Day 8 second Saturday, and more fantastic rowing gold medals in the morning. But it was all usurped in my memory bank as finally I saw the star of Paris 2024. The Eiffel Tower! I was heading into the centre of Paris for the end of the men’s cycling road race - Tom Pidcock was going for another medal, but in the end he finished outside the top ten and Belgium dominated. To get to that mixed zone though at the Trocadero, where the Opening Ceremony had taken place, the media had to walk across a platform or a stage, and I suddenly realised I was standing looking at the Olympics rings on the Eiffel Tower. Eight days in it finally felt like I was at Paris 2024!

Understandably, Alex was a man in demand, but seeing me in amongst the scrum, he came across and we carried out another lovely interview. I’ve known Alex a little while now and he’s a very unassuming, unfailingly polite, nice individual and once again I was grateful for that, as well as the groundwork John and I had put in over the years to get to know these athletes and gain their trust. I was more than happy with my morning’s work at the triathlon. It was only later I realised I had commentated on the moment Team GB had won an Olympic gold medal. Pinch me.

When they unfortunately left on the Sunday, I had in affect one week to go and felt refreshed and revitalised! We’d also been to the first morning of the athletics in the incredible Stade De France. Watching Josh Kerr cruise into the semis was just a precursor of what I think was a great Games for British Athletics - could’ve been monumental if the silvers for Kerr and Matt Hudson Smith had been gold, but still overall the track stars delivered. And I hope Matthew has the same inspiration eventually as I did after LA 84 - watching Daley Thompson on tv win his second decathlon gold. More on him to follow in part 2 of my 24 moments for Paris 2024!

I did want to get some thoughts on paper quickly whilst the emotion is still high. I use the word emotion deliberately here because it is a word I put to many of our Olympians when interviewing them. I asked them for their emotions. For the past ten years I have covered athletics extensively for talkSPORT. This has included numerous British Championships, Diamond League events, Indoor Grand Prix events, Anniversary Games, European Championships and World Championships – indoor and outdoor. And so, it made sense that one of my key roles for talkSPORT was to be the trackside reporter for all the athletics finals and evening sessions. Whilst it meant I maybe didn’t see the breadth of sports and disciplines like my colleague John, it did put me in the position I had dreamt about for a long time.

It’s the freshness of our other roster of pundits that really excites us. When putting together a team of experts we aimed to secure athletes with very recent experiences of competing at the highest level as well as knowing about what it takes to achieve at a global level. Injuries have meant that Adam Gemili was unable to qualify as an athlete this time around. Instead, he will be with us each night for the athletics to bring the knowledge gathered from competing in London, Rio and Tokyo to our audience. The 2017 World Champion will also know better than most how his teammates who have been selected are feeling having been part of that squad alongside them this year.

One of the subjects on the agenda was the announcement of who will carry the flag for Team GB at the Opening Ceremony. First of all – we definitely haven’t been told the identity of the flag bearers and in fact no decision will be made until the entire team has been selected. For me, there is one stand out candidate. Tom Daley.

Savour every moment this summer, of sporting success, of hardship or heartache of joy and delight. But keep an ear out for the music too, something that will transport you back in years to come. Sport and music have a habit of doing that!

A smaller games than recent editions. 4 key venues all within an 8-mile radius. Athletics would be held at Scotstoun Stadium with swimming back at Tollcross, as it was in 2014. The Emirates Arena is able to host track cycling as well as the capability to stage another sport or two using its other multi-purpose sports halls, whilst the SECC along with the Armadillo and Hydro arenas would be able to stage a further 6 or 7 sports.

The stats around the number of Long Jump fouls during the World Championships in Budapest are pretty damning with a third NO jumps “that doesn’t work, that’s a waste of time.” So what is being trialled is a new ‘jump zone’, no board, no light, no plasticine, with the length of the jump being measured from where you take off, effectively ensuring no fouls, longer jumps and presumably hopes of more interest in the event.

We’ll continue to work hard to tell the stories of our Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes because we think they’ve all got a story really worth hearing – and by using our network of contacts in the radio industry, we know we can help them to reach huge audiences.

Six months to go to the Olympic Games and the World Aquatics Championships gets underway this week. Diving starts us off on Friday February 2nd with the Women’s 1m springboard and Mixed 3m and 10m Team.

Fri 26th Jul – Sun 11th Aug

Olympics (Paris)

Wed 28th Aug – Sun 8th Sep

Paralympics (Paris)

Chemmy Alcott was a guest talking about the need for sustainability in winter sports and her fears about how climate change is affecting some of the more traditional destinations for snow sports. It was a passionate response and one Chemmy feels strongly about. Should Chemmy just stick to skiing?

Here it is! The torch that will carry the flame from Greece and light up another Olympic Games in a years time!

It's always a challenge to make the Olympic Torch Relay different and develop it, but to be fair to Paris 2024 organisers, who've had a tough week following the French prosecutors raid over finances on Tuesday, they've pulled a few tricks out of the bag to achieve their aim of allowing most French people to see the flame.

The men’s game isn’t, and should not be, the blueprint, the women’s game has the opportunity to do things differently and strike out on its own.

I felt pretty privileged to be standing in one of the first buildings to open, the London College of Fashion, with it's incredible design inside and outside - just look at that staircase!

The podcast was recorded and all put together and was available to listen on the same day. Our background in broadcast news and current affairs means we are very experienced in quick turnaround production – an important skill when events are time sensitive, like a team announcement.

London didn’t invent legacy. Barcelona in 1992 did an amazing job in ensuring lasting benefits of its games, but what has happened in London had already happened in Atlanta. It was a blueprint if you like.