I Went For A Run: Why London 2012 Will Have A Lasting Legacy

I have just got back from a run. I did not go very far and I most definitely was not going at any great pace as the stitch set in after about three minutes. Despite that I do feel like I accomplished something. I got off my lazy back-side and completed something that I had set out to do. It is a feeling that I have not felt for a very long time and it felt good. However I would not have made that small amount of effort had it not been for a magnificent Olympic Games in which the feats of all the athletes involved were remarkable, especially when compared to the average person. The whole point of hosting these Games was for it to have a positive impact on Great Britain and I think the great Olympic 'legacy' that Lord Coe kept rumbling on about three weeks ago will materialise. 

As a bog-standard British student it is easy from my point of view to see what an impact the Olympics has had on people. My younger sister almost made it to London 2012 as a rhythmic gymnast and the rest of my family have normal working lives. I see first hand what it is like for a gymnast that has to fight for the smallest amounts of sponsorship while she is mainly funded by her parents. It is athletes like this that represented GB in London and the amount of work that they have put in just to be there should never be under-estimated. Before the Games people were sceptical of the claims that hosting the event was going to be beneficial for Britain and said that hardly anyone was going to be inspired. People mocked the idea of using the 'great British countryside' in the opening ceremony, but crucially, no one envisaged that this Olympics would be as special and unique as it has been. 

To see British athletes like Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy et. al compete with such heart and no little skill can only make young people around the country want to emulate them. When Farah crossed the line last night there was a feeling that that was the moment that London 2012 would always be remembered by. As a young boy he came to London from Somalia when he was eight years old and grew up here. Since then he has matured into an athlete that has made so many sacrifices just so that he can win gold medals for his country. He moved to the US so that he could receive the very best training and his dedication has paid dividends. Budding sportsmen and women all over the UK have seen success in a variety of sports and will want to do the same. 

Lord Coe has recently been made 'legacy' ambassador by David Cameron and his job will be to ensure that Britain profit financially. It is hoped that Britain will have an economic boost of 13 billion pounds as a result of hosting the Games. Cameron said: "I am determined to make the most of the economic opportunities on offer from hosting the Games - making sure that we turn these Games into gold for Britain. I cannot think of a better person than Seb to be our ambassador to the global market-place and make sure we achieve our ambitious legacy targets." 

Coe echoed the Prime Minister's hopes for the future: "In terms of delivering world class events, Britain is at the top of its Game right now. Capitalising on this within the UK and around the world is clearly a priority and I am delighted to be involved."

Team GB will endeavour to make sure that 2012's great medal haul and third-place medal table finish is not a flash in the pan. The average decrease in gold medals won for a country four years after hosting is 30% and the British athletes will want to buck that trend. With 28 golds and possibly two more to come for the boxers in the ExCel Arena it will be very difficult to match that tally in Rio. However there are so many people across the nation that do not usually take an interest in sport that have been completely consumed by the last 16 days. 

Attendance records have been soundly beaten with over seven million people flocking to watch the action unfold while there has been a profit of £80 million from official merchandise alone. Belgian International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge was ecstatic as he said: “The superlatives created here in London will live on long after the cauldron is finally extinguished. In the true spirit of Britain, huge crowds have cheered on not just their athletes but those of the world.” 

London has put on a show that the world has appreciated and now Great Britain looks set to reap the rewards, in a sporting sense and economically. 

Bolt Takes Sixth Olympic Gold After Mo Farah Completes Double On Amazing Last Athletics Night

There was an immense sense of expectation surrounding the Olympic Stadium as the 80,000 strong crowd waited for the last night of athletics. The majority of the crowd were there to watch Brit Mo Farah's attempt to break records and win the 5,000 metres exactly a week after his 10,000 triumph. There were the small matters of the men's 4x100 metres and women's 4x400 metres relays to follow but the attention was firmly on Farah and company as the men's 5,000 metres final kicked off the evening. 

After Super Saturday's dramatic win in his more favoured event Farah was hoping that he could replicate that and complete the double with 5,000 metres gold. He had plenty of competition on the starting line in the shape of Dejen Gebremeskel and Yenew Alamirew of Ethiopia, the two fastest qualifiers, and Kenyan Isiah Kiplangat Koech and Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan who both finished ahead of the Brit in their heat. Add in Farah's American training partner Galen Rupp and this was always going to be a great race.

