大象传媒

I live in Hackney, which makes me lucky for lots of reasons. , , , ...Hackney has it all (providing you don't mind controlled parking zones, gang warfare, fly-tipping and foxes doing horrible things to each other in your garden at night).

But most of all I'm lucky because is one of the five host boroughs of the . And if you're one of the million or so people who live in one of those boroughs, there is a simple answer to the question "will hosting the Olympics have a positive impact on your life?" It's "yes".

OK, I get the local paper stuffed through my letter box so I know there are a about a large swathe of east London being turned into a building site, but for the vast majority of us having the Olympics on our patch is an undeniably good thing.

Could, however, I say the same if I lived in Aberdeen, Bristol or Coleraine?

With less than a month to go to the Beijing opening ceremony, the cards are appearing on the table.

UK Sport have played their hand: It is neither bullish nor pessimistic but they might be wishing a few more of the best Brits were going for the top of the podium in the first week of competition.

Checking out the sports programme, it looks a bit lean, on days one to six, and let's face it, our