Clare Balding BBC TV Paralympics presenter

This will be my second Games presenting for the BBC and I'm really looking forward to it.

Former world champion hurdler Colin Jackson will be in the studio with me - which is lovely - and we should get access to a lot of the athletes after they finish competing every night on the show.

The strength of Paralympic competition has improved greatly and a lot more countries are going this time.

The Sydney Games four years ago featured athletes from 123 countries and Athens is expecting more than 140 nations this time, which is a big jump.

Greece will also be interesting on a number of counts.

There was a fair old worry about how the organisers would adapt the stadiums, accommodation and all the things that need to be changed just to make access easier, but it sounds to me like they really have made a huge effort.

We're a long way ahead of other nations and it's something we should be proud of Clare Balding

I recently heard an interview with chief Olympics organiser Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki who said she really wanted everyone going away from Greece saying no-one else could have done that better.

That'll be quite a task considering Sydney did it brilliantly.

As always, there are high expectations for the British team in Athens, especially after their brilliant performances in Sydney.

I think also we're a long way ahead of other nations on this and it's something we should be proud of.

We have so many people who want to compete, are very good at it and have a proven track record of better than any nation outside Australia.

There aren't a lot of other areas we can say that - in terms of modern achievements that rates pretty highly.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the athletics.

I'll be really interested to watch Lloyd Upsdell in the 100m and 200m, and see how he's progressed.

At the other end of the age scale - Noel Thatcher is running the 5,000m and 10,000m in what is probably his last Paralympics.

I hope the atmosphere that was created in Sydney can be in some measure recreated in Athens

As for Tanni Grey Thompson, she's been competing since the Seoul Games in 1988, so if Athens isn't her last, it's certainly getting towards her last.

The British equestrian team I got to know quite well in Sydney - they're taking their own horses for the first time, which will make a massive difference.

Simon Jackson in the judo, Emma Brown and Anthony Peddle in the powerlifting, Isabel Newstead in the shooting, our strong squad of swimmers and the wheelchair basketball teams are all going to be exciting to watch too.

The only thing I worry about in Athens is crowds because the whole atmosphere is created by people in the stadium.

In Australia, there were masses of schoolkids and families and it is to do with pricing the tickets correctly.

The athletes feed off that and their performance improves. The whole thing is about that - feeling like you are on the world stage in an elite sports event.

I hope the atmosphere that was created in Sydney can be in some measure recreated in Athens.