They're changing the guard at the British Olympic Association (BOA) but the search for a successor to Lord Moynihan as chairman of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) has far wider implications.

The standing of British sport within the international Olympic Movement is as high as it has ever been and Moynihan's seven years at the BOA helm has encompassed the most successful Olympic performances by a British team in over a century.

And Lord Coe's own leadership of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee must have given his Presidential ambitions at the International Association of Athletics Federations a tremendous shot in the arm.

Britain can also call upon one of the most powerful men in world sport: Sir Craig Reedie, a chairman of the BOA for 13 years who was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board in 2009. At the IOC Session in London he was elevated to vice-president, the first Briton to hold such a post since Lord Burghley, Marquess of Exeter, did so in the Sixties, and will lead the Evaluation Commission which assesses the Candidate Cities for 2020.

Adam Pengilly, a skeleton racer, is part of the IOC Athletes' Commission for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, emphasising growing British influence in the corridors of power of Lausanne. International Paralympic Committee chairman Sir Philip Craven is also an IOC member.

IOC President Jacques Rogge paid tribute to Britain's Olympic community at Royal Opera House when the IOC Session opened in July: "Great Britain is recognised as the birthplace of modern sport and it was here that the concept of fair play was codified across rules and regulations."

Sir Craig Reedie (left), alongside IOC President Jacques Rogge and London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, is one of world sport's key powerbrokers

There had been British participation in three Olympics before the BOA was eventually formed in the spring of 1905, but Britons had already been closely involved with the foundation of the IOC. Amateur Athletic Association secretary Charles Herbert was described as part of "an immoveable trinity" by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the driving force behind the Olympic revival.

Lord Howard Vincent, a key figure in the development of Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, joined the IOC at the turn of the 20th century and was determined to set up a NOC for Britain. His efforts to organise something in time for the 1904 Games in St Louis came to nothing but that summer the IOC met in London and, shortly afterwards, Vincent put his name to a circular which appeared that September.

The document read: "It is proposed to form a British Olympic Association, consisting not only of those interested in athletics for their own sake, but also of those who, recognising the international significance of the Olympic Movement, desire to assist in promoting its success."

Adam Pengilly's place on the Athletes' Commission for Pyeongchang 2018, demonstrates Britain's growing influence within the Olympic Movement

The first chairman was William Henry Grenfell, aka Lord Desborough and an MP for South Buckinghamshire. Still active as a sportsman at 50, he won a silver medal with the fencing team at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the revival of the Olympics.

Desborough and the new BOA took on the organisation of the 1908 Olympic Games with great energy. The representatives who sat on the NOC, often described as the British Olympic Council, set about running each of the sports at the Games.

He remained as chairman of the BOA until 1913 and De Coubertin was clearly sorry to see him go, setting great store by the work of his British colleagues. "None of the National Olympic Committees has fulfilled its duties towards the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement better than the British Olympic Council," wrote the Frenchman.

Desborough was succeeded by another member of the nobility: the Duke of Somerset. Already in his sixties, his time in charge coincided with the coming of World War One and it was also an era when British sport almost fell out of love with the Olympic Movement. Even before hostilities began, a fundraising committee including no less a figure than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the famous Sherlock Holmes novels, was given the task of raising money to ensure British teams were better prepared for future Games.

Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle helped raise funds for British athletes' preparations in the early 20th century

Conditioned to overwhelming success by the fabulous, but freak, results in the 1908 London Olympics, many people were disappointed by Britain's relative failure – just 41 medals including 10 golds – at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

When the fighting stopped after four tragic years, veteran Olympic hands, such as BOA secretary Reverend de Courcy Laffan, persuaded the doubters that Britain should attend the 1920 Games in Antwerp.

Another member of the 1908 Organising Committee, William Hayes Fisher, by now known as Lord Downham, had become the new BOA chairman but died a few weeks before the 1920 Olympics began. Laffan took over as emergency chief but these were uncertain times for the movement in Britain.

Many felt that the amateur regulations were being infringed by other nations, particularly through the practice of "Broken Time", an arrangement whereby competitors would be compensated for time away from their normal place of employment. Matters came to a head in the Twenties when there was a very real danger that the British might withdraw from the Olympic Movement altogether. That did not come to pass but footballers did not play at the 1924 or 1928 Games and the home associations also left FIFA, world football's governing body.

Olympic champion Lord Burghley is the BOA's longest-serving chairman with a 30-year tenure

They returned in 1936, the year the BOA had a new and energetic chairman who would prove to be the longest serving of all. Already an IOC member and an Amsterdam 1928 Olympic champion over 400 metres hurdles, Lord Burghley was only 31 when he became BOA supremo in 1936; he remained in the role for 30 years and headed the Organising Committee for the 1948 Olympics. When he eventually stood down he became President of the BOA, one of a select few to take on both roles.

The position of BOA President had been introduced in the Twenties, but this peculiarly British distinction between chairman and President still causes confusion in the wider Olympic world. Indeed, to this day the official IOC directory lists chairman Lord Moynihan as President. In fact, HRH The Princess Royal has held that particular role since 1983; she remains an active advocate of the Olympic Movement, but the chairman has more often been in the firing line – none more so than Sir Denis Follows who was at the helm in 1980.

In the wake of the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan, the British Government of the day, led by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, tried to force the BOA to boycott the Olympics in Moscow. Follows, however, resisted, saying: "We believe that, despite its imperfections, sport is the greatest force for bringing nations together that exists in the world today. That force should be used as a bridge builder rather than a dam buster."

Sebastian Coe (centre), on his way to 1,500m gold at Moscow 1980, competed after BOA chief Sir Denis Follows defied the British Government to send a team

As a result of the efforts of Follows and others a British team did go to Moscow – among them middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe and rowing cox Colin Moynihan, both future Conservative members of Parliament.

Follows died in 1983, to be succeeded by Charles Palmer, a 10th dan judoka who had been the former's deputy at the time of the Moscow Games, and during his tenure the BOA developed into a much more modern organisation.

Palmer was, in turn, followed by Sir Arthur Gold who had spent his life campaigning against doping in sport; he was responsible for the introduction of a regulation which became known as Gold's Law and stated: "The BOA does not regard it as appropriate to select athletes or other individuals for accreditation to Team GB who have at any point committed a serious doping offence".

Current BOA chairman Lord Moynihan listens to President HRH The Princess Royal

It was a rule which lasted for almost 20 years until the decision earlier this year to force its withdrawal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This summer, HRH The Princess Royal told her fellow IOC members of "Games built on Britain's rich and proud heritage" but also reminded them: "These Games are also about advancing the Olympic Movement and sport in general in this country and beyond as well as the past."

When the euphoria over London 2012 recedes following today's victory parade through London the search for the 16th chairman of the BOA might prove to be one of the most far-reaching choices yet made by British sport.

Philip Barker, one of the world's most renowned sports historians, is the author of The History of the Olympic Torch, published by Amberley recently. To order a copy click here.

What is the world to make of Britain? We have staged an Olympics that has surpassed expectations. We have staged a Paralympics that has done the same.

Two Opening Ceremonies and two Closing Ceremonies have celebrated some of our very particular strengths and concerns: the National Health Service; the Industrial Revolution; The Kinks; freedom of speech; Mr Bean taking the mickey out of Chariots of Fire; the Queen – yes, the Queen – taking the mickey out of herself in a filmed sequence with the latest James Bond, Daniel Craig; the Arctic Monkeys; Help for Heroes. It's an eclectic mix.

In the end, the ceremonies book-ending the two sequences of sporting action this summer have been a celebration of what the English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins described as "all things counter, original, spare, strange..."

We are British. We are a bit odd. And we have embraced the Olympic and Paralympic spirit...

And in between the ceremonies, crucially, we have presented sport which has surpassed all expectation.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), went on record at the end of tonight's Paralympic Closing Ceremony as saying that the Games just ended were "the greatest Paralympic Games ever."

Sir Philip Craven declared London 2012 had hosted "the greatest Paralympic Games ever"

Well yes. How often have you heard officials in such cases acclaim newly completed sporting contests as anything else? "London – we salute you for the second best Paralympics ever, or perhaps, bearing in mind Sydney, the third best..." No. Not going to happen.

But he may well have been right.

