London 2012 chairman Lord Coe is still "shaken" by the transformation of the Olympic Park after finally seeing some competitive athletics in the stadium.
Coe is attending all four days of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) championships over the Bank Holiday weekend, with the event doubling as the test event for the London Olympics.
The dedicated Chelsea fan is even missing the FA Cup final against Liverpool, although he will attempt to sneak a few looks at the game on TV, but watching Friday night's opening session of competition brought home just how close the Games now are.
"It's fantastic," Coe said. "There is a rare week that goes by without me coming up here for one thing or another, but it's normally about working out other stuff.
"To suddenly see guys coming out followed by volunteers with their kit in the basket and competing is fantastic.
"If I think back eight years, I'm standing at the top of a tower block looking at the site with the IOC's evaluation teams, feeling a bit like a Costa Brava timeshare salesman, saying 'You see that rotting pile of fridges, that's where the stadium is going, and that's where the velodrome is going.
"And I'm hearing the words coming out and they are looking at me like 'Yeah?' We've come a long way really.
"I walked around anonymously last night and I was just listening to the excitement of the people who were walking in. It was a bit like watching my kids on the first day they woke up to find snow in the back garden.
"I don't think people quite realise, unless you have been here, just what has happened. I still get occasionally shaken by what I see."
