London's Lasting Legacy Should Be More Famous Faces

Well done, but who are you?

The universal appeal of the Olympics is undeniable. Competitors from around two hundred countries gather in one location for a couple of weeks every four years and the crowds gather to cheer them on. Thousands have flocked to London to witness the greatest show on Earth and have, for the most part, been thoroughly entertained. For the home crowd, Britain's athletes have been phenomenal, surpassing the half century in total medals won. The greatest haul since 1908 gives us many reasons to celebrate. Jess Ennis, Mo Farah and Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy have taken all of us to cloud nine in recent days. But there are others who have, too. Therefore, the pressing issue is this: before they stood upon the podium, arms aloft, with what resembles a giant chocolate coin around their necks, how many of these medal winners had we actually heard of?

For example, Britain's sole taekwondo gold medallist Jade Jones was a total unknown last week - I myself had no knowledge of the Welsh 19-year-old until her superb semi-final win against the world number one in her weight category. If that wasn't spectacular enough, she won her gold medal match with poise and aggression, with her coach full of praise for the work she had put in prior to coming to London. The shooter Peter Wilson also raised nobody's eyebrows until his dominant display in the final. And the Brownlee brothers to most must have sounded like an accountancy firm rather than gold and bronze medal-winning triathletes.

On a side note, it is perhaps a tad ironic that in the pool, a venue where more names than most are uttered within the average British household, the medal return was the most disappointing. After Rebecca Adlington's two golds in Beijing many were expecting British swimming to build upon the Nottingham swimmer's success. In reality, however, three medals is the outcome four years down the line. Adlington's two commendable bronzes in successive tough finals coupled with Michael Jamieson's superb silver appear to be the peak performances at the London Olympics. What then of others such as Hannah Miley, Fran Halsall, James Goddard or Jemma Lowe? These names often appear in major swimming events and are not new to the sport, yet while some made finals (an unquestionable achievement in itself), there lacked the final strokes that are so desperately needed for a medal place. One hopes that this is merely a blip in the calendar of competitive swimming in Britain and that by next year's FINA World Championships the collective faults will have been ironed out.

Returning to the opening discussion, the main problem afflicting these British 'unknowns' is the relative lack of interest in their respective sports. It is hard to believe that a lack of excitement is the problem. These sports are fascinating in their own ways and I have enjoyed them immensely. The word 'exposure' is the key. The Olympics is likely to be the only competition in which these sports are exposed to a large audience, and once every four years is not often enough to garner regular interest. The same could be applied to swimming to a lesser extent, but the idea is the same. It is a domino effect: the lack of interest will inevitably lead to a lack of participation, which results in funding cuts and a downward spiral of performances in major international competitions. Yet this does not have to be the case. Those athletes who have shone in their sports are the paradigms for the somewhat off-putting 'Inspire a Generation' motto. Of course, the motto is not what is important here. What is are the consequences of these games 20 years down the line. People such as Wilson, Ed McKeever (today's K1 200m champion) and one-two canoe pairings of Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott, and David Florence and Richard Hounslow are now the ideal ambassadors for their events.

In another remarkable story to emerge from London, horse-dancing expert (AKA team and individual dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin) belied the privileged traditions of her sport, having been brought up without the secure financial backing to fund the high costs of the rigours of equestrian training - going to show that truly anyone can fulfil their ambitions with the right character traits and support. According to officials, 90% of the country is watching the Olympics in some form, and these athletes must be hopeful that this monumental advantage of having the Olympics on their doorstep will render them household names for the foreseeable future just so it prompts even the laziest of Brits to head down to the gym for a light workout. As these Games have shown, everyone has to start somewhere, and in time, the negative substance of the domino effect may just become positive. Cue heightened interest, regular participating, increased funding and more medals in coming years.

While this may have only touched upon the issues in British sport that require resolving, the Olympics has done much to ignite the talk. The peaking interest is the first step. Let us hope that, like the countless Mexican waves attempted at London 2012's football matches, it doesn't fizzle out and become less than a footnote in the history of this country's sporting prowess.