Tonight's Paralympic Closing Ceremony – the last squeeze of the Olympic/Paralympic lemon – was prefaced by a bizarre sequence which resembled a children's BBC programme featuring out-of-kilter music by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd just before he went off the rails, in which a number of figures in grey robes, issuing Telly Tubby-like hoots and sighs, wafted about to no apparent purpose – all of which was witnessed amid a baffled silence by a previously boisterous capacity crowd.

At the end of this strange affair, three thin segments of giant white inflatables were left wafting in the air beyond the main stage. They looked like pieces of onion discarded from a Big Mac – was this perhaps a sequence involving one of the key Games sponsors?

But no. Soon they agitated themselves into the symbol for the Paralympics, and the show properly got underway.

British sprinter Jonnie Peacock collects the Paralympic Flame to extinguish it as the cauldron unwinds for the final time during the Closing Ceremony

Suddenly there was a LOT of flame and fire being bandied about – more brands than, well, an Olympic marketing roster. It was, of course, a symbol of the Games. But you had to wonder if the director, Kim Gavin, had a bit of a problem with matches as a child.

There followed a hugely affecting sequence celebrating Help for Heroes, a cause particularly close to the Gavin's heart. In emotional terms, it was like turning over from CBeebies to a Channel 4 documentary.

After a team from Help for Heroes had raised a flagpole, it was climbed, with some effort, by Captain Luke Sinnott, who lost most of both legs and the use of his right arm after stepping on an IED while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.

Captain Luke Sinnott climbs to hang the Union Flag

"Let the love that the Paralympics has kindled in our hearts burn brightly as we come together as one, for the Festival of the Flame," intoned Corporal Rory Mackenzie, who lost a leg to a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan, with the sonorous depth of a Shakespearean actor.

There followed the announcement of the male and female winners of the Whang Youn Dai awards. The turbulent name of Oscar Pistorius – nominated for his groundbreaking work for the Paralympic cause, but lately troubled by reactions that some might have interpreted as bad sportsmanship – was conspicuously avoided. The men's prize went to Ireland's double Paralympic champion Michael McKillop while Kenya's Mary Nakhumicha Zakayo took the prize for women.

There then followed a Coldplay concert, featuring Rihanna and Jay-Z. It was great. What it had to do with the Paralympics was something you could discuss, but what is beyond discussion is the fact that Coldplay are Londoners, and very good, and Rihanna and Jay-Z are American, and also very good. It was beautifully staged, with all possible interest in terms of light and personnel, and the crowd, with lights flowing through and over them, loved it to bits.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Sir Philip Craven and Eduardo Paes perform the Paralympic flag handover ceremony

Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Brazil, made a great job of waving the Olympic flag from side to side after receiving it from his London counterpart, Boris Johnson, via IPC President Sir Philip.

And, oh, we got all Brazilian as the flag of the nation which will take on the Olympic baton showed a little bit of the music and life force we can look forward to in four years' time.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, spoke sparely and effectively as he recalled his meeting on the Tube with a Games Maker, Andrew, who turned out to be a doctor who had attended victims of the 7/7 Tube bombings the day after the announcement that London would host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

"He said he was the one to do the thanking, and as we did a very British dance over who should thank whom, he suddenly cut through it all," Coe said, adding: "He told me 'I was on duty on 7/7, that awful day. For me, this is closure. I wasn't sure if I should come or whether I could face it. I'm so glad I did. For I've seen the worst of mankind and now I've seen the best of mankind.'

Sebastian Coe addresses the crowd at the London 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremony

"Just a few days later I met a Games Maker at the Paralympics, Emily, who told me what participating in wheelchair basketball means to her. 'It has lifted my limitations,'" she said.

"So Andrew and Emily, I'm going to have the last word. Thank you to you and all the volunteers."

Which was followed by a standing ovation.

"The Paralympics is setting records every day," Coe continued. "Sporting records, records for television audiences. In this country we will never think of sport in the same way – and we will never think of disability in the same way."

True. And after this, we will probably never think of closing ceremonies in the same way either.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames and insideworldparasport.

Before Ellie Simmonds swims her big races she listens to the Eminem song Lose Yourself.

The lyrics include these lines: "Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip? You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo..."

Shortly after taking silver in the 100 metres freestyle S6 behind her big American rival and fellow 17-year-old, Victoria Arlen, the Briton, who had already established herself as the home poster girl of the London Paralympics, reflected upon her overall performance here after a Games which has seen her win two golds in world-record times and an additional bronze.

She had failed to seize everything she wanted in this one moment. She had failed to capture a third gold, letting it slip. But – emphatically – she had not missed her chance to blow.

And as for it being the opportunity of a lifetime – well, she is already talking animatedly about next year's World Championships and indeed the 2016 Rio Paralympics where the rivalry with Arlen could continue to compel attention.

"My coach and I always say that you only get one chance, so you have to get your head down and go for it," she said. "I would have loved to get the gold medal but you can't have everything. I have been on the podium for every race at these Games so I can't ask for any more.

Golden girl Ellie Simmonds couldn't quite grab victory but was satisfied with silver in the 100m freestyle S6 final

"I want to go away and chill for a while with my family and friends and then start training for the World Championships next year.

"As for Rio – you never know about injuries, and I have my education to think about, too. But I would love to go to Rio; that's my aim, although you never know.

"Victoria is 17, the same age as me, and I am sure we can push each other even further at the World Championships, and if I go to Rio and she goes to Rio."

Simmonds, whose family home is in Walsall but who lives and trains with coach Billy Pye in Swansea – with her parents boxing and coxing to make that possible – competed in what has now become, for her, a familiar patriotic din as a near-capacity crowd willed her to round off her London Games with another winning flourish.

She finished in 1min 14.82sec, a personal best by more than a second and just 0.08 off the world record set by Arlen in qualifying.

Eminen's Lose Yourself is Ellie Simmonds' big motivator before each race

Arlen, however, with her longer body and more languorous stroke, lowered that mark to 1:13.33 as she established a commanding halfway lead and then maintained her position despite a frantic final 50 metres which saw the Briton closing on her.

Immediately after the race Simmonds told Channel 4: "I'm just really chuffed. A pb by over a second. I gave it everything on that last 50 metres. I could see her but I just didn't have anything left."

It is not just success in the pool which has established Simmonds in such a position of esteem, but her positive, down-to-earth manner. Asked if, having added two golds now to the two she won as a 13-year-old at the Beijing Games, she felt it would be possible to challenge the total of 11 golds earned by British wheelchair racer Tanni Grey-Thompson, she was clearly uncomfortable with such chat.

"I'm not like Tanni Grey-Thompson," she retorted. "I don't think about getting 11 golds. I take things as they come. I've got my own goals and I do the best I can."

There was similar awkwardness, too, when the topic was raised of what she might now expect from the New Year Honours List having become the youngest person to receive the MBE at the age of 14.

"After Beijing I was honoured to get the MBE but I haven't thought about anything like that here," she responded. "I have got two golds, a silver and a bronze, and I think that's the main thing for me."

Ellie Simmonds and big rival Victoria Arlen, the winner, embrace following their 100m freestyle S6 tussle

Arlen was allowed to race against Simmonds after avoiding being reclassified by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in the run-up to the Games.

The IPC initially ruled that the American, who was left in a vegetative state for two years after contracting a neurological virus that affected her spinal cord, was ineligible to compete alongside Simmonds in the S6 class – for swimmers with a short stature, amputations of both arms or moderate co-ordination problems on one side of their body.

But Arlen successfully appealed, and what looks likely to be an enduring rivalry was set in motion.

Simmonds told Channel 4 that "Beijing is always going to be the best Games for me" but by the time she spoke to the written press she had modified that opinion, ranking the home Games, at which she had been able to see so much of her friends and family, as being on a par.

"This Games has been amazing," she said. "I don't want it to end but it is ending and I'm just looking forward to celebrating now."

That is something this shining talent richly deserves. The final gold may have slipped by, but she has already captured an esteem that is profoundly more important than a medal.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames.

Today marks one year until the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects the host city of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The milestone comes just as a glorious summer in London draws to a close, having redefined the boundaries of global sporting celebration and – I firmly believe – having inspired a generation.

I was lucky enough to experience London 2012 firsthand. I felt the vibrancy of a cosmopolitan mega-city; the warmth of a country eager to welcome the world; and the passion of a people steeped in sport.

