London 2012 blog

I have just returned from three days at the European Indoor Athletic Championships in Birmingham.

There’s a spring in the step of British athletics again. This genuinely is a new generation and for the first time for a long time, I’ve seen some hunger and some genuine excitement about competing in a championship.

The guys over the course of the weekend really looked as though they were relishing the competition rather than hiding from it.

Nicola Sanders ran with real bravery, Jason had that unmistakable look of ‘I’m just not going to be beaten today’ and Craig Pickering must be counting down the days to the opening of the outdoor season and the extra 40 metres that will bring him into his own.

The championships were superbly organised and were a showcase of how to organise a major sporting event, the biggest athletic event that will be staged in this country before the Games in 2012.

And if you ever need to ask what the effect of a home crowd will be in London in 2012, look at the medal haul in Birmingham – the greatest British medal haul in the history of the European Indoor Championships.