By John Forkin.

On a hot and sticky evening in Singapore seven years ago, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, announced that London had been chosen to host the 2012 Olympic Games, beating favourites Paris by just four votes.

Instantly, thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the news.

Within 24 hours, during the morning rush of Thursday, July 7, four suicide bombers shocked the world when they struck the capital’s tube and bus network, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770. From celebration to carnage, another chapter was written in the life of one of the world’s greatest cities and the seeds sown for the summer of 2012, a global sporting behemoth wrapped up in unknown security challenge.

Now, seven years having sprinted by, London will have its moment to shine. But, where is the real Olympic spirit and what does our 2012 experience say about the UK today? Is it in the ballooning budgets, the corporate and political incompetence and the über-commercialisation?

Or can it be found in the infrastructure completed on-time, fantastic facilities and dedicated athletes ready for action? From the infamous graffiti 2012 logo through to the G4S security calamities, the London Olympics has provided the cynics with all the angst they can muster. This is a familiar narrative. The Olympic build-up is always stuffed with ‘will they won’t they be able to deliver?’ stories.

Remember fears that Athens would not complete their stadiums or that China could not issue visitor visas? One sport in which the UK would win gold every time is self-deprecation.

The national media has had its own track-and-field day spreading fear over the Heathrow hassle (incompetent border guards) the closure of the M4 into London (incompetent Tarmac-laying) and the Soviet-style VIP lanes and London shut-downs (incompetent traffic planning). In fact, it’s amazing that thousands of athletes have actually been able to make the odyssey across town to Stratford.

The one exception is that of a bus driver from Liverpool who became lost in the big smoke and took his USA sporting cavalcade on a capital magical mystery tour before finally arriving in the East End. The bottom line is that the profile thrown on London and the wider UK is an opportunity for business.

It’s tempting to moan lazily about the inconvenience, the rip-offs and the logo police, the fact that the Olympics can seem a convention for jobsworths. I’ll admit I was suspicious about the Olympic Torch tour, surely a sop to the rest of the country while the big city gobbled its billions?

But, as the torch got nearer to Derby, I was struck by the crowds and emotional connection that appeared to be playing out wherever it went. Thousands of people came out to see the torch whiz by in Derbyshire. For me, the city took its opportunity to shine with some panache as enthusiastic Derbeians lined the streets and filled parks.

And it was that evening, 130 miles away from the Olympic Park, in a rare moment of summer sunshine, that I saw the true Olympic spirit. I was standing in the Cathedral Quarter, just outside the Jurys Inn at a point where the torch-bearers made their transfer. Sitting in his wheelchair, waiting to receive the torch was a man who looked so frail. Yet I was to discover later this man, Donald Scott, had won a silver medal in boxing at the London 1948 Olympics.

Now, over 60 years on as he set out towards Darley Park with the torch securely in hand, the smile on his face made for a window into the spirit of a genuine Olympian. The optimism and hope encapsulated in Donald’s smile will remain when the logistics and commercial hullabaloo of 2012 are long gone.

Published in Business Weekly, Derby Telegraph on Wednesday 25th July 2012