To sustain that atmosphere for the duration of the Olympics and the Paralympics is quite extraordinary.

My most sincere congratulations must go to the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and to Lord Sebastian Coe and his team at London 2012. Their achievements in harnessing the spirit of a nation over the last seven years since the IOC Session in Singapore cannot be overstated.

In 2005, when the Games were awarded to London, it was not the right moment for Istanbul and Turkey. But our dedication to our Olympic dream never diminished. So while London was preparing to stage the Greatest Show on Earth, Istanbul was evolving into a city worthy of the mantle of host. The last seven years have seen a new Turkey emerge, and we have developed a new bid to match. Istanbul is bridging lessons of the past with new capabilities of the present. Now we are ready to deliver.

The city has spent an average of $1.2 billion (£750 million/€950 million) a year every year since 2005 on improvements to transport infrastructure alone. Just last month we opened the first metro line on the Asian side of the city, and the proposal for a new tunnel beneath the Bosphorus – a crucial third crossing point – has just been ratified; construction will begin next year. We have made a commitment to connect our citizens with a world-class, modernised transport network. That commitment means in 2020 a city of nearly 13 million people would be able to offer Olympic and Paralympic athletes average travel times of just 20 minutes.

Our strategic development plan has transformed Istanbul into the fifth most visited destination on the planet. In 2004, Istanbul had 26,000 hotel rooms. Now, there are 63,000. That public and private investment in tourist infrastructure has fuelled a boom in the tourism industry – in the 12 months to November 2011, there was a 16 per cent increase in visitors from abroad.

Istanbul is hoping that being European Capital of the Year will help it win its bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics

The Government has identified sports events as a key national development stimulus, and our sports industry has flourished since 2005. Turkey has hosted more than 40 major events in the last seven years, many of them in Istanbul. Now the city and its sports industry professionals are regarded internationally as trusted, credible hosts for elite sport, so much so that Istanbul was named the 2012 European Capital of Sport.

Istanbul is alive with progress and possibility, driven forward by a young, dynamic and ambitious population. The time is right, and the people here can feel it. Earlier this year, 87 per cent of people in the city were behind Istanbul 2020. Since then we have sent our largest ever delegation to the Olympic Games, and recorded our best ever performance at the Paralympic Games.

The feats of our Olympians and Paralympians have captured the imagination in Turkey; our nation's desire to bring the Games to Turkey for the first time in our history has never been greater. Just as importantly, Istanbul's capacity to realise our vision has never been greater. Now our city is ready to host the first Games in Olympic history to span two continents at once – to reach across the Bosphorus and bridge east and west, new and old, rich history and united future.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the very best of luck to our fellow Candidate Cities. I am sure we will continue this most remarkable of races in the same spirit of fair play and respect over the next twelve months.

The last seven years have been an exciting time for Turkey and for Istanbul, the City of Seven Hills. But the next 365 days will be more exciting still: a defining moment in the rejuvenation of an ancient city.

Kadir Topbaş is the Mayor of Istanbul

For Super Saturday, read Thriller Thursday. Britain's Paralympians delivered their own version of triple triumph here tonight as the golds won by Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah on the first weekend of the Olympic track and field programme were matched by Hannah Cockcroft, David Weir and Jonnie Peacock.

But for a final effort in the men's F44 discus by the American world record holder Jeremy Campbell, which pushed Dan Greaves down to silver, the gold tally would have topped even that Olympic one of recent memory. It was surely the greatest night in British Paralympic track and field history.

"The crowd has made London 2012, and I am so proud to be British," said 19-year-old Peacock after he had secured the object of his desire, the gold medal in the T46 100 metres.

For the bulk of spectators here in the Olympic Stadium the main question of the night had appeared to be this: would the Weirwolf howl again, or would the Peacock strut his stuff, preventing Pistorius from being glorious?

Jonnie Peacock lets off steam as he wins gold at the London 2012 T44 men's 100 metre final 

In the event, both home wishes came true as Weir – now indissolubly linked in the public imagination with Warren Zevon's anthemic 1978 song Werewolves of London – won his third track gold of these Games in the T54 wheelchair 800m and Peacock followed up by securing the much-hyped 100m title ahead of a field which included South Africa's defending champion Oscar Pistorius, who finished outside the medals.

Weir's earlier feats in winning gold at 5,000 and 1500m had already established him in a new persona – prompted by his team-mates – which drew upon his old nickname of Beast, a nod to his ferocious strength and commitment.

Unlike the werewolf of Zevon's imagination, Weir was not carrying a Chinese menu in his hand. Nor indeed was he mutilating little old ladies, nor drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's, as that old Werewolf of London did. Instead he was ramming the wheels on his wheelchair with every particle of energy in his body, and as he unwound his full, fearsome power in the final straight to drive himself beyond his nearest challenger, Lixin Zhang of China (who was subsequently disqualified), the air reverberated.

After crossing the line, the roar of triumph came from the Briton, and as he undid his racing vest to expose his chest you half-expected to see a thicket of fur. Ah-wooooo!! Weirwolf of London indeed!!

David Weir enthuses as he takes gold at the T54 wheelchair 800 metres during the London 2012 Paralympic Games

As the next field lined up for 100m, the crowd began a charmingly innocent chant of  "Pea-cock, Pea-cock", in the manner of school match supporters, before being shushed down by the prefect/announcer. The tension escalated as Alan Oliveira, the Brazilian who had precipitated the biggest hoo-hah since the Battle of Britain by defeating Pistorius in Sunday's (September 2) 200m final, stuttered over the line for a false start. Then the field got away cleanly – with single leg amputees Peacock and Richard Browne of the United States starting best and holding on despite the expected charge of the double amputees as they began to benefit from their greater momentum following slower starts.

Who would have thought, four, two, or even one year ago that Pistorius, the man who has bridged the Paralympic/Olympic gulf, would be an also-ran as he defended an Olympic title? Or indeed that he would not be the focus of general attention?

And so Peacock, the fresh-faced teenager from Cambridge, who lost his right leg as a five-year-old after contracting meningitis, finished three places clear of the man who had inspired him to take up athletics. Strutting his stuff indeed.

Even before the noise had died down, it rose again as Greaves extended his lead with a Paralympic record of 59.01m before running over to congratulate the young sprinter with a mighty bear hug.

The media build-up to the two climactic races of the evening's programme had contained the depth and richness of detail which has for so long been the preserve of Olympic, rather than Paralympic events. Yet another significant marker for Paralympics that has raised the bar for future Games in so many ways.

Hannah Cockcroft and the Olympic Stadium crowd celebrate her London 2012 200 metre T34 gold medal win

The 80,000 crowd had already had an opportunity to celebrate a home triumph in saluting Cockcroft's achievement as she added the women's 200m T34 title to the 100m version she had won on Friday (August 31) to register Britain's first track and field gold of the Games, when she broke the world record twice in the process.

With the camera showing her face close up on the screen, Cockcroft played her patriotic part to the full as she belted out the anthem while maintaining a broad grin – not an easy thing to do.

The spectators had also had the chance to produce one of those warm-hearted moments that occasionally emerge at major championships as they raised the roof – or at least, would have done if the Olympic stadium had one – in encouraging Yohansson Nascimento to finish in the men's T46 100m final following his earlier fall.

As the Brazilian edged his way painfully across the line in 1min 30.79sec, and slumped down immediately after it to be surrounded by anxious officials, the Stadium was a ringing ferment of top volume goodwill.

At such moments the adopted adage of modern Games' founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin – "The most important thing...is not winning, but taking part" – appears validated. But then along come moments of naked home triumphalism to throw that assertion open to question once again...

As the national anthem sounded out twice more at the end of the programme, it would have been hard to find a better description of the two Britons at the centre of the medal ceremonies than "happy and glorious". Tonight, Weir and Peacock personified the phrase.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames and insideworldparasport.

It is one of the oldest of adages, and still one of the truest: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Many Tottenham Hotspur fans are reminded of the wisdom of this as the club, having summarily replaced one of football's most venerable and successful managers with a younger man, who failed at rivals Chelsea, make a disappointingly inauspicious start to the season.

There is a sound argument for believing that in sport as in life, things are usually best left alone.

A similar thought must be running through the minds of those employed by the British Olympic Association (BOA) at the moment.

