I must say I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. The venues are ready, the athletes have arrived; it’s time for Rio De Janeiro to take centre stage. My enthusiasm for the olympics hasn’t waned since 2012: to have been here, in London, that year, was remarkable. The entire city was abuzz – it felt so alive, like we were the centre of the world’s attention. I feel truly privileged to have been here. Simply being here was a once in a lifetime experience, let alone watching Lyn play at the Paralympic closing ceremony.

Nobody can argue we didn’t do a wonderful, wonderful job. Yet London is an old, established city. It is a safe pair of hands. The first city to host the games three times, you could even call it old hat. What excites me about the Rio games is that they will be completely different. I can’t wait to see what latin flair they inject into the games. No doubt the city will be throbbing to samba beats, and, with any luck, the whole world will follow suit. I’m looking forward to seeing something new, uniquely Brazilian, and unlike anything that has been before. I think it’s what the Olympics, as a worldwide sociocultural event, needed – fusty old European cities are so 2012, it’s time to go somewhere exotic.

Whereas London was a safe choice, rio is a risk. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense – although questions have been raised over whether the city is ready – but in the sense that it has an edginess to it: a new world edge that London lacks. It has a completely different history and culture to us. Seeing that culture, that contrast, reflected in the way the Brazilians put on their games, especially the ceremonies, is something I’m really looking forward to.