In the first Olympic Games in the modern era (1892) there were no female competitors and it has taken until 2012 for the historic moment to arrive when every nation competing in the Olympic Games have fielded female athletes (44% of all athletes).

It was several years ago, 2008 I think, when one of our Commissioners, Professor Stuart Green had a little rant about legacy.

The first time volunteers were used at the Olympic games was at London in 1948 so it's only appropriate that at the London 2012 games over 70,000 volunteered to help out. Olympic volunteering is coming home.

Expectations were high. London 2012 was expected to deliver the most sustainable Games ever. But will there be a legacy? I have always seen London 2012 as a sustainable regeneration project interrupted by a few weeks of sport. This is a view developed by the political leaders at the time and led to the concept of the sustainable Games.

It's like a flash sale - red and yellow lights sporadically blink on your screen. You're bursting with anticipation as sweat oozes from the palms of your hands all whilst sitting awkwardly on the edge of your seat. Seeing the words "No tickets found" in bright orange is a sudden moment of despair.

So yes, the branding rules are strict. And yes, people's attentions have been more focused on their TVs than shop windows. But small businesses can - and have - used the Games to their advantage. BrandGB is a powerful thing; so let's use it both now and beyond London 2012.

The Great Britain team claimed two more gold medals today putting it on course to make the London 2012 Games the best for more than a century. The ...

Judo fighter Nicholas Delpopolo has tainted the US team image after he tested positive for cannabis. However, he claimed that he'd ingested marijua...

It's the end of the first week of the London 2012 Olympics and I've learned two valuable life lessons: first, grown men will fight small children for the chance to sit at the front of the DLR and pretend to be the driver; and second, don't jump up for a full-on Mexican Wave whilst holding a plastic pint glass full of lager.

Over the seven years I have been chair of the Commission I have met a wide variety of people from NGOs and also most of the corporate sponsors to talk about issues related to the sustainability of the Games and its legacy.

Over the past few days I've lost count of the number of politicians decrying critics of the Olympics. Labour's newly appointed 'Olympic Legacy Adviser' Tony Blair has returned to one of his favourite themes, declaring war on cynicism.