As the gold dust settles on arguably the greatest-ever Olympic Games, in which BOA staff played such a pivotal and supportive role, the air is thick with speculation of changes and upheaval following chairman Colin Moynihan's impromptu decision to step down before completing his second term of office. This took everyone by surprise, not least Boris Johnson.

Colin Moynihan is stepping down as chairman of the British Olympic Association after seven years in the role

In fact, when the good Lord summoned a few of us to have lunch with him his favourite Asian eatery in Westminster to impart the news, by chance the London Mayor, his bike parked outside, was already tucking into his King Prawn Piri Piri at a nearby table. He almost fell off his chair when Moynihan took him to one side to tell him he was stepping down.

Boris was still shaking his head as he put on his bicycle clips and helmet before pedalling back to City Hall.

I am told that Seb Coe was similarly taken aback when Moynihan informed him he was getting on his own bike. But since then there has been mounting speculation that the London 2012 chief himself is now in pole position to take over from his fellow Tory peer when the BOA hold their annual meeting in November.

Moreover, it is rumoured that should this happen Coe will be making changes and bringing in some of his own London 2012 cohorts to run a revamped BOA.

All of which must be deeply unsettling for those in the current team which performed so ably in the build-up and during the Games, particularly in orchestrating the facilities for the athletes and their families at Team GB House.

Team GB house was the place for the media to speak to the athletes, and for family, friends and other teammates be part of the Team GB inner circle

From a personal perspective I thought the BOA's media operation ranked among the most professional of any global sporting event I have every covered.

So what is about to happen post-Moynihan? Clearly, the Paralympics are set to follow the Olympics as another glorious triumph for Coe. Because of them, he has become the most sought-after figure in sport with the BOA chair an obvious post-Games job opportunity for the overlord of the rings.

Initially he had no thoughts of taking over from Moynihan but influential voices in Whitehall and at Westminster are now urging him to stand, believing he is the ideal figure to take the organisation forward to Rio in 2016.

But I understand Coe will not tout for the role or contest an election. He would have to be installed by unanimous choice, and this may prove difficult with other candidates including Moynihan's close friend, the award-winning Sussex businessman Richard Leman, an Olympic hockey gold medallist now President of GB Hockey, already in the frame.

Sport's oarsome knights Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent and British Rowing chair Di Ellis, along with current BOA vice-chairs David Hemery and Albert Woods normally would also be in contention, as might Coe's number two at London 2012 Sir Keith Mills (although it is thought he is earmarked either to chair a new combined UK Sport/Sport England or the Premier League).

It also has to be said that there are those on the National Olympic Committee who would feel more comfortable with someone from within their own ranks to head up the organisation.

Sebastian Coe would have to be installed by unanimous choice as the BOA chairman

However, so high is Coe's stock after the 2012 Games that such an illustrious appointment will be hard to resist, and from Coe's viewpoint it could only enhance his campaign to become President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2015.

Should Coe take the chair he will need to drastically overhaul the cash-strapped BOA's finances – its 2012 operation was impressive but costly, worsening an anticipated seven-figure deficit – and, it is said, supervise a staffing shake-up with the future of number of highly-paid key figures under review, including director of performance Sir Clive Woodward, chief executive Andy Hunt and commercial director Hugh Chambers, all Moynihan appointees.

It would not surprise me if Woodward elected to move on to sporting pastures new. England's World Cup-winning rugby coach was Deputy Chef de Mission at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games but was overshadowed by the omnipresent Hunt, who, according to the Daily Telegraph, "at times seemed more like a cheerleader than Chef de Mission."

This may be somewhat harsh but I do feel Hunt should have been the midfield anchorman and allowed the more experienced sports-savvy Woodward to have the field-marshal role up front.

Without Moynihan's backing, Woodward may feel it is time his proven mentoring talents are given a fresh challenge.

One executive definitely departing is American Darryl Seibel, their top-notch director of communications who is returning to the United States in October. He has a most capable aide in Miriam Wilkens but if he is to be replaced there is a ready-made candidate in Jackie Brock-Doyle, Coe's own communications chief at London 2012, where sports director Debbie Jevans would also be in line for a move to the BOA should either Woodward or Hunt depart.

Jackie Brock-Doyle played a significant role in defending London 2012 in the empty seats fiasco

All of which is hugely speculative, as is Coe's own future. The BOA chair is an unpaid post, and although a reasonably wealthy man, Coe will tell you he still needs to earn a living.

This he can do to substantially by resuming his earlier role as an ambassador for Nike, and on the corporate speaking circuit with so many absorbing London 2012 after-dinner tales to relate he will be in high demand to trouser up to £25,000 ($40,000/€32,000) a time, at least putting his income on a par with Premiership footballers.

He also has a part-time occupation as David Cameron's new "sports legacy ambassador", although I doubt if even he is sure exactly what that entails.

One chair which he is now unlikely to seek is that of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), where a number of disaffected of licence holders, led by top promoter Frank Warren, are attempting to oust the under-fire incumbent Charles Giles.

It is now likely they switch to wooing the now available Moynihan, who, like Coe, is a former Board steward who loves the fight game.

Whatever the future holds for sport's respective lordships, it appears the gloves are off in both the boxing and Olympic rings. Seconds out!

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

There was a rich irony in Oscar Pistorius' outraged reaction after his defeat here in the T44 200 metres final to the Brazilian who passed him in the final 25m, Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira. But it was also a reaction which begged a very large question which still hangs over the business of amputee athletes running with the assistance of prosthetic "blades".

The defending champion whose right to run against able-bodied opposition in the World Championships and Olympic Games was only won after extended legal wrangling over the degree of mechanical advantage afforded by his own twin prosthetic "blades" insisted that his opponent had run on blades that were too long, making him much taller and offering him an unfair advantage in terms of speed.

"We are not running a fair race here, absolutely ridiculous," Pistorius told Channel 4's Sonja McLaughlan immediately after his race. "I'm not taking away from Alan's performance but I can't compete with Alan's stride length. The IPC (International Paralympic Committee) have their regulations and their regulations mean that some athletes can make themselves unbelievable high...his knee-heights are four inches higher than they should be.

"We have spoken to the IPC about the length of these blades but it has fallen on deaf ears. Guys are coming from nowhere to run ridiculous times. I don't know how you pull that back. I run at 10 metres per second and I don't know how someone comes back from eight metres behind in the home straight. It's not right."

In reply, however, IPC spokesman Craig Spence commented: "All blades are measured and Oliveira's passed the test. There has been no infringement of the rules."

Under IPC rules, prosthetic limbs are measured in the call room to ensure they are of equal length to the other limb, or prosthetic.

Oscar Pistorius cannot believe that he has lost to Brazil's Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira in the final of the Paralympics 200m at London 2012

"Oscar has to choose – either he was beaten fair and square by a better athlete or blade design CAN radically affect your performance level," tweeted Sir Matthew Pinsent, whose own involvement with blades was thankfully confined to the means by which he propelled himself and others to four Olympic rowing golds.

Bizarrely, almost two hours after the race had been run, both the IPC and Pistorius appeared to have shifted their positions, as Spence said that a special meeting would be convened on the following day to discuss Pistorius' "concerns" without the "emotions" of the race being involved.

Pistorius, meanwhile, appeared to backtrack on his earlier comments about Oliveira as he congratulated the Brazilian on "a great performance", adding that he had shaken the victor's hand on the warm-down track after the final.

Pistorius is unique. No other athlete has transcended the barriers in the way he has by becoming the first amputee to compete in world and Olympic track and field competition.

The South African's battles off the track have been as onerous as those on it as he has had to fight for the right to party at the Olympics, overturning an initial ban in January 2008 from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), whose lawyers contended that the two prosthetic carbon fibre "blades" on which this double amputee runs gave him a "mechanical advantage" over able-bodied athletes – and perhaps also single amputees, several of whom have complained in the past about the fact that Pistorius had an effective advantage by having two prosthetics rather than one.

The scientific judgement which ruled Pistorius out of competing against able-bodied athletes was routed in May 2008 by the intervention of Professor Hugh Herr of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, whose evidence and argument persuaded the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reverse the IAAF ruling and give Pistorius clearance to run in the world championships and Olympics.