A deafening roar was let out as the Somalian-born runner was introduced to the crowd and a similar rumble was felt after the starter's gun. Farah kept himself in contention with considerable ease as it became clear that the race was going to be slow and won by the best sprint finish. The 29-year-old gradually moved his way into second place and he made his move with just over 600 metres to go as he pushed away from the Ethiopians to take a narrow lead. As the athletes took the bell it appeared as though Farah was being reeled in and by the time they had completed the back straight he had five runners less than a few metres behind. But his opponents should know by now never to rule him out and the crowd appeared to lift him as he kicked on around the bend. Down the home straight he stretched his lead and sprinted away to win in 13:41.66  ahead of Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel (13:41.98) in silver and Kenya's Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa (13:42.36) in bronze.

Farah became the first Briton to win a long-distance track event at the Olympics a week ago and this latest  achievement makes him the first man to ever win the Olympic 5,000 metre title on home soil as well as just the seventh man to win both the 10,000 and 5,000 metres in the same Games. He joined an illustrious list that includes Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele and Miruts Yifter, Finns Lasse Virens and Hannes Kolehmainen, Vladimir Kuts of the USSR and Czech Emil Zapotek.

There was more to come in the Olympic Stadium as the Jamaicans set the second 4x100 metre relay world record of the Games. The quartet of Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter and Michael Frater went into the final as favourites and the overcame their American rivals to win in a ground-breaking time of 36.85 seconds. A USA team including Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin kept up with the team in the lane next to them for the majority of the race but the now six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt ran away from Ryan Bailey to ensure his third gold medal of these Olympics. Bolt is now just four behind Carl Lewis' record of ten Olympic golds and is the first man to win six sprinting titles over two Olympics. Young apprentice Yohan Blake collected his first gold and he hopes that there will be many more in four years time.

In the women's 4x400 metre relay the Americans cruised to their second relay gold with Allyson Felix claiming her third of these Olympics. The Brits could not live with the pace and Christine Ohuruogu was left with too much to do on the final lap as they finished outside of the medals. In the women's 800 metre final Russian Mariya Savinova won in 1:56.19 as favourite Caster Semenya left it too late to mount a challenge and took silver. 

Mo Farah Hoping For Historic Win On London's Penultimate Night In The Spotlight

The host nation has put on a great show over the last couple of weeks and have matched that with excellent performances around the various Olympic venues. On the penultimate day of Olympic action team GB have already sealed one gold medal thanks to trainee accountant Ed McKeever in the K1 200 metre canoe sprint.  18-year-old diver Tom Daley has qualified for tonight's 10 metre platform final after finishing in fourth in the semi-final. Despite only reaching the semi-finals by the skin of his teeth, a much improved effort this morning will give him high medal hopes. Boxer Luke Campbell faces Irishman John Joe Nevin in the ExCel Arena in the men's bantamweight gold medal bout at 20:45. 

So with gold medal chances aplenty around London Great Britain will be hopeful of ending these historic Games with a good weekend. Tonight will be the last session of athletics competition and all eyes will be on Somalian-born Brit Mo Farah as he looks to complete the long-distance double of 10,000 and 5,000 metres. He has had a golden three years with three European golds, a world championship gold and last Saturday's thrilling 10,000 metres win. 

Four years ago Britain's first ever long-distance Olympic winner failed to even qualify for the 5,000 metre final but this time around he is one of the favourites to win it. In Barcelona in 2010 the runner won his first ever major titles as he became the first man in 66 years to win the European long-distance track double. This sparked a turn-around as he went from middle of the pack battler to front-runner. He went to Daegu last summer as the favourite for the 10,000 metres but made his move a fraction too early and was overhauled by Ethiopian Ibahim Jelian as he was made to settle for silver in his favoured event. He came back brilliantly in the 5,000 though as he beat Bernard Lagat to win gold. In aftermath of the race Dave Moorcroft, former 5,000 metre world record holder, hailed him 'Britain's greatest male long-distance runner.'

Tonight Mohamed Farah could write himself a place in British sporting annals as he tries to do what no Briton has ever accomplished before; the 5,000 and 10,000 metre Olympic double. He is aiming to join an elite group of only five men that includes his rival, the great Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele. Moorcroft thinks that Farah is on the cusp of history: “His place is assured as the greatest British male endurance runner but if he was to do it, you couldn’t think of a greater achievement by any British athlete. He stands on the edge of absolute greatness.”

