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I know a bloke who likes to say a little bit of him dies every time one of his friends has some measure of professional success. He works in the City so he probably means it.

It's an attitude many in the British Olympic family could sympathise with right now, because while Beijing was the very best of times for some, it remained . And with operating on a "use it or lose it" approach to funding, success has almost become a self-fulfilling prophesy, while failure, well, you just don't want to go there.

But "there" is exactly where British judo finds itself and the choices it is grappling with are the same choices all the other "under-performing" sports will have to address very soon.

So when , national head coaches and the link between the elite and grass-roots ends of the sport, you can guarantee archery, athletics, badminton, basketball and so on, are paying attention.

Athlete's Village, Beijing

I've left it a few days partly because I have been busy in the village food hall piling on the pounds!

But mostly because I wanted to gather my thoughts and not rush into writing anything too quickly.

I suppose I should get right down to business and let you know how I feel about my performance and the .

Everyone who knows me will know that I am absolutely gutted not to come away from these Games with a medal.

is the centuries-old science of knowing everything there is to know about grapes.

Protecting them from , monitoring their growth and working out when best to harvest them for making fun stuff like wine, these are all key duties for your average viticulturist.

They would also know exactly when grapes go sour.

I wonder then what they would make of two very different responses to British defeats in events at the Olympics on Tuesday.

Macau

Boredom can be an issue for those athletes still enjoying the facilities here at holding camp and now itching to join the action in Beijing.

In between their carefully regimented training regime, time is filled with music, the odd book, a game of pool in their exclusive lounge.

But like an excited child desperately trying to kill time on Christmas Eve during the seemingly endless wait for their presents, restlessness can set in, so some bright spark came up with the idea of "" style quiz night at to keep the troops entertained.

Assuming the role of Sue Barker was 大象传媒 TV track and field reporter .

Today is tinged with sadness for me as I bid farewell to the Olympic countdown that has been my life for the last three and-a-bit months (I have done bits of other stuff too, just in case the boss is reading and, yes, I have had a haircut).

First of all let me apologise about the relative blogging silence from me in the last few weeks. As I'm sure you can imagine it has been a furiously busy period for me and all the other guys, not only in the judo team but also all of the other sports who will make up in August.

Since the last time I wrote on the 大象传媒 website I have been through a torturous three weeks in Japan, felt the strain of injury on the return to Scotland and the relief of getting back to business on the mat.

I have shown that I can win medals when everything goes wrong and most recently I experienced what being a member of Team GB - rather than the British judo team - feels like when I was kitted out in my Olympic gear last week.

Each Friday, we put together a podcast of the best of the 大象传媒's Olympics coverage in the run-up to the Games.

This time around the star feature is an interview from Up All Night, where Musty Aziz pays a visit to Scottish judoka Euan Burton.

Welcome to our Olympics and Paralympics blog, which we are launching as the countdown to the begins in earnest.

Wednesday marks exactly 100 days to go to the 8 August opening ceremony (though oddly enough the football tournament starts two days earlier).

Writers from across 大象传媒 Sport, Radio 5Live, 大象传媒 London and 大象传媒 News will bring you the inside track on all , as well as the Games themselves - which are set to be truly fascinating, if controversial, given China's hosting of them.

One of the uncertainties at the moment from a British perspective is whether the Games will turn out to be a triumph - or a failure. My view is...

Keep reading this blog for all the latest about the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing and also for the inside track on the long build-up to London 2012.

News and reports will be on the but our experts will bring you behind the scenes access to the world's biggest sporting event right here.

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I'm going to my first Olympics in Beijing and compete in judo's -81kg division.

I won World Championship bronze in Brazil last September, beating Athens gold medallist Gieuseppe Maddaloni to qualify for the Olympics.

I have been a judoka since the age of six and gained my black belt 10 years later.