Jowell, who was the Culture Secretary during London's successful bid, made her pledge in an article she has written today for the Daily Telegraph.

She wrote: "There will be no white elephants.

"The Olympic Stadium will be a centre for sporting excellence in the UK, housing a sports school, the first ever National Skills Academy for sport and the English Institute for Sport.

"It will also be open to community use and host major athletics events.

"There are five sports venues in the Olympic Park that will remain after the Games.

"The Olympic Stadium, the Velodrome, the Aquatics Centre, Eton Manor football, hockey and tennis pitches and the Handball Arena, which is set to become a multi-use indoor sports arena.

"These will reap dividends long after the London Games are a distant memory.

"And none of this would have happened without the Olympics."

Jowell, who was widely credited with being the driving force behind London's bid when it was in danger of being dropped as it coincided with the invasion of Iraq, claimed that the capital would be the first one to manage to tap into its legacy potential.

She wrote: "What won 2012 for London was the scale of our legacy ambition.

"Not just what the Olympics could do for London but what London could do for the Olympics.

"We also said we would transform the heart of East London, not just with outstanding new sports facilities but also new housing and new transport links and an Olympic Park that would become a sporting, cultural and commercial centre.

"We said this, and we meant it.