We had just a few months earlier started the process of shaping a bid for the 2026 edition of the event, but once the Government made it clear it would back a UK host city in 2022, we had to react.

Regardless of which edition we went for, one of the key aspects of our bid was always going to be the fantastic infrastructure we have in the city and the wider West Midlands region.

G8 Government summits, the Eurovision Song Contest, Papal visits, World Indoor Athletics Championships (twice), the All England Badminton Championships, Diamond League athletics and international football and rugby are just some of the many major events we have staged down the years.

We had a strong track record, and this was based on infrastructure and venues that we and partner organisations in the region had the foresight to develop and continually invest in.

So, when it came to the Commonwealth Games, we were able to put forward a compelling proposition to the Government and ultimately the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

We had 95 per cent of the required venues in place, as operational sites that were already serving a purpose.

The only two significant builds were a new aquatics centre (for which a clear need was identified in a report endorsed by national sporting bodies) and the redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium - our much-loved, but tired, athletics facility in the Perry Barr district of Birmingham.

We recently handed over the Alexander Stadium to Birmingham 2022 so they could make the finishing touches for the Games. Since then, both the Alex and the new Sandwell Aquatics Centre, developed by our counterparts at Sandwell Council, have staged test events and are just weeks away from welcoming some of the world's finest competitors.

Both projects have been delivered on time and within the Games budget, despite the challenging circumstances including the COVID-19 pandemic and the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

The Alex, which is a Birmingham City Council facility, is one the key components of our recently-published Perry Barr 2040 Masterplan, which knits together almost £1billion ($1.23 billion/€1.17 billion) of public and private investment into one of the most deprived areas of our city.

In the Masterplan, the Alex is positioned as the centre of health, wellbeing and community activity within a regenerated north-west Birmingham, with a genuine 365-day-a-year purpose as well as being in prime position to become the undisputed home of British athletics.

When considered in the round and taking account of modern priorities such as sustainability and the need for budgetary control, it’s clear that Birmingham’s approach is the way forward.

That’s why it was very interesting to say the least when I read that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recognised this, as did the CGF when awarding us Proud Host City status in 2017, then re-affirming its commitment to the trend we started with its award of the 2026 Games to Victoria.

Such an approach does mean there sometimes needs to be compromise or a renewed commitment to doing what really is the right thing despite passionate lobbying and campaigning.

We were understandably questioned with some vigour over why the Birmingham 2022 bid didn’t include plans for a velodrome, given the growing interest in track cycling in the wake of the success enjoyed by Team GB and the home nations over the past two decades.

But the simple fact was that there was not a clear and identified need for such a facility, something confirmed by a British Cycling study in 2020.

To have developed one just because the sport was popular, rather than what the sport actually needed for its long-term growth, could have left us with a white elephant - which is an outcome nobody wants.

As such, we took the bold decision to utilise the existing London velodrome, which will complete its set of major championships when hosting Birmingham 2022 in a matter of weeks.

The IOC is floating the idea that Olympic hosts should consider using facilities outside of the host nation, where this makes sense. In that context, it validates our decision, based on solid evidence, to use London.

And that’s before you consider it would have been another new build that Games Partners would have been required to fund and deliver in the midst of COVID-19 and the potential risks that may have led to in terms of project assurance.

It was a similar story with athlete accommodation. We have a need for tens of thousands of new homes in Birmingham, and initially proposed that a Games Village was located in Perry Barr, near the Alexander Stadium.

However, the challenge of COVID-19 in this particular case meant we could not be sure the project would be complete in time, so Games Partners came to a collective decision with two years to go until the Games to utilise university and hotel accommodation across the region.

We’re still building the housing in Perry Barr, which is now almost complete - the only difference is that athletes will no longer be the first (temporary) residents.

The bold and decisive choice in the summer of 2020 meant we were able to plan and proceed for the Games with one less risk to be mindful of.

There could have been a temptation to try and do everything within our power to deliver the original Village on time, but looking at how the pandemic subsequently unfolded, it was absolutely the right choice, and we still get the long-term benefit of new housing for north-west Birmingham.

Fast forward to 2022 and you only need to look at the plan for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and the emerging plans for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games to see what we are doing in Birmingham is the future for accommodating athletes.

It’s been a thrilling journey to have been a part of, from chairing the Bid Company, through to serving on the Birmingham 2022 Board with the Games now just a matter of weeks away.

Significantly, it appears that our legacy is already being realised, in the way that major multi-sport events are following our lead and now transitioning to a much more sustainable future.