The Beijing Olympics were without doubt a huge success, both for the nation of China and our very own Great Britain. Never has an Olympic Games come under so much scrutiny and for the wrong reasons. We all know about the history of the Chinese human rights issues and this, for many, was a reason not to have given the Games to China. For me, this was a chance for China to show the world that they can and will move on from that and I have to say they grabbed it with both hands.

The opening ceremony was something to behold and I very much doubt, particularly taking the current economic climate, that London 2012 will be able to get anywhere near to the quality of performances and pyrotechnics that we witnessed last August. At the time, I was on my honeymoon in Malta and as the ceremony was going on, people just stopped exactly what they were doing and gathered round the nearest big screen for the next 3 hours, it really was that good.

Now onto the games. Without going into the details of every sport, all the facilities and infrastructure were superb, the stadiums and arenas were always full and the fans so enthusiastic. The athletes generally took things to another level with World Record after World Record being smashed. Who will ever forget Usain Bolt in the 100m final. He could have stopped for the toilet and still won.

Team GB, not usually 2 words we can be proud of, but at Beijing 2008, these fine athletes gave our nation something to cheer on a daily basis. There were some terrific individual and team performances, not least in the pool and the cycling. It really was 3 weeks to remember.

The closing ceremony was equally memorable.

What a great success.