Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Qingdao

Our first full day here and already the excitement is building. It started as soon as we began our marathon journey from Heathrow on Friday. From London to Hong Kong, we were treated to an array of adverts by on the in-flight entertainment system.

The man with iconic status all over the world, undertook a 55-second mission impossible trying to gain access to the without a ticket. Of course he made it, and of course he grinned. So did we. Because we knew we were en route to a special experience.

A three hour lay-over in Hong Kong - - gave the volunteers a chance to outdo Chan's smile with their warmth and enthusiasm. They succeeded. Everywhere you looked around the airport there were posters "One World. One Dream."

Cynics may claim that's a clichΓ© and somewhat ironic, given the nature of the publicity in the lead-up to the Games. All I can say to that is as we landed three hours later in , the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Whether the Games are in China, Sydney, Paris or London, this is the greatest sporting show on Earth and it is an absolute privilege to be here.

So customs dealt with, we headed to our hotel, situated between the Olympic Marina and the Olympic training venue. An army of waiters and butlers - dressed immaculately all in white - escorted us to our rooms. Nothing was too much trouble.

We're staying in the same hotel complex (but not the same block) as the . No evidence of them yet, as has taken them off to Shanghai for a few days of relaxing and team-building. But we did bump into Team GB technical advisor Peter Bentley, who said the guys looked fit, calm and happy before setting off with 'Sparky' a few days ago.

49er has been quoted as saying Qingdao can resemble Gotham City on occasion, but so far the weather has been pretty good. Plenty of blue sky, little smog, light but noticeable wind and ! Fingers crossed that all remains in place for a week's time.

I have got to be honest here and say that until the start of this year, I had never been sailing before or even covered an event. So learning about our 18 hopefuls and gaining an introduction to life on the water with has been a real eye opener.

Probably like many people who have no previous relationship with the sport, I had a feeling sailing was the dwelling place of people with a lot of time and money on their hands.

Over the past few months I have of course come to realise this is absolutely not the case. They are supremely fit athletes who deal with a myriad of details and technicalities that would leave many other sports bamboozled.

It's not my job to falsely appear like an expert over the next two and a half weeks - you have . But what I can do is try to share in the Olympic excitement and maybe at the same time help encourage a few other landlubbers that these guys are the genuine article.

And whether you're an expert sailor or not, there are some great stories waiting to emerge from these Games.

going for gold number three, trying to make up for an agonising fourth in Athens and the (complete with new addition) aiming for two in a row.

Whatever your background, it will be incredible to watch.

The Olympic spirit is alive and well here in Qingdao and we can't wait for it all to start.