As Head of Events for UK Sport, my team is responsible for helping to bring major international sporting events to the UK. This year we have worked with sporting and regional partners to bring 23 key events to the UK, with around 60 taking place between now and the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We believe this is the most extensive events programme ever assembled by a host country leading into a Games, and has been developed to help the UK get 'match fit' ahead of 2012.

The benefits of bringing such events to towns and cities across the country are enormous. They provide British athletes with valuable experience in competing on home soil ahead of London 2012, give volunteers and officials the opportunity to hone the necessary skills that are required to deliver world-level competition, provide local economies with a boost, and give spectators the opportunity to see World and Olympic champions competing live on their own doorstep.

Who could have predicted that a volcano in Iceland would highlight another vital benefit that bringing major sporting events to the UK has?

This weekend, three UK Sport funded international sporting events were due to take place across the country. The Diving World Series in Sheffield, European Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham and the Mountain Biking World Cup in Dalby Forest. The response from the organisers of these three events has been outstanding.  Each has acted quickly, clearly and decisively.

Of course, the best events have well-prepared contingency and crisis management plans, but it’s only when you get these off the shelf and use them that you are able to see how professional and capable your event-staging system is. Absolutely crucial preparation before London hosts the Games in 2012.

And whilst the travel chaos of recent days has taken its toll on a number of events, the response has shown that the quality of major event organisation in the UK is second to none, and that the UK’s programme of major events leading into the Games is already helping to ensure that we’ll be the best prepared host country ever.

Cancelling or postponing a major international sporting event is an arduous task which tests even the most experienced of organising committees. Unfortunately we have had to lose the FINA Diving World Series in Sheffield, after most of the competitors found themselves stranded in Mexico, but we’re hopeful the event will return to the UK ahead of 2012.

On the positive side, both of the other events will be going ahead and whilst some of the teams may be unable to make it, I’m confident that most of the top international athletes will be present at both Dalby Forest and Birmingham over the coming days. Tickets are still available for both and I’d encourage everyone to head along and support our British 2012 hopefuls.

Major sporting events are now regularly multi-million pound enterprises with large operational structures and complex networks of contractual obligations, and there is none bigger than the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Ensuring that crises such as the one we have experienced this week have minimal impact on every stakeholder is vital for any country hoping to host such an event.

We can never predict every unexpected eventuality, but we can ensure we are best prepared and best practiced ahead of 2012. With a major sporting event planned for every two weeks from now until the flame is lit, I am confident that the UK will be ready to host the greatest show on earth in just over two years time.

Simon Morton is Head of Events for UK Sport, the UK’s high performance sports agency