With less than a year to go until the Games begin, as you'd expect, LOCOG's planning is reaching a forensically detailed level and "readiness" is the buzz word - but this isn't just restricted to London.

All around the world National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are preparing their teams for next summer and there is much to be done. The logistics of moving athletes around the world is huge; each NOC wants to ensure that their athletes and officials have all the tools they need to perform at their best – from accommodation to transport, catering to medical facilities – only the best will do for the athletes.

And quite right too.

The people who are responsible for the teams coming to compete in 2012 are the Chefs de Mission and this week we have been hosting around 200 of them here in London.

It has been a fascinating and eventful week.

What has happened in London this week has not dampened the enthusiasm of the teams coming to the Games next year at all. As we took them around some of the venues this week and spent some time at Horse Guards Parade for the test events, the mood amongst the Chefs de Mission teams was upbeat and positive. They were blown away by the venues and as they fly home today and tomorrow, they will do so happy that the venues will be world-class and that their athletes will be well looked after.

We spent a great deal of time taking the teams through our plans in great detail, looking at each different functional area within the Organising Committee and updating them on our plans.


Talking to some of the Chefs de Mission this week, I know they are impressed with the focus we have on the athletes, that buzz word "readiness" was heard several times – they're happy with that and we had several volunteers working with us on the logistics of this week – they were especially impressed with them. It all bodes well for 2012.

That's not to say the work is done and we can sit back.

Not least because in three week's time the Chefs de Mission from the National Paralympic Committees are coming for a similar exercise. There is still much to do before we are ready to welcome the world's athletes in 2012, but our teams here will continue to work with the NOC's and NPC's to ensure that when their teams arrive next year, we will be ready to give them a warm welcome and fully operational facilities.

The endorsement of these guys is brilliant - they are the experts who know what the athletes need in order to compete at the highest level. They leave the UK this weekend happy, confident and crucially looking forward to immensely to coming back next summer with their athletes.

James MacLeod is head of National Olympic Committees and National Paralympic Committee Committees Relations at London 2012