins.
Male senior: 8-6 heavy: Gold: Barry O'Neill. 8-6 heavy: Gold: Ron Kawiti, Bronze: Robert McGaughey, 5-3 heavy: Silver: Ivan Lloyd.
Female senior 5-3 feather: Bronze: Erin Barton. Male Black Belt mixed: Gold: Ben Hardie. Combined: Silver: Nick Barrett. Welter: Silver: Ralph McLeay. Female Black Belt mixed: Gold: Eleanor Currie, Gold: Nicole Williams.
Trophies:
Best young junior boy: Jamie Kawiti. Best young junior girl: Teigen Heidkamp. Best senior male: Ron Kawiti. Best overall team: Team KO (Tauranga/Mount). Best referee: Logan Pudney.