Professor Hugh Herr (right) helped Oscar Pistorius convince the Court of Arbitration for Sport that his blades did not give him an unfair advantage and to compete against able-bodied athletes

"Perhaps there is some level of negative bias that exists in today's society," said Herr, a double amputee himself after suffering exposure on a mountain climb when he was a teenager. "When people look at Oscar Pistorius they see he has an unusual body. That's fine when he's not competitive. But when he's being competitive, it becomes threatening. In the same way that, for some people, the colour of a person's skin is threatening. There are people out there who simply have a negative bias.

"My personal view is that we should architect a society where, if a person happens to be born without fully formed legs and if that person happens to be an extraordinary talent, he or she should be allowed to compete in a sports event such as the Olympic Games assuming qualifying time are satisfied. It's the dream of almost all top athletes to go to the Olympics.

"We should allow athletes that freedom, but we should also ensure fairness in sport."

Fairness, however, is a tricky thing to establish in Paralympic sport, as the recent spate of contention over classification at these Games has underlined. The IPC is doing its best to create a level playing field, but they are dealing with hugely complex factors.

Even Herr, Pistorius' impassioned champion, does not maintain that there is certainty about Pistorius running against able-bodied competitors, or about the full nature of how prosthetics assist performance.

"There are many aspects of this question that we are still to understand," he said. "Science can never prove anything. What science can do is provide overwhelming evidence to support a hypothesis.

"The conclusion of the CAS hearing was that there was insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that Pistorius had an overall advantage in the 400 metres."

Oscar Pistorius has raced on the same Cheetah blades for seven years now, it is claimed

One other factor became clear in the wake of Pistorius' successful appeal of 2008, which nullified comments suggesting he was benefiting from escalating technological innovations.

Herr pointed out last year that the Cheetah blades used by Pistorius have been available to athletes in their current form for 15 years, and that the South African has run on the same blades for the previous seven years.

He adds that it was made clear during the CAS hearing that the ruling was "only specific to that prosthesis", adding: "If there were any changes, we would have to undergo the same scientific testing all over again."

Less than a month after he had become the first amputee track and athlete to compete at the Olympics in this same stadium it seemed as if Pistorius was set to defend his 200m title for the second time after setting a world record of 21.30sec in the previous day's heats.

That mark had eclipsed the world record of 21.88 set by Oliveira – who won silver in the 4x400m relay at the Beijing Paralympics – earlier in the evening. In the final, however, Pistorius could only manage 21.52 as his rival, running three lanes outside him, swept past in the final 25 metres to record a personal best of 21.45.

For once, the "Blade Runner" had failed to cut a swathe through his Paralympic opposition, and the capacity crowd which had acclaimed Pistorius so loudly registered the shock victory with something close to a murmur of surprise.

Now the 25-year-old from Sandton, Johannesburg, finds himself in an awkward spot as he looks ahead to the defence of his individual 100m and 400m titles.

Oscar Pistorius has never been afraid to fight, as this Nike advert demonstrates, and he is not backing down in this row either to try to prove he is still "the fastest thing on no legs"

Amidst all the arguments about Pistorius' advantages or disadvantages, what has never been in doubt is the quality of the athlete himself, and the extraordinary courage he has displayed in taking on every challenge that has presented itself to him.

Tonight, however, he faced a different question concerning whether he was as admirable in defeat as in victory. His considered statement about Oliveira was clearly designed to erase the impact of his initial comments. But the fact that there will be an official meeting to discuss the matter makes it clear that he is pressing ahead with his case.

And the fact that the IPC are taking the matter so seriously also makes it clear what a complex matter it continues to be to ensure fair competition within the Paralympic Games.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames. 

"I've just wasted four years of my f****** life," yelled Britain's five-time Paralympic gold medallist Jody Cundy into the television cameras. Had that been Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry or even the footballer Jason Cundy, we would not have heard the end of it.

Yet Cundy, a lower leg amputee, rather than be ripped into and psychologically dissected by every member of the media with a few minutes to spare, and many of those without, will probably earn the nation's sympathy.

And rightly so. After all, Cundy's said it himself – four years of his life wasted because he was unable to get cleanly away from his starting blocks, whether due to his own mistake or a technical malfunction. The umpire ruled that it was his fault. Whichever it was, you cannot help but feel sorry for someone who has had something they have worked towards for nearly 1,500 days torn away from them in front of a home crowd at the biggest sporting event they will ever take part in.

The controversy came in the men's individual C4-5 1 kilometre time trial. The 33-year-old was visibly furious after his disqualification, throwing things at the floor in the centre of the Velodrome.

After his disqualification Jody Cundy, centre, vents his frustration

As he was forced to accept his fate, Cundy yelled and swore. He had been hoping to add to his two cycling golds from Beijing and previous three Paralympic swimming titles.

The news of Cundy's disqualification was met with dismay by the boisterous home crowd. Boos rang around the arena as Spain's Alfonso Cabello was announced the winner. This was a turn of events: earlier Cabello had brought out some of the loudest cheers for a non-British rider heard here so far for his simply brilliant performance.

Cabello smashed the world record with one of the most thrilling pieces of action of the whole day, travelling faster and faster still, recording a time of 1min 05.947sec. Britain's Jon Butterworth, racing the Spaniard for the gold, responded, as did the crowd, who roared him around the track, but he just missed out on the gold by just the narrowest of margins – 0.038 seconds.

Jon Butterworth, left, Alfonso Cabello, centre, and Xinyang Liu of China pose on the podium after receiving their London 2012 C4-5 1km time trial medals

A consolation for the British team, but they will be left to rue Cundy's disqualification and share his frustration, albeit in a more private way.

Cundy's behaviour does bring to mind an important and topical question. Why are we so keen to bash our footballers? At the Olympic Games, they were derided as we collectively wondered, why can they not be more like Olympians? Or Paralympians for that matter?

Probably because when, having been booed by his own fans, Rooney screams into a camera to register his annoyance, he gets torn to bits. Yet it is simply impossible to imagine that happening to, say, the swimmer Rebecca Adlington – as I just attempted to picture. There are some good reasons for that. One is that Adlington, even when failing to live up to her high standards and claiming "only" bronze, still receives huge cheers, as do Britain's goalball and handball teams when they inevitably suffer humiliating defeats. And Adlington, unlike Rooney, is not paid huge sums of money. She also happens to be one of the nicest people you could meet – but then I'm sure there are plenty of similarly amiable footballers who have had any semblance of personality or character drained from them by intense media scrutiny.

Wayne Rooney, left, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa 

So essentially, we treat our footballers differently and expect a different standard of behaviour from them because a) they are paid more and b) we care more about football. Most sports at the Olympics we don't even care about any more. No one was bothered that Britain was eviscerated in the basketball. We should have been, but no one expected anything else.

This is not to absolve all footballers of their errors and blame them on us. One of England's best players, Ashley Cole, wrote in his own autobiography that he almost swerved off the road in anger at being offered "just" £55,000 ($870,000/ €69,000) a week by his former club Arsenal. And we have two high profile footballers – including the former England captain John Terry – who have admitting using racist language (even if insisting that it was not meant in an offensive way) in the last year. There is no excuse for any of that, but not every player is like this. For every racist, there are probably a dozen or more who have their own charitable foundation.

John Terry arives at court regarding racist abuse allegations in July, 2012 

So it may not be fashionable to say it, but we are probably a bit harsh on footballers. The reason we are so disappointed in their behaviour is because football is, frankly, our favourite sport – not because footballers are uniquely annoying. Our second and third favourite sports are cricket and rugby, and we get just as irritated with their antics when they misbehave, like the England team did at the Rugby Union World Cup last year.

Usain Bolt is only loved so universally in this country because athletics is not as popular as these sports. Quite frankly, if Bolt had been a footballer for Manchester United for the last five years, he would probably be quite divisive. He has an arrogance that everyone loves because, let's be honest, it's the good kind of arrogant. It's the José Mourinho form – where you proclaim yourself the best, and it's actually true. But football fans are so fickle, tribal and tense, that they hate any form of arrogance. Put that in the context of an intense football rivalry with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City fans, and if Bolt was really playing for United, you could imagine him getting roundly booed when he was playing away to these teams.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt gestures as he celebrates his three gold medals after winning the men's 4X100 relay final at the London 2012 Olympic Games

And we jump on our footballers because they are paid so much. Why is this? Because there is so much money in the game. Why is there so much money? Because we are addicted to it, something Sky Sports have so brilliantly exploited, as have our clubs. As much as we may complain about ticket prices, we don't do what the Germans or French do and actually refuse to pay what we are asked to stump up.

