Olympics/Paralympics

The day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics in Singapore in July 2005, I was asked to research and write a book about the dramatic story of Britain's bid.

With my friend and colleague David Bond, the sports editor of the Daily Telegraph, I spoke to a series of key people involved in the campaign before we put the book together with London 2012's former communications chief Mike Lee.

I was, therefore, not surprised when Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell suggested this week that London might not have bid for the Games, had people known that a recession was on the way, though she now says her comments were misconstrued.

Would you be surprised to learn that Chris Hoy's bike broke two days before the start of Olympic competition in Beijing? Thought so. Chris Boardman made the revelation in his presentation to UK Sport's annual World Class Coaching conference this week.

The story's a remarkable tale of ingenuity, bush mechanics at its finest. As you know, it had a golden ending. Well, several. It goes a bit like this:

Olympic experts regularly tell me that London's traffic problems are the biggest challenge to organisers of the 2012 Games.

And it's because of them that London 2012's plans to move badminton to Wembley's indoor Arena in order to save money are likely to face some opposition from the international governing body of the sport.

I've been speaking to the Badminton World Federation where officials are worried about the journey from the athletes' village in east London's Stratford to the arena which is next to the main Wembley Stadium.

I was out on a boat the other day around the waterways surrounding the Olympic Park. It's a great trip and a very interesting way to see all the progress on the 2012 site.

Not everybody is aware of the miles of water in this part of London. After years of being neglected, these rivers are finally being upgraded.

I hope, by 2011, it will be possible for boats to take the public on tours of the Olympic Park when many of the venues will be completed. While security may stop boats coming right into the Park during the Games, it should be possible to get up to the 02 (formerly the Dome) at Greenwich where the gymnastics and basketball finals will be held.

When the Games are over, 2012 organisers promise to turn this Park into magnificent gardens and waterfronts - a Hyde Park for east London, they say. There are plans for special Olympic gardens with plants from all over the world.

I have no doubt that this could happen if enough funds are provided by the London Mayor after 2012. The environment for thousands of Stratford residents will be changed because of it.

But people in the construction business are telling me that London 2012's hopes of being the "Greenest Games ever" are going to come under intense pressure in the next year because of the economic crisis.

I lived and worked in Germany as a foreign correspondent for nearly 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s and I was always amazed at the sports facilities in the country.

Every small town I visited seemed to have an athletics track, large swimming pool or a multi-sports complex and Germany's facilities for elite sport regularly attracted world championships to the country. Whenever I returned to Britain, especially during holidays in London, I thought our facilities were second class, sometimes third class, in comparison.

I still believe that is the case in London.