So what have Lord Coe and his organising team been up to since then - and is London on track to deliver on time?

The Olympic Bill became law in March this year, creating the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the public sector body responsible for building the venues and infrastructure.

The �250m Olympic stadium is at the centre of the 2012 plans

The ODA shares offices at Canary Wharf with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog), which oversees issues like sponsorship, marketing, ticketing and the torch relay.

The early focus for Locog chairman Coe and Olympics minister Tessa Jowell was on finding the right people to fill the key roles.

Former Goldman Sachs man Paul Deighton was installed as Locog's chief executive in December, ending a three-month search which saw more than 300 people apply for the job.

David Higgins, who ran the group which built the Olympic Village for the 2000 Sydney Games, took the post as ODA chief executive.

We've all the structures in place and the people we want in place Locog chairman Lord Coe

Jack Lemley, the engineering expert behind the Channel Tunnel, was appointed ODA chairman.

And Howard Shiplee - the man who made sure the new Ascot racecourse was finished in time - was named as construction director for the Games.

The all-powerful Olympic Board - consisting of Jowell, Coe, London mayor Ken Livingstone and British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan - oversees the entire operation.

International Olympic Committee inspectors visited London in April and declared themselves happy with progress.

"We have no fear that the projects will not be ready in time," said IOC co-ordination commission chairman Denis Oswald.

LONDON 2012 TIMELINE End 2006/early 2007: London 2012 logo and brand identity launch 2007: Channel Tunnel rail link to Stratford ready, new Wembley Stadium due to open 2008: Aquatics Centre and Velopark to finish 2009: World Gymnastics Championships at O2 Arena (Millennium Dome) 2010: East London Line extension to finish 2011: Olympic Stadium ready for test events. Heathrow's new Terminal Five ready. Tickets to go on sale. 2012: Games run from 27 July-12 August

Olympic organisers now have 86% of the land they need for the various venues under public ownership after a succession of compulsory purchase orders.

But some businesses are fighting eviction from east London's Lower Lea Valley, and a public inquiry will hear complaints from companies and residents about some of these orders.

London's Olympic Park master plan has been signed off, and plans for several of the venues have been tweaked.

Changes are expected to be made to the aquatic centre, which will need its design altered if it is to stay within its �75m budget.

The location for the volleyball event has been moved from the main Olympic park to another venue, likely to be Earl's Court.

Coe has also admitted the main Olympic Stadium could be used by a Premiership football team after the games.

Work got under way on the main site with the removal of 50 electric pylons, while in April a huge boring machine started tunnelling beneath the Thames to extend the Docklands Light Railway in time for the Olympic shooting events in Woolwich.

ODA chief Higgins has admitted that the contaminated land, power lines and river system in the Lower Lea Valley in East London could drive up costs.

Sales of National Lottery scratchcards, key to raising a huge chunk of the funds required to host 2012, reached �16.3m, �2.3m ahead of published targets.

Coe and Jowell want the Lottery to contribute up to �1.5bn towards the cost of the Games, half of which will come from specialist games such as Go For Gold and Win Gold.

FUNDING THE GAMES The original Olympic budget - based on 2004 prices - was �1.5bn to run the Games, �560m for new venues, �65m on the athletes' village and �200m for security The government will spend a further �800m redeveloping the Lower Lea Valley �7bn is to be spent on London's transport infrastructure

Organisers also say that 60% of the major sponsors of the Games are already signed up.

McDonalds, Visa, Coca-Cola, GE and Atos Origin were all named as international backers.

And Swiss watchmaker Omega signed a �25m deal to be official timekeeper of the London Olympics.

The passing of the Olympic Bill provided safeguards against ticket touting, ambush marketing and the use of Olympic-related words and symbols.

Controversy raged about Team GB's stated target of fourth place in the 2012 medals table.

While some sports pronounced themselves happy with the extra funding promises, others complained of sleight of hand from the government and its agencies.

UK Sport announced the awarding of an extra �65.3m to Olympic and Paralympic sports as a first step.

Summer Olympic sports are to receive an extra �58.8m up to 2008 and summer Paralympic sports �6.5m, meaning that all Olympic sports other than football and tennis will receive at least �465,000 a year.

UK Sport will "review progress" after the 2008 Beijing Olympics before deciding how funds will be allocated in the four years up to 2012.

The money is part of the extra �300m that Chancellor Gordon Brown promised British sport in the run-up to London 2012 in his March Budget.

A new UK School Games, designed to unearth future talent, was also unveiled.

The first Games will be held in Glasgow this September.

The success of the bid was marked by a rare sense of consensus in British political circles.

But that began to dissipate as Labour and the Conservatives clashed over budgets and senior appointments.

Conservative peer Moynihan was voted in as the new chairman of the BOA.

Moynihan's success caused some disquiet in Whitehall after his criticisms of Government sports policy.

Two weeks before his election, Moynihan published the results of an independent sports review he chaired with Kate Hoey MP, which was almost completely opposed to current government policy.

The position of Moynihan and his old friend Lord Coe means there are now two Conservative peers in senior positions connected with a Games which the government wanted to be seen as a New Labour legacy.