WHEN Stuart Stokes steps out on to the Olympic Stadium track on August 3, 20 years of sweat, sacrifice and perseverance will suddenly seem well worth it.

The 35-year-old was ready to walk away from athletics for good back in 2008 when, for the third time, he had his Olympic dream shattered when he failed to be selected for Team GB, despite running the qualifying standard.

Stokes had understandably had enough as he quit the sport he loved to train full time as a teacher. That dream of becoming an Olympian that had driven him for so long seemed to be dead.

Now, in a fairytale return, Stokes has finally achieved his goal. He will compete for Great Britain in the 3,000m steeplechase in London 2012 – after the lure of a home Olympics proved too much to resist.

He hasn’t made life easy for himself either. Combining being a full time Geography and PE teacher at Holy Cross Catholic High School, in Chorley, with training to be a Olympian don’t exactly go hand in hand.

Early morning starts and early bed times have disrupted his own family life but, as he prepares for a life long ambition, he admits he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

He said: “The last couple of weeks have been very hectic but a nice hectic. I am a 35-year-old who has made my own life choices so I can’t complain about the hard work.

“I have two young children and I teach full time, so I could have had no excuses if I had not made the team. It would have been through my choices.

“It has been tough. I get up at 4.30am every day to train before school and then, after the school day and the various clubs, I do another session on the way home.

“Then, after sorting the kids and doing the marking and lesson plans, I am in bed by about 8pm. I have to thank my wife, and my family, for the support she has given because we have made a lot of sacrifices.

“Holy Cross have also been fantastic. They have supported me throughout, from letting me compete in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi soon after starting to now.”

Stokes, from Bolton, will be the oldest member of the men’s track and field squad in London, as he proves you can achieve the ultimate without lottery funding or sponsorship deals.

“On the back of failures to make the Olympics at Sydney, Athens and Beijing, I admit I thought the dream had gone,” he said. “That is why I walked away for a year.

“That hunger and that love for the sport brought me back though. I actually think had I gone to Beijing I wouldn’t be running now. I’m not sure I would still be running if the Olympics were not in London either.

“I just knew I would regret not giving it one last try. If I hadn’t gone for it, I would have always been thinking ‘what if’. I wasn’t prepared to do that.”

He finished fourth in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and will be bidding to make the Olympic final in front of a home crowd on August 5.

“It is going to be great, but there is a fine balance between love and hate. The pressure and demands on the body is incredible. My body is in pieces.

“I obviously can’t wait for the whole experience but part of me can’t wait for it to be done and dusted so I can take it a little bit easier.

“As a teacher the aim is always to inspire the next generation. What better way to do that than to make the Olympic team?”