On that famous day of July 6, 2005, when the London 2012 bid sneaked to victory, I strangely remember one image more clearly than any other.

It isn't that of those jubilant scenes of celebration at Trafalgar Square when International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge declared the city had won the right host the Games.

It is actually that image of sheer disappointment and bemusement in Paris city centre as the French public wondered just how they had been beaten by their British rivals by the slender margin of four votes in Singapore when they had seemingly been favourites from the start.

Equally fascinating to watch was how French jealousy towards London turned slowly to relief as a worldwide recession hit and Britain were left to shell out billions in costs to stage the greatest sporting event on earth.

France itself has been hit nearly as hard as any other country by the economic downturn.

The citizens of Paris were left disappointed and bemused after losing out to London in their bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

"You won't find many French people who are unhappy at losing the Olympics now," said Parisian security consultant Christophe Anglard before the start of London 2012.

"And in England you will find a lot of people who are worried about the amount of money that is being spent.

"When the Games begin maybe we will talk about sport, but at the moment the economy is all that matters here now."

London, however, has been resourceful.

Continually I hear the figure of £2.4 billion ($4 billion/€2.9 billion) crop up. That was indeed the "original estimate" for London 2012.

However, it was a figure that failed to take into account key factors such as Organising Committee overheads, security costs, contingency against risks, operational provisions, city operations and transport among other things.

It was unsurprising when in 2007, once the Government was in a situation to give a realistic budget with all these aspects taken into account, there was a collective gasp when they set the figure at £9.298 billion ($14.87 billion/€11.43 billion) for the Games.

Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson has had to fight off wave after wave of attack on all aspects of London 2012’s spending

But for those close to the process, this was no surprise, and Government has been held accountable ever since – for five long years.

Usually its main trials would come at its own Quarterly Economic Report briefing, mostly held at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's modest headquarters in central London.

Often these briefings have been tense affairs, with Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson having to fight off wave after wave of attack on all aspects of London 2012 spending.

One such notable incident occurred at the end of last year, when he was forced to defend the decision to double the original £41 million ($64 million/€48 million) budget for the Ceremonies of the Games.

Having seen the Ceremonies, most now back the decision – but that wasn't the case at the time.

However, in the last ever Quarterly Economic Report briefing, Robertson cut the most relaxed of figures as he revealed that the Games are set to come in at £8.921 billion ($14.26 billion/€10.96 billion) or less, meaning a saving of £377 million ($603 million/€463 million).

Asked if that £377 million ($603 million/€463 million) would be kept by sport, he came out with undoubtedly the best line I have heard him deliver.

"That money is in the Treasury already; it's not like I'm Smaug the dragon, sitting on a pile of treasure and not letting others get to it," he fantastically explained.

Perhaps of more relevance, he told us how Foreign Secretary William Hague had a recent conversation with him (Robertson) explaining that over 40 leaders from abroad had started every meeting with him congratulating him about London 2012.

The Government was criticised for doubling the budget for the London 2012 Ceremonies last year but the shows have since been praised as a spectacular success

Since that briefing, it has emerged that London 2012 has helped boost Britain out its longest double-dip recession, with Olympic and Paralympic ticket sales contributing 0.2 per cent to the 1.0 per cent growth, incidentally the biggest growth figure in five years.

Critics will still remain, but they should perhaps look at the Athens 2004 Games, where costs spiralled due to not staying on track with construction, or maybe as recently as the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, when a major bridge collapsed outside the main stadium just days before the event began.

London didn't have those problems, nor did it have to spend the eye watering $44 billion (£27. 3 billion/€34 billion billion) that Beijing spent on its Games in 2008.

Yet everyone who attended the event has hailed it as the best ever and London's reputation around the globe has now skyrocketed, so much so that the city will provide the majority of the backdrop for the new James Bond film Skyfall which hasn't always been the case with Britain's favourite MI6 agent.

James Bond is happy to appear in a London rejuvenated by the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in the franchises’ latest instalment Skyfall

It is always good, and often easy, to criticise.

But perhaps, with the year of 2012 drawing to a close, everyone involved in staging the London Olympics and Paralympics deserves a huge congratulations.

It is a Games the likes of which we won't see matched for a long, long time.

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames