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. 

British Gymnastics Doing Rhythmic No Favours

In the midst of a very successful Olympic Games for host nation Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been some riveting performances by their gymnasts. The acclaimed bronze medal for the men's team was a highlight and two bronze medals and a silver medal followed in the individual apparatus finals. Now it is the turn for the host nation's rhythmic gymnasts, an event which has traditionally received little support or coverage in Britain.

The media did get involved when controversy surrounded the GB rhythmic group's efforts to qualify for the Games. In the London test event a knot in a ribbon prevented the team from making the qualifying score set to them by British Gymnastics. The target score was 45.223 over their two routines but they came up just 0.273 short as BG confirmed that they would not take part in the Games. The group won an appeal at an independent hearing in London as it was decided that the criteria was not made clear to them. 

All of this controversy was not even needed as Britain already had a place at London 2012 courtesy of being the host nation. However British Gymnastics decided to impose a qualifying mark on the group to ensure that they were up to Olympic standard anyway. The Olympic motto that it is 'taking part that counts' was almost blown out of the window as GB originally failed to meet their own governing body's requirement. That their appeal won through was something of a victory and BG had to re-track their original decision and said that it 'will now nominate a rhythmic group.'

Despite winning their appeal the group must have still felt let down that British Gymnastics felt the need to make them prove themselves when they were trying to become the first ever British group to compete in an Olympics.They are self-funded as UK Sport cut their funding with all training now paid for by the gymnasts and their parents. All six members of the group are former individual athletes who joined together in an attempt to reach London. Three members of the squad, Rachel Smith, Lynne Hutchinson and Francesca Fox, are former British champions while Jade Faulkner has taken British individual apparatus titles. Georgina Cassar will make her own piece of history as she becomes the first Gibraltan gymnast to represent Team GB.

Great Britain has also sent an individual representative in Welsh competitor Francesca Jones. She has a solid record that includes a Commonwealth Games silver medal with her hoop routine in Delhi two years ago. She  is the current Welsh and British champion and could do well in the Wembley Arena this week. Jones used to be in full-time training at Lilleshall sports centre but had her funding cut as British Gymnastics stopped national rhythmic gymnastics training. The rhythmic training area at Lilleshall was given to the men's artistic team and all national training funded by BG was stopped as GB coach Bulgarian Nadya Alexandrova was made redundant. Now the only national training is run by the English, Welsh and Scottish boards.

Despite maybe being seen by many as loose wheels the British rhythmic gymnasts are on a mission to ensure that that is not the case. Group member Faulkner said that: "We need to show everyone we deserve our place, that we didn't get the place just through winning through court. [We want] to show that we can do two days of competition consistently." No British rhythmic gymnasts were present at the ground-breaking opening ceremony and a British Gymnastics spokesman explained: "The group will be completing their pre-Games preparation at Bath University and not moving into the village/London until after the opening -as they do not begin competition until the final week of the Games."

However British number one Jones was also absent from the ceremony amidst speculation that BG did not pay enough money for her to attend. When asked about the truth behind these rumours the governing body failed to respond. There has often been controversy surrounding rhythmic gymnastics in Britain but it usually goes unnoticed as the sport is almost always under the radar. In this year's British Championships in the junior competition the spectators were left in the dark as Megan Balabey's score was changed overnight as a result of an appeal but the alteration was not made public. When West Lothian's Lauren Brash realised that she had been moved from silver to bronze position she was reduced to tears.

There have also been rumours circulating that the British 2011 under 12 champion Balabey was actually a year too old when she won her title. When asked if this is true and whether they tried to cover this up when they found out, British Gymnastics once again did not respond. In a sport that is usually just family-orientated in this country; supporters and coaches often seem to be left unsure of goings on.

While the artistic gymnasts have had excellent success in the North Greenwich Arena the rhythmic girls will be hoping to prove their critics wrong in the Wembley Arena. Despite having minimal funding and support from the powers that be, credit has to be given to the British gymnasts who have fought their way to London in the face of adversity. 

Sir Chris Hoy Signs Off In Style But Pendleton Misses Out

Team GB's track cyclists won three medals including two gold on the final day of action in the velodrome to take their tally to seven golds, equal with the amount that they managed in Beijing four years ago. Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott stormed to take their second wins of the Games in the keirin and omnium respectively. The gold medals took Great Britain and Northern Ireland up to 22 gold medals in total and strengthened their stranglehold on third place in the process.

