A key argument for those who back the 2012 Games in London is now what is called 'the legacy' - what's left behind after the closing ceremony.
The most obvious aspect of that is the centrepiece Olympic Park, which will become the largest new urban park in Europe for more than 150 years and it is clear now that a feasibility study is due to be announced soon.
This will involve looking at Sydney's model for the post-Olympic use of the stadium. This means that after 2012 there could be a sports school in the stadium that would teach children all kinds of sports, not just football.
As well as housing the school, it is also still possible that the stadium may become home to a football club. Talks are proceeding with Leyton Orient, who are very interested.
The park is planned to be home to world-class sporting facilities for elite and community use, including an aquatics centre, a velopark, a hockey facility and a new multi-sport venue.
There will be a range of transport improvements with an extension to the Docklands Light Railway and capacity on the Jubilee Line increased.
The Olympic Village, where the athletes will stay during the Games, will be converted into apartments, many of which will be made available for key workers such as teachers and nurses. Most of the facilities in the park will remain for use by local communities.
After the Games, the 500-acre park will be connected to the tidal Thames Estuary to the south and the Hertfordshire countryside to the north.
The International Olympic Committee has held discussions with cycling's world governing body about introducing skateboarding for the London games.
The IOC is known to be eager to modernise the Olympic programme with sports and disciplines that appeal to youth. It has already added snowboarding to the Winter Games and BMX cycling for next year's Beijing Olympics.
"The IOC wants to make the programme relevant for young people," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said.
The IOC does not recognise an international skateboarding federation, so the sport would first need to be adopted as a discipline under the UCI umbrella. After that, the UCI could make a formal proposal to the IOC for its inclusion in the Olympics.
The proposed venue in London is the velodrome in the Olympic Park.
Twenty-six sports are on the London Olympic programme. While it is too late to add any sports, new disciplines can still be brought in.
London 2012 held the first of its summer Roadshows, at the Greenwich Sporthathon at Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich.
Visiting 27 stops over a ten-week tour, the Roadshow will visit all regions of Britain in a specially branded London 2012 double-decker bus. The theme of this year’s Roadshow is 'Join In', aiming to encourage everyone - particularly young people - to be inspired by sport with a long-term aim of increasing their participation in the run up to 2012, creating a lasting legacy for the UK.
London 2012 Chair Sebastian Coe and Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson joined the bus for its inaugural event to motivate visitors to set their own challenges for 2012.
The bus was on site for the final of the Sportathon, a four-day sporting festival involving approximately 1,800 children from 57 primary schools. Visitors were able to take part in ‘taster’ sporting activities from Sport England including rugby skills, weightlifting, Taekwondo and fencing.
Three contractors are competing to build the Aquatics Centre that will be the gateway to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Balfour Beatty, Eiffel and Hochtief have been selected to take part in the next stage to win the construction contract. Each of the three companies has been involved in a number of major construction projects. For example, Eiffel with the Millau Bridge in France, Balfour Beatty with Heathrow Terminal 5 and Hochtief with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe said: “The Aquatics Centre will host the best athletes in the world during the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and afterwards will be an important base for elite British swimmers, and a new swimming and fitness facility for local people. It is another example of the fantastic sporting legacy that the Games will leave.”
After the Games temporary seating will be removed, leaving in legacy a 2,500 capacity swimming venue that can be boosted to 3,500 seats, and local community and school swimming facilities.
Eiffel, Balfour Beatty and Hochtief will now enter the competitive dialogue process with the preferred contractor appointed by the end of the year. Work is well underway clearing and excavating the site before construction starts in 2008.