The prospects for a proud Olympic legacy are bleak

John Patten, an Olympics adviser, warns that there is still much strategic thinking to be done for 2012 — not to mention the lax anti-terror measures at the construction sites

I had to be forcibly persuaded on to the rugby field at school. Now, to my amazement, I find myself advising the British Olympic Association. I sympathise with friends who become quite hysterical at the idea of my rubbing shoulders with Sir Clive Woodward and the titans of track and field. But the BOA wanted at least one member of the semi-detached and sceptical classes to be around as a counterweight to unrealistic tendencies.

The London Olympic dream is for athletic success during the biggest and best street parties these islands have seen, leaving a sporting legacy for future generations — and a regenerated East End.

The Chinese delivered a fabulous show, but they were lucky. They had brilliant choreography and the sort of rigid social discipline our government can only long for. They also had bottomless pockets. We are not so fortunate. Nevertheless, the chances of more Olympic medals for Team GB in 2012 look pretty good. But the odds of us having some memorable street parties to celebrate them are only fair, unless some superman choreographer is speedily appointed. The odds are even worse, alas, for a lasting legacy in London’s East End.

These testing times require firm and coherent decision-making from one supreme source, a Regeneration Corporation headed by a supremo, so that the short-term aims and long-term legacy of 2012 are fulfilled.

At the moment, no such organisation exists. Lots of individuals and an alphabet soup of acronyms crowd the decision-making stage instead. There is the Olympics Minister, there is the Mayor of London and all those ODAs, LOCOG, and the aforementioned BOA.