After Hoy and Pendleton had easily progressed into their finals Laura Trott was up in her 500 metre time trial, the last event of the omnium. She went into it needing to finish three places above American Sarah Hammer to take the gold after being pushed back into third place in the scratch race earlier in the afternoon. She absolutely went for it in the time trial and won it in a time of 35.110 seconds ahead of Annette Edmondson. Hammer could only finish in fourth place behind Sanchez of France to give Trott a dramatic victory and gold medal. It was the 20-year-old's second win of the Games after also taking gold with the women's team pursuit. Thanks to Trott's great performance the stage was perfectly set for the elder statesmen to take centre stage.

Pendlton faced old rival Anna Meares in the final in what was always going to be a classic. The Australian 2004 Olympic time trial winner won the sprint world title in 2011 but lost it this year to the Brit in Melbourne. Meares was hoping to beat Pendleton this on her own patch this time. The first race was highly controversial as Meares appeared to elbow Pendleton, forcing her out of her lane in the process. Pendleton won by a tyre width but was then relegated for leaving her lane. Despite some heated discussions in the centre of the track the decision stood and the Brit faced having to come back from one-nil down. It wasn't to be for the queen of the track in her last ever race as she failed to hold off Meares who stormed through to take her second Olympic gold, equalling Pendleton's tally.

The last to ride for Britain was Sir Chris Hoy as he set about surpassing Sir Steve Redgrave's total of five Olympic golds and levelling Bradley Wiggins's total amount of seven medals. The hunky Scot went out behind the pace-bike in third place before making his move almost as soon as the pacing bike made way. With still three laps to go Hoy stormed away from the field but German Maximilian Levy passed him with less than a lap to go. In the face of adversity Hoy immediately fought back as Levy struggled as a result of covering more ground and the home favourite came through in fine colours to win his record sixth gold medal.

It was a fitting swansong for one of Britain's greatest ever sportsmen and at the age of 36 he confirmed that this would be his last Games: "I'm in shock but this is just surreal and this what I wanted, to win gold in front of the home crowd. After seeing my team-mates win gold I wanted to come to the party. Unbelievable. The perfect end to my Olympic career. You won't see more, not in the Olympics as I'm 99.9% sure that I won't be competing in Rio."

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. 

Insane Usain Thrashes Olympic Record On Balmy Night

Four years ago Usain Bolt became the first ever man to run the 100 metres in a time of under 9.7 seconds, despite appearing to ease up as he approached the line. Many people said that that his time of 9.69 could stand for many years but Bolt flew out of the blocks like lightning in Berlin the following year, smashing his own record by 0.11 seconds. That was a time that appeared completely unbeatable and no one had come particularly close going into tonight's Olympic final. However this was the first time the four fastest men in history had raced against each other and this was always going to be a great race. 

This year there were doubts surrounding the Jamaican legend after he was beaten in his country's Olympic trials by training partner Yohan Blake; a man who also won the 2011 World Championship after Bolt was disqualified for false-starting. Other contenders included former world record holders Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, while 2004 champion in Athens Justin Gatlin went into the race as the fastest qualifier after winning his semi-final in 9.82 seconds. 

Bolt was sluggish out of the blocks but quickly caught up with country-man Blake and Gatlin while Powell and Gay immediately struggled behind. Just when it looked like the three-time Olympic champion might lose his title he powered away from the field to win in a new Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds. The records continued to be broken as the other finalists crossed the line. Four men ran under 9.81 seconds and seven men ran sub-ten second times as the record books continued to be re-written in unprecedented fashion. Bolt's apprentice Blake took silver as Gatlin just dipped ahead of team-mate Gay to take bronze. 

With the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence tomorrow a one-two was a fitting way to celebrate. The champion will go into the 200 metres hoping to become the first man to win four gold medals in 100 and 200 metre sprinting while tonight's win made him only the second man after Carl Lewis to win two 100 metre Olympic titles. In the 200 metres he will probably face an even tougher challenge from tonight's silver medallist.

Bolt acknowledged that this was his best ever win when he said: "I was happy when I went out in the first round, I felt like, I could do this. I think I sat in  the blocks a little bit but the key was that I didn't worry about the start. My coach said to remember that the strongest part of my race is the end and that worked." He also recognized Blake's efforts: "I have to pay tribute to Blake because he always pushes me in training and he'll do even better next time."

Murray Falls Narrowly Short Of Olympic Double On Centre Court

In the the midst of a GB gold storm at the London 2012 Olympics has been some excellent performances by the home nation's tennis players at SW19. Today was their D-Day as they knew that two gold medals were up from grabs on Centre Court; one for Andy Murray in the men's singles and one for Murray and teenager Laura Robson in the mixed doubles. 

