When the venue for the Olympic Mountain Bike Races was announced as a farm in Essex owned by the Salvation Army, I think it’s fair to say there was some scepticism, not to say scorn. “But Essex is flat!” the cynics said. Well, tell that to the riders and the 20,000 spectators who today enjoyed a brilliant day’s sport on a testing and challenging course, with climbs, descents, technical sections and every possible challenge for a cross country mountain biker.

A superb location, beautiful scenery, a natural amphitheatre with views out over the Thames Estuary, clear blue skies and a hot August sun, all combined to create a brilliant sporting experience.

Annie Last got a brilliant start, and for a while it looked like a medal was a serious possibility. But as the distance took its toll young Annie slipped back, out of the front group. After a gruelling six laps, a fine finish kept her in the top ten, crossing the line in eighth – a great ride. Clearly there is much to come from Annie, these Games may just have been a year or two too soon for her, but I reckon she’s well on target for major success in the future and will be a serious medal contender in Rio in four year’s time.

Afterwards, as I sipped a coffee in the “Olympic Family” Lounge, HRH Princess Anne, who is BOA President, came over for a chat and was of course full of praise not just for Annie but also for the rest of the Great Britain Cycling Team. I took the opportunity to thank her for attending so many of our events at these Games, and it is clear she enjoys her cycling.

By the way, I’ll just quickly here take the opportunity to say sorry for all the name-dropping in these blogs. I don’t do it to bolster my own ego (that’s big enough as it is, honest!), but to demonstrate how much so many of the great and the good are enjoying our sport’s success and want to let us know that they are. And we of course are happy to share our sport with them, aren’t we? At last we have come in from the cold – we are a rock solid part of the mainstream of British life these days, and every aspect of our sport and pastime is going to benefit from that, I’m sure.

So, a shorter day for me today, and a chance for an evening’s relaxation. More tomorrow from the Men’s MTB and the Closing Ceremony.