Comments like this only show the magnitude facing one of London's favourite sons and there are many excellent runners who will be out to stop him. His training partner, American Galen Rupp, took silver last Saturday and will be hoping to go one better this time around while the great nations of long-distance running, the Kenyans and Ethiopians, will be out in force to stop Farah tonight. Dejen Gebremeskel and Yenew Alamirew of Ethiopia were the two fastest qualifiers while Farah finished third in his heat behind Kenyan Isiah Kiplangat Koech and Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan. 

By his own admission Britain's best was tired after that run but after two days rest he should be revitalised and ready for the final. Even when tiredness does kick in he always seems to be able to kick on when it is needed most and the 80,000 strong crowd will be right behind him when push comes to shove. 

Idowu Goes Out With A Disappointing Whimper

Four years ago world number one triple jumper Phillips Idowu narrowly missed out on Olympic gold as he took silver with a leap of 17.62 metres in Beijing. His jump was just five centi-metres shorter than the winning effort of 17.67 by Portugal's Nelson Evora in a thrilling final. Back then he was already looking forward to this year's games: "I really wanted to go to the London Olympics as a defending champion. I'm a winner, I don't want to be content with silver. I will go on - I've just got to keep improving."

He did just that as he won the world championships in Berlin the following year in fine style with a jump of 17.73. This confirmed his status as the world's best in the event and the enigmatic athlete continued to dominate over the following couple of years. He set a new personal best of 17.81 in Barcelona the next summer as he stormed the European Championships in stunning fashion. Yet again, he went into the Daegu World Championships as one of the favourites and took silver as he consolidated his place as one of the world's best.

After his world championship gold in 2009 he said: "I've had a lot of injuries through my career. The last world champs I had a serious back problem and I was surprised to even go there and take all six jumps. Before then I had to miss Helsinki and Paris through injury. It's nice to actually go to a world champs and do what I should have been doing years ago." However Idowu had been suffering from a trapped nerve in the build-up to the Games and then withdrew from the Crystal Palace meet in July after feeling a tightness in his hip in the warm-up. 

Despite all his injury problems he baffled many when he decided to split from his coach Aston Moore just weeks before the Olympics. He decided not to join the rest of Team GB on their training camp in Portugal even though Moore was there. He did not even stay in contact with head GB athletics coach Charles van Commenee who said that he did not even know where Idowu was and blasted his preparation: "Phillips decided not to join the team (in Portugal) and by definition in my eyes he compromises his preparation. I find it bizarre. Aston finds it bizarre." The British Olympic Association kept in contact with Idowu but the triple-jumper was angered when they asked him for his medical records.

Van Commenee went on to say that he found it bizarre that Idowu would turn his back on the association that had supported him for so many years: "UK Athletics has supported Phillips Idowu for about 12 years, financially for a big part of those 12 years in terms of providing training accommodation, camps, medical support, psychological support, bio-mechanical support and coaching support. We pay the salary of his coach, our coach, so I'm perplexed that the last two weeks before the Games he turns his back on us, and I've got no idea why."

It is still unclear as to the exact reason the 33-year-old chose to ignore UK Athletics but he went into the Games insisting that he would challenge for a medal. However he hadn't competed for over two months and hadn't been in full training for three weeks. Injury doubts were not at all quashed today as he failed to jump over 17 metres in his three jumps, fouling in his second jump and not even qualifying for the final. Afterwards he admitted to not being fully fit as he said: "I've managed to go to major champs and pick up medals. This year I wasn't at my best but still thought I could produce. Had nerve pain in my body. My physio and me decided it would be best for me to stay in UK." 

At the age of 33 he was the oldest athlete in the field and this may turn out to have been his last major championship and was almost certainly his final Olympics. Some of his decisions in the build-up have been questioned amidst serious injury concerns and now he will have to make do with an eighth place finish when it could have been a whole lot better. 

All Eyes Focused On Sunday's Blockbuster 100m Final

After the drama of Super Saturday heads now turn to a hyped men's 100 metres final that could go a number of different directions. Iconic Jamaican Usain Bolt will defend his title and world record but for the first time in a long time going into a major championship final there is a feeling that he can be beaten. His old rivals American Tyson Gay and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell will be there with him hoping to finally get one over him in a major final. Neither Gay or Powell have beaten Bolt in a major final since 2007 when the American won the sprint double at the world championships.