There was plenty of scepticism surrounding Murray's chances against world number one Roger Federer going into their best of five sets final. The match was a repeat of July's Wimbledon final when the Swiss maestro beat the Brit in four sets to deny him a maiden Grand Slam title. Many felt that this could be Murray's time though as he had had time to learn from his defeat and had a partisan British crowd on his side. He started brilliantly as he broke Federer immediately and stormed into a one set lead, winning it 6-2. Any thoughts that the 17-time Grand Slam winner would then win the next three sets as he did four weeks before were quashed in some style as Murray breezed through to take the second set 6-1. 

The third set was a lot closer but Murray always seemed in control and one break was enough as he sealed a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win in one hour and 56 minutes to claim Team GB's 16th gold of London 2012. The Briton was emotional after winning the biggest title of his career saying: "I have had a lot of tough losses in my career and this is the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final, this is one of the biggest wins of my life." Murray looked in shock as he received his gold medal and said: "I didn't expect that at the start of the week, I thought I'd go deep into the tournament but I felt so fresh today. It's amazing." 

Less than an hour later and the world number four was back on Centre Court, this time with 18-year-old Robson in their mixed doubles final against Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. The British pair got off to an excellent start as they broke Mirnyi in the first game before sealing a double break to take an early 4-0 lead. They wrapped up the first set 6-2 in just 30 minutes, signalling a mexican wave from the delighted crowd. 

Despite their excellent start Murray and Robson knew that the Belarusians would come back strong as Mirnyi is ranked world number one in doubles while Azarenka is the women's singles world number one. The top seeds started much better in the second set holding serve twice before breaking Robson to take a 3-1 lead. The Brits could not find the elusive break of serve as their opponents grew in confidence and took the second set 6-3. That sent the gold medal match into a first-to-10 points champions tie-break to decide the winners.

The home favourites conceded a mini-break on the first point of the tie-break as they fell 3-0 down in just a couple of minutes. But they fought back and Robson found the line to bring the breaker back on serve. Robson then pulled a back-hand wide before double-faulting as the momentum started to swing in Mirnyi and Azarenka's favour. Murray immediately brought it back to 5-5 with a big fore-hand only for Robson to fire long to force her partner to serve at 6-5 down. Once again the Belarusians took the upper hand through a Mirnyi back-hand before Azarenka won both points on her serve to seal three gold-medal points. Robson battled hard to save two of them but Mirnyi found the winning strike to win the Olympic title in style.

Murray was pleased with his partner: "At the end of all the matches she played really well and we came so close." Robson was understandably upset: "They were the top seeds for a reason but it was still hard to lose today."

A great day at the All England Club ended in disappointment for Great Britain but overall a gold and a silver in tennis was a very good result. 

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.

Brilliant Brits Continue Success As Hosts Move Up To Fourth In Medal Table

The home nation continued to take the London Olympics by storm as they secured another three gold medals on day seven. Golds on the track in the men's team pursuit and women's keirin followed gold at Eton Dorney for Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins in the women's double sculls. The men's pursuit quartet of  Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh smashed the world record that they had set in qualifying by nearly a second leaving Australia languishing over two and a half seconds behind. Victoria Pendleton made up for her disqualification in the team sprint to beat Chinese cyclist Guo Shuang to the line and seal keirin gold.

Grainger and Watkins got the ball rolling with a dominant victory over Kim Crowe and Brooke Pratley of Australia as the former took her first Olympic title at the fourth time of asking after silvers in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. The 36-year-old said that the winning moment was well worth the wait: "Steve Redgrave promised me there would be tears of joy this time and there are. For both of us we knew we had the goods to perform and it was about delivering." For Watkins the gold was her second Olympic medal after a bronze in the same event four years ago.

However there was more to come from Team GB and the next successes would come in the Velodrome as the Brits dominated the team pursuit competitions. The men's team took the gold medal in a new world record while the women broke the world record in their qualifying competition. After the record-breaking effort of the men's pursuit it was down to Pendleton to try and take GB's gold medal count on the track to three in the keirin. She duly delivered after breezing past Australian world champion Anna Mears with two laps to go. Mears faded as Shuang came roaring back but home girl Pendleton held off her challenge as Hong Kong's Lee Wai Sze took bronze. The great win takes Britain's cycling total to four golds for the games.

As well as the three gold medals the hosts also took four bronze medals on a thrilling day of Olympic action. Defending champion Rebecca Adlington went into her 800 metre freestyle final as the favourite but was stunned by 15-year-old American Katie Ledecky who came up narrowly short of breaking Adlington's world record. The crowd roared her on but she seemed to struggle under the pressure and finished with a bronze medal to go with her 400 metre bronze from earlier on in the week. She said that she was happy with her finish and said that she hoped that the 'nation would be proud of her bronze medal'.

