Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Now that the Olympic flame has finally made it it's a good time to reflect on what has been a very difficult period for the .

The problems for the IOC and the Beijing organisers are far from over, but at least they have far more control over the flame's movements now that it is on Chinese soil.

On 6 April I spent the that escorted it through the streets of London.

Throughout the 31-mile route I was just yards away from the torch, reporting for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News Channel and Radio 5 Live. It turned into one of the most extraordinary days of my broadcasting career.

We had all expected some protests along the route, but what surprised me, and the police, was that those protests should start as soon as the torch was carried out of Wembley Stadium.

For the rest of the day I found myself reporting an a game of cat and mouse, as the police and those now infamous flame attendants struggled to stop demonstrators from grabbing hold of the torch.

The protestors got all the news coverage that they had hoped for.

I realised just how much attention they had received around the world when I got a text from a friend in the United States the next day informing me that my commentary of the had been headlined on one of the main American breakfast shows.

The organisers are now reflecting on what they can do in four years' time. I think it's safe to say that we won't see an international relay on the scale of the Beijing one.

The challenge for London 2012 will be to restore the popular appeal of the Olympic flame, the great symbol of the Olympic movement.

I think that we're still likely to see a torch relay around the UK in the months leading up to the Games.

That will be an important part of London's attempt to let every corner of the country be touched by the 2012 Olympics.

But I am sure that the international leg will be far shorter. One possibility would be, once the flame has been lit in Greece, for it to travel overland to the UK.

That way it could visiting parts of Europe without the international politics that becomes inevitable when it is flown all over the world.