Anger at player wages has always mystified me. In France, there was criticism of Zlatan Ibrahimović's salary when he signed for Paris Saint-Germain. Or to put it another way, politicians were effectively having a go at a member of the Qatari royal family for buying one of their football clubs, signing a Swedish player and adding millions to the Government's annual budget to pay for the rest of France's healthcare and pensions. Given our own tax rates, the public effectively make more from a footballer's salary than the player does every week. It may be irritating, if like me, you are an Arsenal fan and your club is consistently gazumped by wealthy foreign billionaires in signing the best players. But in terms of the public good, surely large player wages are a good thing, especially when so many of the world's richest teams are English. Maybe it is just me, but it seems preferable for the Government to have more money to spend than to bring footballers a little closer to our level economically.

Jody Cundy reacts furiously after being given a DNF (Did not Finish) by London 2012 judges 

Oh yes, the Paralympics. So I don't blame Cundy at all for his reaction. If I was in his situation, I may well have done the same. It is impossible to imagine how frustrated he must be right now. But it did make me think, don't we just treat our footballers with a bit too much scorn, basically because we care more and pay more to see them do what they do? And that is a choice we make – not them.

David Gold is a reporter for insidethegames. You can follow him on twitter here.

From my privileged seat at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony, I saw spectacular fireworks, enthralling dancing and an inspiring parade of the world's best disabled athletes.

It was truly superb and a fitting curtain-raiser for what I am sure will be a great Games.

But through all those bright lights, I saw clearly the shining star and show-stealer of the event.

It was Professor Stephen Hawking.

It had been confirmed shortly before the Ceremony began that Britain's greatest living scientist would make a rare public appearance for the historic event.

However, it still gave me goosebumps when the most famous disabled man on the planet took to the stage, causing a deafening roar from the 80,000 spectators in attendance at the Olympic Stadium.

It felt most appropriate that a man who has been paralysed for the majority of his life due motor neurone disease could deliver words via a speech generating device with the force of inspiration that no able-bodied person in the world could possibly match.

Professor Stephen Hawking took centre stage at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony

"Look up at the stars, and not down at your feet," said the 70-year-old from Oxford.

"Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist.

"Be curious."

What followed was a truly dazzling Opening Ceremony from the hugely talented directors Jenny Sealey and Bradley Hemmings but for me, nothing could match Hawking; one of the most iconic symbols of human triumph over adversity.

His voice appeared throughout the Ceremony at various intervals as he delivered a series of new statements and messages that guided us through the show.

But it was his final address that was perhaps his most moving.

"The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world," he said.

"We are all different, there is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit. What is important is that we have the ability to create."

Stephen Hawking was just 22 when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease

All this came from a man with full mobility until he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 22.

Despite the disease slowly debilitating his body his mind remained brilliant and his key scientific works remain some of the most important in history.

His genius has earned him comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton and given him unlikely celebrity status, allowing him to appear in The Simpsons and Star Trek.

But his inspirational appearance last night is perhaps his most high-profile to date.

"I was delighted and honoured to be in the Ceremony," he said afterwards.

"It was a real pleasure to welcome the Paralympic athletes to London for such a special event.

"To use this stage to show the world that regardless of differences between individuals, there is something that everyone is good at, is very important."

Perhaps the most striking thing about his involvement is that Hawking is not a Paralympian.

He is not even an athlete.

Stephen Hawking led viewers on an "exquisite journey of discovery" during the ceremony

But he was able to illustrate more than anyone in the Olympic Stadium why perceptions of disability must change.

The next two weeks of the London 2012 Paralympic Games will help reinforce that message as the world's greatest disabled athletes provide us with further inspiration through their displays of courage and true sporting brilliance.

Hopefully the whole nation will also get fully behind the Paralympics to help them replicate the huge success of the Olympics.

The support of the fans and everyone watching the Games is vital because, as Hawking showed, you do not have to be a Paralympian to be a big part of the Paralympic Games.

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames and insideworldparasport

As the Paralympic Flame continues its journey today from Stoke Mandeville, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Movement, to Stratford, which will be the scene for 11 more days of world-class sport following this evening's Opening Ceremony, everyone connected with Team GB is offering our full support to our good friends, colleagues and "Our Greatest Teammates" at ParalympicsGB.

There is no doubt in my mind that the passionate support of the home crowd inspired Team GB's athletes to achieve our greatest medal haul for over a century – 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals – during the Olympic Games.

So let's reignite that spark and get right behind ParalympicsGB with the same level of enthusiasm and support that we experienced during the Olympics.

Over 12 months ago we decided to join forces with the British Paralympic Association (BPA) to bring Team GB and ParalympicsGB under one banner – Our Greatest Team – with a shared sense of national pride and a shared ambition to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity for British sport.

With the support of the nation behind us, Our Greatest Team at London 2012 is 900 athletes, 60 million strong. As we share our central London office space with the BPA, we have seen firsthand the detailed planning and preparation that has gone into delivering ParalympicsGB to the Games and I would like to personally congratulate BPA chief executive Tim Hollingsworth, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Craig Hunter, the entire support team and the athletes of ParalympicsGB – and wish them all the very best for success during the exciting days that lie ahead.

ParalympicsGB is our "Our greatest teammates" claims Andy Hunt, who was the Chef de Mission of Team during the Olympics

As announced earlier this week, following the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, the athletes of Team GB and ParalympicsGB will join together for the Our Greatest Team Parade through the streets of London on September 10.

This will be a fantastic finale to an unforgettable summer of sport and will be a chance to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the outstanding group of athletes who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2012 Games. Importantly, it also gives the members of Team GB and ParalympicsGB an opportunity to show their appreciation and gratitude for the extraordinary support they have received.

Before that, I urge you to give ParalympicsGB and the Paralympic Games your full support over the next 11 days. I am certain that the Great British public will once again deliver a gold medal performance in supporting Our Greatest Team at London 2012.

Andy Hunt was the Team GB Chef de Mission at London 2012 and chief executive of the British Olympic Association (BOA)

Anyone who has ever witnessed the Klitschko brothers fight in Germany will tell you that they are not attending a boxing contest, simply an event. Ecstatically cheering audiences, often up to 50,000, who pack the stadiums to capacity have little interest in who Vitali or Wladimir are fighting.

They are simply there for the spectacle, a gala night out. The idolised heavyweight champions could be playing pat-a-cake with one of the seven dwarfs for all they care. They are simply there for the spectacle.

It is the same for the Wimbledon final. Wasn't it Jimmy Connors who once said that the centre court customers would pay to watch it contested between two orangutans?

You get the drift.

My hope is that the crowds that will fill the Olympic Stadium in the coming 12 days won't be similarly doing so out of instinctive voyeurism, curiousity or because being there suddenly has become the vogue on the coattails of the Olympics themselves.

But that they are turning out in droves because they want to be there for the sport and not for the show.

The Paralympic Games have fought long and hard for recognition on merit as a sports event in itself and not as a adjunct to its able-bodied brother. London 2012 is the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that they really have come home.

After almost losing her life in 2005, London 7/7 terrorist bombing victim Martine Wright is now representing Britain in the sitting volleyball at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

This is indeed an extraordinary happening. Some 4,200 competitors from 166 countries have been arriving in London's East End many, but by no means all in wheelchairs, on crutches, blind or limbless with stories that tug at the heart strings.

So many in fact, that one doesn't know where to start, but the one etched most deeply into my consciousness is that of Martine Wright (now Wiltshire) the subject of the most poignant interview I have ever had in sport. A couple of years ago she told me of her miraculous recovery from the London terrorist bombing on July 7, 2005 - the day after London were awarded the Games - when she lost both her legs and was the last one to be rescued from the Circle Line tube train after losing three quarters of her body's blood content. She talked of her dream of becoming a Paralympian and on Friday (August 31) she will be representing ParalympicsGB in the preliminary rounds of sitting volleyball.

Hers is just one of the incredible tales of fortitude among the 301 British Paralympians. Everywhere you turn as you walk though the Games Village, there are moving tales, not only of the unexpected but the unimaginable from home and overseas.

There's the South African swimmer whose lower right leg was bitten off by a shark he had deliberately taunted to get it away from his little brother. A Rwandan volleyball team whose players lost their limbs fighting on opposite sides of the civil war.

South Africa's Achmat Hassiem who saved his brother's life in 2006, losing his lower right leg in the process, and who now hopes to win a medal this summer in London 

It seems ironic that so many of these athletes are here because of something that is the very antithesis of sport – war.

Like Jon-Allan Butterworth, the cyclist who lost his arm in a rocket attack while serving in Iraq in 2007. Or Private Derek Derenalagi, the discus thrower who lost his legs the same year, when his vehicle was blown up by two Taliban mines. Or Captain Nick Beighton, leader of the rowing squad, who lost his legs in 2009 when he stepped on a mine in Afghanistan.

Others are here not by accident, but because of one. In 2005, Tom Aggar, then aged 21, a 6ft 3in tall rugby player, fell 12 foot on to concrete in the dark during a party. He awoke paralysed from the waist down, knowing that his life had changed forever. Three years later, he was rowing in the Beijing Paralympics, and won gold in the single scull event.

Stefanie Reid was a rugby-mad 15-year-old when she lost her right foot in a speedboat accident. She nearly died from loss of blood, but since retrained in athletics, partly because her prosthetic limb was considered a hazard for other rugby players. Now, she has christened it "the cheetah".

Tom Aggar during an adaptive rowing training session ahead of the London 2012 Paralympics 

Then there are those who have battled against adversity from birth, like schoolgirl Jade Jones the 16-year-old wheelchair racing protégée of the most iconic British Paralympian of them all – Tanni Grey-Thompson. Jones was born without a thigh, but has emerged as a potential star of the Games.

I could go on... and on. Many of these stories have already unfolded and there will be scores more to come as the Games progress. It is virtually impossible to meet so many of these athletes and hear of their against all odds triumphs without finding a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye.

But this is precisely the reaction they do not want.  All they seek is normality and to be given the same serious appreciation as the Olympians who have preceded them.  They need our cheers, not our tears and a simple acknowledgement that what we are about to enjoy is not some sort of freak show but a genuine spectacle of sport.

Wayne Rooney's gashed leg may temporarily have pushed Oscar Pistorious' "bionic" ones off the back pages but once the Games are under way the unabashed fervour which swamped those earlier 17 days of glory surely will be revisited.

Jade Jones who will be competing in London 2012's 400, 800 and 1500 metre T54 wheelchair racing events

In some ways it does seem a shame that the world's two biggest sporting events have to be treated separately. I am not suggesting that, as with the Commonwealth Games, the Paras should be interwoven with the Olympics. Clearly that is not practical. But did they really have to extinguish the Olympic Flame on August 12, only for it to be re-lit this week? At least keeping the flame alive would have made it seem more like a Games of two halves rather than two totally separate entities.

Yes, of course, they are different; they have to be by necessity. As different as the two men who respectively preside over them.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge, 72, former Belgian surgeon, rugby player and yachtsman, highly respected and royally treated, if not overburdened with charisma, backed by a retinue of courtiers from palatial headquarters in Lausanne. A man of carefully considered words, he is due to step down next year.

The equally autonomous International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have Britain's Sir Philip Craven, a 62-year-old blunt-speaking Lancastrian who lives in a modest bungalow near Bolton who became a wheelchair basketball player after breaking his back in a climbing accident. President since 2001, he hopes to go on to Rio in 2016, and a successful 2012 should secure that aim.

Sir Philip Craven awards the gold medal to the winner of the Paralympic equestrian freestyle event at Beijing 2008

He is a man of candour, not afraid to express opinions, and makes it clear that he is not altogether approving of the curiously patronising section in the British Paralympic Association's (BPA) media guide which warns against athletes being "patronised or pitied" (somewhat patronising in itself) and gives detailed instructions telling journalists how they should talk to people with disabilities, which phrases to use and those to avoid.

"That is ridiculous," says Sir Philip. "How do you talk to them? You talk to them as you would anyone else."

Quite. Which is why we should look at the Paralympic Games and those who play them with the same objectivity and critical assessment of performance that we did in the Olympics.

Because while what we see may be different, there is only one common denominator: it is called sport.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

Beijing, China – Haven't you ever wanted to peek behind the curtains?

Come on now. Be honest. Haven't you wanted X-ray vision like Superman to peer inside that big Christmas present under the tree or read through the Book of Secrets that is sits on the desk of the President of the United States? In the world we live in today, there is nothing more magical and mysterious than the inner workings of the Chinese Government. No American is ever invited behind the curtain to sit and enjoy a lunch of dim sum with the Wizard of Oz.

Except me.

I was the sole American in senior management of the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the greatest of all Olympiads. The interesting thing about being inside the machinery of the Chinese Government is that you think nothing of it, and you start to wonder why aren't there a dozen more guys like me here? How did I survive?  Basically I became wallpaper. I was a tree. A potted plant. I was seen and not seen and over time, the co-workers and even the BOCOG (Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) management looked at me no different than any of the people they broke bread with every noon at the staff canteen.


Journalists who came and went to the myriad press conferences held at the Olympic Media Centre prior to the Games and in the Main Press Centre during the Olympiad came away with exactly what we (meaning the collective we) wanted them to know. And after the media left, I stayed. I was in all of the back door meetings with senior leaders of the Chinese Government and a trusted confidant who re-wrote the speeches of the Chinese leadership.

IOC President Jacques Rogge and Liu Qi, President of Beijing 2008 appear during the Closing Ceremony

Let me share with you what you didn't see on global television.

What I saw when I worked for the BOCOG for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad were thousands of Chinese citizens with an incredible passion - a pure and unwavering commitment to create the greatest Olympics in the history of the Modern Age. The Chinese were driven by an unrivaled passion to make their first Olympic Games the very best that has been or will ever be – and they succeeded. Sydney may be the "best" but the Olympics in China were the "greatest" because the Chinese people understood and harnessed the incredible power of change that comes from the mantra: peace through sport.

Fan dancers rehearsed their routine in front of the Bird's Nest Stadium

When the Chinese are alone – away from the prying eyes of the outsiders and work daily together, it is an entirely different world. Lunch was for wimps.  Dinner is for cowards. I was part of endless debates by BOCOG management on what the international community would think about this and about that.  Wanting to drill home the superiority of the Chinese nation, the Chinese staff at BOCOG spent endless hours in preparation for the Olympic Games and did an awesome job. Take simple logistics as an example. Of this, the Chinese are experts in moving masses of people, as they do this each and every day. Moving spectators in and out of athletic venues is nothing here.  The same goes for teaching the Chinese people how to applaud or how to behave in a major Olympic venue. BOCOG masterfully and scientifically dissected the Olympics and then reassembled it with Chinese characteristics.

Commuters at a subway in Beijing during rush hour during the Games

Nothing was ever left to chance. What I saw being inside the Chinese machinery was that the Chinese nation is here. Today – and inside the Beijing Olympics, every day, the Chinese worked like church mice in making every facet of the Games flawless. Transportation, food, housing, hotel accommodations, air transportation – the list is near endless. Everything worked and the entire Chinese nation was honed and laser focused on these Games.

Sure, you can compare the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2012 London Olympics all you want. Good luck on that. London Olympic Organisers spent around $10 billion (£6 billion/€8 billion) over the original $4 billion (£2.5 billion/€3 billion) budget and will probably end up burdened in debt for the next two decades. Instead, the Chinese ended their Games with a $10 million (£6 million/€8 million) profit, with four new subway lines, a new airport, the Bird's Nest, Beijing's official National Stadium and the Water Cub, Beijing's National Aquatics Centre.

Swimmers at the Water Cube broke 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics

No Games will ever come close to what was done in Beijing and none should. The bar is set just too high. What I learned from the Olympics in China is that the Games are not about big buildings, instead the Chinese proved to us all that the Olympics are about the language, history, art, science and food of the host nation that beckons the world to the shining city on a hill to watch games that children play.

With unity and harmony, the Chinese showed the world how the Olympics should be done.

Jeff Ruffolo served as the senior expert for the Beijing and is author of a new book - Inside the Beijing Olympics - available on Amazon.com.

Who knows how many people are already claiming They Were There when Mo Farah secured his second gold of the London 2012 Games in the Olympic Stadium? Already, no doubt, it will be in excess of 80,000, the stadium capacity.

As it was, the noise generated at the end of that 5,000 metres race, when the Somali-born runner rounded the top bend with a pack of five rivals at his heels and kept them all there for the length of the straight, was so great that one's ears – yes, I was there, honestly – began to ring.

And then, as Farah entered the final 25m, the atmosphere became so tumultuous that for a few seconds you couldn't properly hear anything. It was like the amp in Spinal Tap being turned up to volume 11.

The expression on Farah's face as he crossed the line was not one of disbelief, so much as extreme belief. "Two medals – who would have thought it?" was his reaction after completing the 10,000/5,000m double. But the answer was: him. And the answer was also: Alberto Salazar.

Farah's decision to up sticks from London and join the former New York Marathon winner in Oregon, taking his wife and stepdaughter with him, was the last in a series of shifts which have enabled him to maximise his rich talent. The double Olympic champion doesn't give off the driven vibe of, say, Paula Radcliffe or Seb Coe, but in his way he has been just as calculating and single-minded in reaching his present position as one of the nation's cherished sporting performers.

Mo Farah celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win gold ahead of Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia and Thomas Longosiwa of Kenya in the London 2012 men's 5,000m final

At 29, Farah has finally arrive at the position that was being forecast for him more than a decade ago when he started to produce stand-out performances after he had made the first and most important shift of his entire life in 1993 by moving from his native country, a war-torn Somalia, to join his father, who was already living in Britain.

I first spoke to Farah early in 2000 – although the immediate circumstances were unpromising. Young Mo was waiting at a bus-stop with his school mates, and as I strained to hear his quiet voice on the phone the task suddenly became more vexed as a bus arrived and everybody piled on.

Against a background of noise which suggested his fellow pupils were systematically destroying their means of transport, Farah recalled how his knowledge of the English language was so limited when he arrived in Hounslow from Mogadishu that he got into a fight on his first day at school.

Mo Farah in action during the 2001 Aqua Pura International meeting held at Loughborough University

He also remembered how, during his first cross-country race for the Borough of Hounslow club, he had lost the chance of winning when he took a wrong turning, baffled by the signs on the course.

But that talented, if confused young athlete has now very definitely found his way – and cross-country has been one of the key means of reaching the position in which he now finds himself.

In December 2006, I saw him earn his first significant gold after six consecutive silver medals as he took the European Cross-Country title at San Giorgio su Legnano.

Earlier that year Farah had had a reward for an enterprising decision which prefigured his shift to Oregon when he threw in his lot with the Kenyan athletes who used Teddington as their European training base. After spending months living the dedicated and frugal life they followed – eating carbohydrate-rich ugali, watching television in the lounge during downtime, and running, running, running – he produced the second fastest 5,000m time by a Briton, 13min 09.40sec.

Clearly, when he took to the cross-country course in Italy he was in a position to win. And, just as Radcliffe had done in her career, which hit the top level after she had become world cross-country champion in 2001, he followed up a breakthrough on the grass with one on the track.

Later in 2006 he missed winning the European 5,000m title by just 0.09. Four years later he returned to the Europeans in Barcelona and completed a 5,000/10,000m double. He was properly in business.

Mo Farah with his 2010 European Athletics Championships 5,000m gold medal

Farah, with his dazzling smile and amiable manner, has been the Changingman of British athletics – but unlike the character in Paul Weller's song, his ambitions have not been built on shifting sand.

He has never been what you would call risk-averse, which has usually been a strength. Although David Bedford, the former race director of the Virgin London Marathon, likes to recall the time he managed to persuade Farah to have a night out with him and others in 2006, at the end of which the runner decided to take off all his clothes and jump into the Thames off Kingston Bridge.

"I don't have as many nights out nowadays," Farah told me. "But if I have something to celebrate in the future, anything can happen."

Such revels are unlikely to figure in his 2012 celebrations, however, as he and his wife look forward to the imminent birth of twin girls.

Had circumstances been different, Farah might have been giving the Netherlands cause for celebration this Olympic year. When he emigrated, the original plan was for him to come to Britain and then go on to Holland to live with his grandmother. But he liked Britain so much that he stayed. Britain is glad.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames.

So the London 2012 Olympics have come and gone in a blink of an eye and the whole of the UK still seems in a state of mourning following the euphoria and huge patriotism create by the event.

I was one of the lucky ones as I got to attend, amongst other events, both Ceremonies, the 100 metre final, the majority of Michael Phelps' victories at the Aquatics Centre and of course that legendary super-Saturday where heptathlete Jess Ennis, long-jumper Greg Rutherford and distance-runner Mo Farah all claimed golds in the space of 46 minutes.

That hour, the finest in the history of British athletics, is one I will never forget because rarely have I been in a stadium where you feel like you can touch the electricity such was the deafening atmosphere in the place.

But I have to admit, my favourite part of the Olympics was not the sport, it was actually walking around the Olympic Park and seeing thousands of spectators, adults and children alike, trotting around with a smile on their face and saying how great the Olympics was.

It was the same on London's famously rude tube where; instead of avoiding eye contact as per usual; people were talking about the Games and discussing their favourite moments. It was truly a special feeling and undoubtedly sad when that Olympic Flame extinguished in the Stadium to draw things to a formal halt.

What next?

That was the main question that seemed to be emanating from the thousands of deflated spectators that shuffled off the Olympic Park following the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

Bizarrely forgotten was the fact that London 2012 is not over because there is a whole Paralympics to come.

Tom Degun was fortunate enough to attend both the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies

I must declare an interest in the Paralympics because as the Paralympics Correspondent of insidethegames, I have covered almost every single element of the Games and the key players involved since we launched our dedicated Paralympic website - insideworldparasport.biz - on December 3, 2009 - exactly 1,000 days before the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony.

But I am happy to admit that at the start, I did not have an in-depth knowledge of Paralympic sport.

I knew the basics: That there was a South African guy called Oscar Pistorius who controversially competes against able-bodied athletes, that Britain was pretty good at the Paralympics having finished second on the medal at the last three Summer Paralympics and that London 2012 was aiming to change perceptions of disabled people.

It was around this point that I first encountered the legendary Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson, Britain's 11-time Paralympic wheelchair racing champion, and I remember well when she told me that she "didn't care if people came to the Paralympics just because they couldn't get Olympic tickets."

"I just want them to come and then they will see what it is all about," she said.

At that point, she knew something I didn't.

Several months later, in May 2010, I headed to the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester and on the eve of the event, I met Pistorius himself.

In a long one-on-one interview with the South African, I remember grilling him about why he still wanted to compete at the Paralympics if he could make the Olympics, which he ultimately did.

Wheelchair basketball can be hard-fought as well as skilful

His message was remarkable similar to the one Tanni gave me.

"It's not a second grade version of any able-bodied sport," he told me.

"It's got triumph; it's got disaster and it's got everything else you need for great sport."

I didn't fully understand what he was talking about either until a day or so later when I settled down to watch my first wheelchair basketball match – Britain v Australia.

Within seconds of the first brutal collision of wheelchairs, I realised what I had been missing. It was a game with as much skill, precision, ability and power as any sport I had seen before. I was completely hypnotised by the fact that these athletes that we would could "disabled" appeared be more able than most.

Several years on, we reach the London 2012 Paralympics, and like Tanni and Oscar, who I am now lucky enough to call friends, I know what is coming. I will be one of the few at the venues that will not be surprised at how phenomenal the athletes are.

I was reminded of it just this week when I went to see the Japanese Paralympic swimming team train at Basildon Sporting Village, not far from where I live.

The pool has a glass window so that the public can see in and a mother and her two young children were walking past as one of the Japanese swimmers with no arms performed a superb dive into the pool.

As he dived, I saw the mother and her children stop suddenly in their tracks, with their mouths open, at the remarkable achievement.

They then pressed their faces to the glass for a closer look and stood there for several minutes.

The Japanese swimming team prepares for the Paralympics at Basildon Sporting Village

As I turned back to the pool, all I saw was the swimmer wearing a frown because the dive had not been performed absolutely perfectly.

I imagine I will see a lot of shocked and surprised faces in the crowd at the Paralympics.

I myself had one when I first saw Paralympic sport and realised what these athletes can do.

But once that surprise wears off, and it will do quickly, I know that Britain will sit back and enjoy world class sport just as they did at the Olympics.

Why?

Because they will quickly realise the Paralympics is not a second grade version of any able-bodied sport.

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.