After Gemma Gibbons’ silver yesterday in the judo Karina Bryant took bronze by winning a thrilling fight against Ukraine's Iryna Kindzerska. That continued a great performance from the British judo team that includes two medals which is a great achievement considering that their last medal was in Sydney twelve years ago. Bryant's medal followed two bronze's at Eton Dorney thanks to George Nash and Will Satch in the men's pair and Alan Campbell in the single sculls. Overall seven medals for GB on day seven represented a good result but there were other encouraging performances.

Jessica Ennis started her heptathlon gold attempt in style with a British 100 metre hurdles record while Dai Greene in the 400 metre hurdles and Christine Ohuruogu in the 400 metres comfortably qualified from their heats in the Olympic Stadium. Andy Murray sealed an impressive straight sets 7-5, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic to set up a final meeting with Roger Federer in a repeat of the Wimbledon final. With plenty more medal chances coming up on day eight the Brits will be confident of holding onto their third spot in the medal table.

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.

Team GB Finally Start Their Gold Medal Tally In London

Team GB finally started their gold medal count on day five of London 2012 as Helen Glover and Heather Stanning stormed to an impressive win in the rowing women's pair. Unbeaten in the World Cup series this year they went into the final as huge favourites and they duly delivered as they ended up cruising to victory over Australia and world champions New Zealand. Bradley Wiggins jumped on the golden bandwagon as he won the men's cycling time trial, beating German world champion Tony Martin into silver while GB team-mate Chris Froome took bronze. 

Stanning and Glover became the first ever British women to take a rowing gold medal at the Olympic Games while Wiggins also made history as he broke the all-time medal record for a British athlete with his seventh Olympic medal, surpassing the great Sir Steve Redgrave in the process. 

The Belgian-born cyclist now has four golds in his glittering career as well as one silver and two bronzes. His transition from track to road has been nothing short of extraordinary and he is the only man to have won a Grand Tour and Olympic track and road golds. Wiggins went into the 2012 Games as a red-hot favourite after winning both time-trials in the Tour de France on his way to becoming the first Briton to win the 109-year-old event. He was then given the honour of ringing the opening bell of the opening ceremony and despite being part of the disappointing Team GB effort in the men's road race he came back excellently today to win by 42 seconds. Gold medal never looked in doubt as he led at every time split to finish comfortably ahead of world champion Martin. Team Sky team-mate and Tour de France runner-up Chris Froome completed a great team effort for Great Britain with a bronze medal as GB continued to climb the medal table. 

Earlier on in the day it was Stanning and Glover who finished an unbelievable fairytale story in some style as they cruised to GB's first gold medal at these Olympics. Royal Artillery officer Stanning was being cheered on by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan while Glover only took up rowing four years and two months ago. As two bit-part players in the British rowing team they were thrown together really just to see what they could do. What they then managed was nothing short of sensational as they took silver in both the 2010 and 2011 World Championships before going into these Games unbeaten in 2012. Under the pressure of huge expectation the two women won in fine style by two lengths. Glover said that they tried to tell each other that there was no pressure: "We kidded ourselves that there was no pressure. The last thing we said to each other was 'it's just for us, it's just for us', but it was for the whole of the team and the whole of the country." 

The host nation added a further medal at Eton Dorney courtesy of a thrilling men's eight final in which red-hot favourites Germany took gold. Roared on by the crowd the British team launched a magnificent challenge in which they actually overhauled their rivals and trailed by just 0.2 seconds with 500 metres to go. In the end the world champions were just too good and Canada came through for silver ahead of the home team in bronze. 40 year-old Greg Searle claimed his first Olympic medal since Atlanta 1996 after returning to rowing in 2010 after eight years out of the sport. 

GB were not finished there though as Scot Michael Jamieson took the team's second swimming medal with an outstanding silver in the 200m breaststroke, beaten only by a world record from Hungary's Daniel Gyurta.  He is the first medallist in the men's competition for the home nation and was clearly delighted with his new British record: "I cannot believe I have got 2:07, but I forgot about the time tonight - it was more tactical. I tried to stay on Gyurta's shoulder for the first hundred. I wanted to have everything on the line."

There were further successes for the Brits on day five as Andy Murray moved into the quarter-finals of the men's singles tennis tournament after beating Marcos Baghdatis in three sets. The men's football team finished top of their group after beating Uruguay 1-0 to also book a quarter-final spot. The hosts will go into day six in confident mood with more gold medal chances in cycling and rowing as Team GB's best sports start to move into full swing.