It was only a horrific knee injury that saw him badly rupture his anterior ligament that forced him to give up his dream of making the Atlanta 1996 Olympic squad and instead pursue a career in sports management after graduating from Georgia State University.

He linked up with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and made his name working with Paralympic athletes.

It was not long before after that Grevemberg became national competition director for Disabled Sports USA and not long after in 1999, he moved to Europe to join the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as their sports director. His capabilities did not go unnoticed at the world governing body for Paralympic sport and by 2007, Grevemberg held the position of executive director of Sport and International Federation Relations for the organisation.

He spent the next two years continuing to mastermind the unprecedented growth in Paralympic sport and when he left the organisation in 2009 after ten years to join Glasgow 2014 as the director of operations he left a major void.


But over in Scotland, Grevemberg's (pictured right with Commonwealth Games Federation chair Mike Hooper and CGF Coordination Commission chair Bruce Robertson during this week's four-day inspection of Glasgow) talent was yet again quickly noticed by his new employers and by July 2010, he had progressed to chief operating officer of Glasgow 2014.

The next part of the American's journey involved the rather surreal episode on June 27 this year that saw former Glasgow 2014 chief executive John Scott suddenly quit his job with no real explanation.

It was only later that it had emerged Scott had received free accountancy advice worth £6,000 ($8,750) from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) even though the Organising Committee have a strict policy that employees are not allowed to accept any gifts or gratuities above the value of £100 ($145).

With Scott gone, Grevemberg was appointed acting chief executive.

Thirty-four applications were received to take on the role on a permanent basis and a short list of seven was subsequently drawn up.

But it was announced on September 6 that Grevemberg was the last man standing.

"It has been wonderful journey for me," Grevemberg told me in the strong American accent that betrays his roots as we spoke together in the impressive surroundings at the Radisson Blu Hotel Glasgow.

"I live sport and it has been at the heart of my life since I was boy so to have the opportunity that I have now is just a dream for me.

"Being in the position I am in now as chief executive of Glasgow 2014 is a truly challenging but unbelievably enjoyable experience.

"I'm just trying to get the most out of it.

"I do pinch myself occasionally when I think about where I am and also to make sure that I appreciate where I am.

"You have to embrace everything about it, both the major challenges and the spectacular opportunities.

"But I think the real key not to lose your idealism and you just have to try to do some good in the work you do without being naive.

"You can be visionary but pragmatic at the same time and I'm learning more and more everyday but as long as I stay true to what I believe and keep sport at the very heart of what I do, then I'm very confident things will go well at Glasghow 2014."

It is endearing that Grevemberg simply oozes with passion and that he appears fully ready for 6,500 of the world's top athletes from 70 countries to compete in Glasgow in 2014.


But before that happens, he will need to help the Organising Committee fully recover from the monumental blow of Scott's controversial and rather untimely departure.

"What happened with John Scott was a huge shock and it was also a huge personal disappointment for me," he explained.

"I'd known John for 10 years and he hired me to come to Glasgow so I'd never expected to be in his chair.

"But now that I am, my first responsibility is to make sure the Games go on with no more scandal and that is why one of the things we did was to be transparent about our gifts register.

"I believe in team work, decisiveness and passion for the job but actions speak louder than words so I will prove that as I go on.

"I think it helps that I wasn't an external appointment because it gives me a good point of reference in terms of the operational requirements for the Games.

"That is something very important in the role of chief executive and as chief operating officer; I was able to build a huge knowledge base and great relationships that are really priceless at this stage.

"The challenges will continue but I feel that I'm well prepared to deal with them."

Those challenges will come thick and fast over the next few years but the American looks more than up to the fight and knows exactly what he wants from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"I want to make sure that Glasgow delivers a Games that sees us punch way above our weight," he said with such fierce determination that it is easy to recognise just why he was a top-level wrestler.

"We are moving forward well we are but we know we are at an important point on our journey with just under three years to go until the Opening Ceremony.

"We know that there is now going to be an imminent step-change in pace of our preparations as we move into the more detailed service delivery and venue planning phases of our programme.

"This step-change will be accompanied by a significant increase in our staff numbers to around 80 at the moment to 130 by next April but the goals remain the same.

"We will continue in all of our efforts to deliver our project on time and on budget.

"We will do this through a mixture of talented local staff and experienced Games professionals to ensure we both stay on track and also develop the local workforce to reinforce Glasgow and Scotland's position as a major events destination.

"But the biggest satisfaction I would get personally is to use the power of these Games to help support our Games Partners to drive change and leave a lasting legacy got Glasgow and for Scotland."

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames