It is a great time to be involved in British sports after the remarkable performances of Team GB in the recent Beijing Olympic Games. You do not need to be reminded, although the rest of world must be, that in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, UK athletes—not yet Team GB—garnered just one medal. To progress in 12 years to the current situation, in which your Olympic athletes win more than 40 medals, is an achievement equalled perhaps only by Australia and East Germany in the recent past. Indeed, the evidence I have observed and the mood I encountered suggest that the world has yet to see the peak of this British Olympic success—Team GB has the capacity to improve yet further. In the years to come, it will become apparent that however remarkable your team's performance in the Beijing Olympics, it was relatively pedestrian compared to what lies ahead at the London Olympic Games and beyond.

I must add on a personal note that the success of Team GB is profoundly important for another reason—it makes sceptics like me, who were firmly convinced that success in many Olympic sports is drug-dependent, acknowledge that perhaps we are wrong. The nation that pioneered the special concept of fair play has shown that success in Olympic competition can be achieved without compromising those traditional British values.