We've had the performances, the parades and the plaudits and no doubt there'll be gongs galore for those who showered us with 2012's gold-dust, both in the sporting theatre and backstage.

But before London's Olympics and Paralympics become a distant memory it is worth remembering that there are others whose contribution to their unprecedented success has gone largely unrecognised and disappointingly unsung.

They are the forgotten ones who weren't up front when the bows were taken but without them there may well have been nothing for Coe and co and the Boris bunch to celebrate.

Quite rightly, the endeavours of Tony Blair, Tessa Jowell, Sir Craig Reedie, Colin Moynihan, Paul Deighton, Sir Keith Mills, Sue Campell, David Cameron and Hugh Robertson, among a host of others, have been liberally acknowledged.

But I believe there are three people who deserve to be equally lauded on the winners' rostrum – albeit sadly one of them posthumously.

They are ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major, Simon Clegg, former chief executive of the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the late David Welch, who was sports editor of the Daily Telegraph.

All three pitched in different ways to help bring the Olympics to London at a time when there was unbridled scepticism from the public, press and politicians that a bid would be not only winnable, but even worth the effort.

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe and former Chef de Mission Simon Clegg during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge back in 2008

Let's begin with Sir John. We may not share his politics – although these days it is hard to share those of many who inhabit the ideologically barren corridors of power at Westminster. But is not hard to share his views on sport or applaud his genuine enthusiasm for it.

We once suggested the cricket-loving Chelsea fan would have been happier as Sports Minister than he was as PM. He did not demur.

Indeed, had Lord Coe not agreed to be nominated for the soon-to-be-vacant chair at the British Olympic Association (BOA), Sir John might well have been an ideal candidate.

(Note to David Cameron: Here is someone surely worthy of a significant role in overseeing a national sports strategy).

Without Sir John, much of the success of 2012 simply would not have been possible. The fact that so many of Britain's medal-winning Olympians have been able to train, travel and hone their skills without financial impediments to the envy of much of the world, is down to him, and his insistence that sport should be earmarked as a substantial beneficiary of the National Lottery he helped instigate 18 years ago.

He may not have been Britain's most illustrious political leader but at least this was a worthy legacy.

This summer Sir John was a frequent visitor to the Games and he certainly deserved his VIP tickets.

Prince Harry and former Prime Minister Sir John Major enjoy the atmosphere at the track cycling in the velodrome during the London 2012 Olympic Games

Nobody should suppose that the remarkable transformation in Britain's Olympic record would have happened without the Lottery. It gave previously little-regarded and hitherto under-funded sports, notably rowing and cycling, both of which have secured a host of medals in the Beijing 2008 and London Games, the resources which enabled them first to compete with other nations and then surpass them. Individual elite talent and determination were for the first time properly supported.

The achievements of Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Sir Chris Hoy, Greg Rutherford, Ellie Simmons, David Weir, Sarah Storey et al were a tribute to their own immense ability and dedication but all have acknowledged how much they owe to the support they have received from coaches, team managers and sports scientists.

Without the Lottery that input would have been much less.

So Sir John's was, indeed a Major contribution.

Similarly the part played by Simon Clegg has been generally overlooked.

When he took over from Dick Palmer on January 1 1997 as the BOA's chief executive he almost immediately became a leading light in the campaign to get the Olympics in 2012.

He elicited cross-party support from the political leaders at the time in both the Houses of Parliament and the London Mayor, reflecting that this was needed to "bully" a fairly sceptical and cynical Government of the day.

Clegg was a major player in a six-year PR and political campaign to get the Government on board and on returning from the successful bid in Singapore in 2005 he called a meeting of all the governing bodies and stakeholders, producing a blueprint of an aspirational target of fourth place for GB in 2012.

"What was needed of course was more money from the Government – and to do that the BOA needed a really bullish target," he told me recently. "We rather cleverly bullied the Government, who didn't want to go there, into accepting fourth place in the medal table for an extra £300 million ($480 million/€370 million) for high performance sport.

"The reason we conceived the bid in the first place in 1997, having failed twice with Manchester, was that nothing would move more higher or more quickly up the political and social agenda of this country than staging a Games, which had to be in London.

"We achieved the former by getting a Minister for the Olympics but whether we've moved sport up the social agenda we won't be able to see until 2020, when we need to look back with the benefit of hindsight on whether 2012 has real catalyst for change."

Ipswich Town chief executive Simon Clegg and manager Paul Jewell

Clegg was the BOA chief executive up to Beijing 2008 and a board member of the bid.

His was the framework on which the BOA's highly-praised 2012 operation was constructed.

This included introducing the Britain's Olympic Ambition programme in 2008, which provided talented potential Olympians with an opportunity to experience the Games atmosphere. This was repeated in London and is likely to be so in Rio.

After being involved in a dozen Summer and Winter Games Clegg parted company with the BOA at the end of 2008, succeeded both as chief executive and Team GB Chef de Mission by Andy Hunt, whose own position is now believed to be under threat as winds of change again blow through the cash-strapped organisation.

Clegg is now chief executive at Ipswich Town Football Club but has not lost touch with the Olympic scene, returning for the London Games, as an attaché for the western Pacific island of Guam's six-strong team.

He points out that while they won no medals they did break one Olympic record – entering the heaviest man for any event in any Games, Ric Blas, a 34 stone judo player.

He also reminds us that as part of the initial 2012 PR campaign he visited every Fleet Street sports editor among whom the Telegraph's David Welch became the most ardent supporter.

"It was not easy getting the media on board. There were only a handful who showed any real enthusiasm but David was a tower of strength from the outset.

"He immediately saw what getting the Olympics would mean for Britain, and British sport. His backing cannot be underestimated."

Indeed not. Under Welch, who died of cancer in June of last year, aged 63, the Telegraph became an influential flagship for the 2012 campaign, leading from the front – and back-pages.

Of course, there are many others who played substantial roles in the 2012 story, but one hopes that this particular trio will be especially remembered for their respective parts in making it happen.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.