Ben Swift was first pictured on a bike in the Guardian at the age of three, in his first race at Rother Valley.

On Saturday at 4am his family will gather round the television to watch his latest race – at the Beijing Olympics.

Ben is representing Great Britain in the gruelling 250km Men's Road Race.

And proud mum Sandy says he has earned his place in Team GB.

She told the Guardian: "He's going because he has had such good results in the last few months, despite all the injuries he has picked up."

"He's not the team leader in the race, he's there to look after the team leader, but he has definitely earned the privilege."

Ben impressed the Olympic selectors by continuing to train hard despite breaking his collar bone in America in January.

"He had a big crash in Los Angeles in January and he was off for two months having an operation to have a plate put in. But he sat on the turbo (static) bike to keep his fitness up and they thought it was mind-blowing that he would do four hours a day."

After supporting Ben through the early stages of his career, Sandy is looking forward to watching her son compete in the biggest sporting spectacle of all.

She said: "We'll all definitely be watching him. It's going so well for him and we're delighted at how he's coming on."

"His first photo in the Guardian was when was he was three years old, at Rother Valley."

"The newspaper has always covered his story, from his little mountain bike races to his BMX days – we always sent the reports in each year."

While the Men's Road Race is one of the toughest events for Olympic athletes, Sandy believes her son will gain the experience of a lifetime.

"It will take seven hours or so and he's never actually rode 250km before, but the race will take him past the Great Wall of China."

"He's going to see some marvellous historic places," she added.