remembers his London 2012 experience, as he prepares to return to the Olympic Park for the Anniversary Games.
This time last year I entered the with the attitude of an old hack (or an experienced journalist if you wish to be more polite), a world weary cynicism at all the hyperbole with which the station greeted the , added to an expectation that things would inevitably go wrong.
Within a few days that cynicism had largely evaporated. The were simply superb. The facilities were all excellent, the organisation immaculate and perhaps most impressive were the thousands of who happily volunteered to make sure that any problem was simply swept away on a tide of goodwill. And we won a few medals too.
The simply underlined the fact that Britain had thrown a magnificent international party. I stopped worrying too much about the cost and about the long term questions of legacy. The Games were great, the public loved them, the loved them and Britain had looked its best. Job done.
But a year on is a good moment to address those long term questions. For the first time since the Games the park is back in action, with the stadium which will have to be converted for hosting an athletics meeting this weekend. The 聽will be back to relive their glory.
So it's a good time not just to talk to some of the sportsmen and women but to try to assess what the and for the area around the Olympic park.
I will be speaking among others to , who along with won gold in the canoe slalom down that wild white water ride in . I remember being there to watch that victory, speaking to Etienne, and then switching commentary to the clay pigeon shooting where my old friend Rob Nothman described another gold medal win by . It was that afternoon that the trickle of gold became a flood for Great Britain.
I remember of course the and the cauldron of noise which greeted British triumph there and I remember my amazement that , like , could actually provide riveting radio. So a mixture of the best memories and a debate about the legacy of the Games.
returns to the Olympic Park for 聽for the . Find out more about this Sony Award winning programme and how you can listen .