Stand up for the London Olympics | 01 Jan 2012

To judge by the publicity to date, you’d think that hosting the most prestigious sporting event in the world was a national scandal. The latest story to besmirch the Olympics is The Sun newspaper’s exclusive on the existence of a ‘monster’ lurking in the river Lea next to the Olympic Park. While this tale is not being taken quite as seriously as the other stories surrounding London 2012 – think budgetary issues, Dow Chemical, security costs – it is still yet another negative piece of PR surrounding the event.

But do you know what? I don’t care. I am so excited about the prospect of the biggest multi-sport event being hosted in our capital city that I get goose bumps every time one of those inspirational, if very cheesy, adverts featuring sports stars clasping a bar of Dairy Milk appears on the screen. And at a recent visit to the handball arena to watch a test event I was actually hyperventilating.

There is, of course, a reason for this excitement beyond just the prospect of the world’s top athletes (and David Beckham) coming to London. I have actually got a job there, so from the middle of June until the end of August I will be living, eating and sleeping the Olympic dream.

As head of the Olympic and Paralympic Hockey News Team, I will be in charge of the delivery of news, views and interviews from the hockey stadium. In a nutshell, this means that I will be churning out the news from the 89 hockey matches that comprise the men’s and women’s tournaments – there is every chance I will never want to see a hockey stick ever again.

But, hockey fatigue aside, the negativity in the run-up to this event is a source of constant irritation to someone as committed to the power of sport as I am.

The heaviest criticism has been that levelled at the promises within the Olympic legacy. Okay, one million people taking up sport as a direct result of the Olympics was always going to be unrealistic. We are not going to eschew fast food and become a healthy living nation because Jessica Ennis wins a medal – but there will be a legacy.

It might not be the legacy that Sebastian Coe and Tessa Jowell envisaged. Instead it will be a legacy of emotions evoked by performances and how these colour our memories of sport, of London and of the whole Olympic movement.

For four weeks this summer, along with the rest of the world, UK spectators will run through the gamut of emotions. There will be joy as rowers win gold, there will be despair as the cyclist crashes out in the qualifier, there will be the anticipation as the diver stands on the board, a nation will pray for the athlete to overcome the ankle injury, there will be awe as the quickest man in the world hurtles down the track, there will be anger at the drugs cheat and tears as the paralympian overcomes the odds.

So, while the cynics and the pessimists may harp on about costs and terrorists and white elephants, I am looking forward to the heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping, white-knuckle ride that I experience every single time a British athlete takes to the international stage. And this year it will be even more special, because it is all happening on our own doorstep.

Sarah Juggins is an editor at CPL