HAVE YOUR SAY: We have to be quick out of blocks if we are to build on Team GB’s efforts

When the triumphant British team emerged from their jumbo jet at Heathrow four years ago, the cameras picked out two faces who had written their name into Olympic lore in Beijing.

Nineteen gold medals were won by Britons in the Far East, but the focus of attention was on the undoubted superstars of that team, Sir Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington, who won five Olympic titles between them.

The legacy of that Beijing performance was that expectations were increased going into this most critical of Olympic cycles.

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So who are the faces upon which the spotlight shone as the London 2012 Games drew to a close?

Well, after a mightily-successful Games for the host nation, the limelight will be shared by new-born superstars and the legends who enhanced their reputations over the fortnight.

Hoy remains the man, but he has company on two wheels in Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and Yorkshire’s Ed Clancy and Lizzie Armitstead.

Just as the cyclists reaffirmed their status as the best team in the world, so the rowing squad once again proved that when it comes to the quadrennial Games, they have no equal.

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Step forward Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Katherine Copeland, Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger and the entire rowing squad, who celebrated gold triumphantly and greeted silver as defeat – they are role models all.

Ben Ainslie enhanced his status as Britain’s greatest helmsman on the waters of Weymouth, while Ed McKeever kayaked his way to gold at Eton Dorney, and the equestrian team, including Nicola Wilson and Zara Phillips, enjoyed an honour-laden Olympics.

In short, Britons are pretty good in the sports where you sit down – though I am not entirely sure that is something we should boast about.

Heroes also emerged in the sports in which you stand up.

The British boxers, based at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport, were led by the history-making Nicola Adams, and made professional prospects of Luke Campbell, Fred Evans, Anthony Joshua and Anthony Ogogo.

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And the gymnasts excelled at North Greenwich Arena. Louis Smith was a lone flag bearer after his bronze in Beijing, but now he has two more to his collection, and led a young team of heroes to a thrilling bronze in the men’s team final.

Little Jade Jones claimed Britain’s first taekwondo gold and Gemma Gibbons wept tears of jubilation after winning judo bronze.

And the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, are phenomenally gifted and gracious young champions.

Countries place a lot of stock in the performance of their flagship track and field team, and while champions like Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford are rightly honoured for their achievements in the Olympic Stadium, overall the athletics squad fell short of their target of eight medals.

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The one big disappointment was the host nation’s swimming team.

Adlington transformed perceptions with her haul in Beijing, but that success proved a double-edged sword at London 2012. She could not live up to the expectation as creditable as her two bronze medals were. And there was only one other medal, the silver of Michael Jamieson in the breaststroke, and the inquest into a poor performance by British Swimming has already begun.

Going forward questions will be posed about legacy and funding.

As one of the biggest squads in a blue riband Olympic event, it will be interesting to see what stance UK Sport take with their funding of swimming.

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In the past they have funded sports in relation to medal chances, but with the swimmers – and the divers who also failed to impress – missing their targets, will the governing body take a hard-line stance?

London 2012 was the Games in which teams representing Great Britain in the minority sports got their chance to shine.

Under-funded and shouldering no expectations, this was the opportunity to grow their sport and make a statement to the British Olympic Association and UK Sport.

The teams in women’s volleyball and men’s basketball both claimed historic wins and deserve acknowledgement of that with increased funding and the chance to build on that relative success over the coming years.

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In sports like water polo and handball, the home nation was always going to be fighting against a rising tide of Central European dominance.

But in the excitement these sports generated for the fans in isolated matches, they warrant a little more investment and the chance to spread the word about their sport.

But they have to strike now while the Olympic iron is hot, not wait two months when no- one is thinking about handball, water polo, table tennis or weightlifting.

Right now, London feels a success, but if this accomplishment is not used as a platform then it will be consigned to history as an isolated triumph.

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If the motto of London 2012 was ‘Inspire a Generation’ then the names above and the rest of the 542 British athletes can certainly feel proud to have done that.

But people need to act fast to cash in on this feelgood factor.

London 2012 cannot be the peak of the summit of our sporting greatness – it has to be a step towards a higher destination.

Athletes and fans, and indeed the media, cannot come out of London 2012 feeling as though they have fallen off a cliff.

The baton must be picked up again.

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If London 2012 did indeed ‘Inspire a Generation’ then let’s get out on our bike, head down to the swimming pool or go for a run.

Let us keep the wheels in motion at professional and amateur level, funded and non-funded. And let us set the countdown clock to Rio in four years.