Since then Bolt has dominated sprinting like no man ever before, winning three golds in Bejing and another three in 2009 in Berlin. In those world championships he broke both of the world records that he had set the previous year. Both of these still stand with his 100 metres record at 9.58 seconds and his 200 metres time at 19.19. However in the last year there have been signs that the 25-year-old's power is waning and he lost his world 100 metres title when he was disqualified for false-starting in Daegu. In that final his training partner and team-mate Yohan Blake won in a time of 9.92 seconds. That time would not usually be able to beat the three-time Olympic champion but since then Blake has gradually improved and he beat Bolt at the Jamaican trials in a new personal best of 9.75 seconds. He also defeated Bolt in the 200 metres and has come very close to the world record that many felt would never be beaten by running times of 19.40 and 19.26 this year.

While Blake will feel quietly confident of out-running his team-mate there are other men that will be holding high hopes of taking gold. It is clear that Bolt will be a deserving favourite with Blake close behind but the other sprinter from the small Carribean island, Asafa Powell, has held the world record before and was third at the Jamaican trials. His personal best is an impressive 9.72 seconds and regularly runs under 9.9 seconds but has struggled to perform to his best on the big stage. Despite suffering from pre-race anxiety he does have an Olympic gold to his name in the 100 metre relay and has won four world championship medals. His form this year has been solid if not spectacular and he could put previous Olympic disappointments behind him. 

Despite the majority of focus being on the Jamaican contingent sprinting has been traditionally dominated by the USA. They have lost their stranglehold on the show-piece athletics event somewhat over the last five years but both Gay and 2004 Olympic 100 metre champion Justin Gatlin have had good seasons and could push for a win tonight. The 2007 world champion Gay holds the American record and became the only man other than Bolt to have run under 9.7 seconds when he won in Shanghai in 2009 in 9.69 seconds. He has not been on his best form this year despite looking ominous at times but should not be ruled out as he could win with a good start and something to hold on to.

Olympic champion in Athens, Justin Gatlin, has come roaring back into athletics after serving a four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance. After returning two years ago he has run under ten seconds regularly, winning the US Olympic trials in 9.80 seconds, the record for a man over 30. He has already beaten country-man Gay as well as Powell this year and has run sub-ten seconds three times this season. He will go into tonight's final as one of the favourites as he looks to win a fourth Olympic medal.

GB Take Unprecedented Three Athletics Golds On Glorious Olympic Night

Super Saturday was back and improved at the Olympic Games as Team GB claimed six magnificent gold medals on day eight in London. The wins came from three different sports, one in cycling, two in rowing and an unbelievable three in the Olympic Stadium. The men's four and Sophie Hosking and Katherine Copeland in the lightweight double sculls won on the water at Eton Dorney before the women's team pursuit added gold number four for Team GB in the velodrome. However what was to come late into the night at the Olympic Stadium was surely not predicted.

The Games's poster girl Jessica Ennis stormed the women's heptathlon to win by over 300 points ahead of her rival, Russia's Tatyana Chernova. The Sheffield girl started off in the morning with an impressive six metres 48 centi-metres in the long jump before breaking her javelin personal best with 47.49 in what was supposed to be her weakest event. That gave her a comfortable lead of 188 points going into the 800 metres and she finished the job in style by winning the last event in 2.06.85 to win with a tally of 6,955 points; a British and Commonwealth record. An emotional Ennis lifted her arms in celebration when she crossed the line, appearing unsure whether to laugh or cry. Lilli Schwarzkopf of Germany was left 306 points behind in silver while Chernova took bronze.

Twenty minutes later and another British athletics gold was sealed and this time it was on the field thanks to a domineering performance by Greg Rutherford. The 25-year-old jumped the longest two efforts of any athlete in the final, winning by 15 centi-metres with a fourth round jump of 8 metres 31. This was just four centi-metres short of his British record of 8.35 which he shares with Chris Tomlinson who finished sixth. After his final leap he pointed to the sky and appeared in shock after sealing his first ever major championship medal. His gold-medal-winning moment sealed a fifth victory of the day for the home nation, the most for a British team in an Olympic Games since 1908 in London. Rutherford's win also ensured that Team GB had beaten their gold medal tally for athletics from Beijing when Ohuruogu was the only British champion and was the first win for Britain in the men's long jump since Lynn Davies back in 1964. He said that 'he would never be bored of hearing' that he is Olympic champion and said: "I thought that I would jump further than that but who cares, I'm Olympic champion. I don't it has sunk in properly to be honest."

The best was still to come on one of the greatest ever Olympic nights as Somalian born Brit Mo Farah made his move on the penultimate lap and stormed away from the field on the final lap to win the men's 10,000 metres; the first Brit to win an Olympic long-distance title. He held off the challenge from his fast-finishing American training partner Galen Rupp to win and deny Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele a third consecutive Olympic gold. Bekele's brother Tariku ended with bronze as Farah rounded off a record-breaking day for British sport in wonderful style. There could be more golds to come in the Olympic Stadium for Team GB with Dai Greene and Christine Ohuruogu both qualifying for their finals in the 400 metre hurdles and 400 metres respectively. Farah will also run in the 5,000 metres as reigning world champion and aims to win the long-distance track double.

Earlier on in the day the men's four had successfully defended their Olympic title at Eton Dorney, just beating Australia to the line in a thrilling finish. It was the fourth time in a row that GB have won the Olympic title in this event and was GB's third rowing gold of these Games, the first time they have managed that since 1908. Copeland and Hosking, who only teamed up this season, then made it four golds for the British rowers as they led from the front to beat China by two seconds. Gold was next struck in the velodrome as the British women's pursuit team thrashed the USA to win the home team's cyclists' fifth gold of the games.

Brits Hoping To Beat High Medal Target As Focus Turns To The Olympic Stadium

After a GB gold rush on day six of the London 2012 Olympics which featured three gold and three silver medals in sports including cycling, shooting, canoeing and judo, heads now turn to the start of the athletics competition. Hopes for the British athletics team are higher than ever after taking seven medals at the 2011 World championships, including golds for Dai Greene and Mo Farah. With the home support the Brits will be hoping for even more success in the coming ten days. 

In Beijing four years ago Team GB took four medals which included gold for Christine Ohuruogu in the women's 400 metres. Athletics coach Charles van Commenee hopes to comfortably exceed that and has set his team a target of eight medals and at least one gold. This is one more medal than the seven he targeted in Daegu last year. He is confident in his athletes as their big moment starts tomorrow in the Olympic Stadium: “We have been off the radar for a long time and now we’re back at a home Games. If these athletes do not make the nation proud, then I think it will not great for the future because it does not look much better than this.”

As well as Farah and Greene the home nation have other gold medal hopes competing in the Olympic's show-piece sport. Jessica Ennis has become the golden girl of British sport over the last few years after an impressive run of performances including heptathlon victory in the 2009 World Championships. She went on to win the European title the following year and is also the British record holder and the best in the world this year. The pressure of expectation will weigh heavily on her shoulders but she has improved significantly recently in her weaker events; the javelin and long jump. She set a personal best of 6,906 points in May which included personal bests in 200m, long jump and javelin. Russia's Tatyana Chernova, the woman who beat Ennis in Daegu, will most likely be Ennis's main competitor but has failed to improve on the personal best of 6,880 that she set in those championships. 

Welshman Dai Greene will be hoping to add Olympic gold to his world title over 400 metre hurdles but will face tough competition from Puerta Rico's Javier Culson. Culson has a personal best of 47.72 but came close to that in July with 47.78. Greene has a best time of 47.84 which he also set in July and will be hoping to defeat his rival in front of his home crowd. Fellow 2011 victor Farah will be going for a golden double on the track as he competes in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. The 5,000 metre world champion could possibly take an unprecedented two golds over the longest distances on the track as he also took 10,000 metre silver in Daegu. On that occasion he was narrowly beaten in his favoured event by Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan.

Team GB will have plenty of other medal chances in the Olympic Stadium including defending 400 metre champion Ohuruogu and 2009 triple jump world champion Phillips Idowu. Idowu also won silver in Bejing and Daegu. Controversy has over-shadowed his preparation after a fall-out with van Commenee and his personal coach Aston Moore. After refusing to join Team GB and Moore on their training camp in Portugal the BOA requested his medical records to make sure that he was fit as he is struggling with a trapped nerve. Van Commenee has no idea what the tripe jumper is doing but is sure that he will be fit and ready for the Games: "All information we have about Phillips is now coming from the BOA. That information is that he's fit and ready to go. He had to hand in medical information. Therefore Phillips Idowu is fit to compete and probably in great shape, because that's the sort of athlete he is. I'm sure he'll be a medal contender."

Add World Indoor 400 metre hurdles champion Perri Shakes-Drayton, World 1500 metres silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey and the ever solid relay teams and Team GB have an excellent chance of emulating the 'golden generation' of the early 1980s. The drama will start to unfold tomorrow with heats in the morning and evening as the Britons set about beating their eight medal target.