In England we know we're in the middle of a drought, while to the world's journalists it confirmed it always rains in London.

Here at the BBC we're marking the day with our special preview programme tonight but also with more announcements about ways you'll be able to view our content during Games time.

This morning we reported that Virgin Media has become the latest platform to sign up for the 24 BBC Olympic channels - so they'll be available to cable viewers in HD or SD and via the BBC Red Button or channel numbers in the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide).

This is in line with the agreements with Sky and Freesat and the 24 streams will also be available on the BBC Sport and 2012 websites.

Now we can also tell you about some good news for Freeview HD viewers.

Thanks to some newly-released digital space, the BBC will be broadcasting an additional high definition service on the Freeview HD platform over the Games period.

This will be a simulcast of the BBC's main Red Button service on Freeview, also available on channel 301, delivered in glorious HD.

Viewers will be able to watch live action from all the Olympic venues including the Aquatics Centre. Pic: Getty Images.

Capacity limitations mean we would be unable to deliver 24 streams to Freeview audiences through their TVs, but this extra service will bring the number of high definition services available on Freeview HD over the Olympic Games period to three.

It's worth noting that the Freeview red button service will be picking the best of the action from the sports not being covered on BBC One and BBC Three, so we'll deliver more top-quality Olympic action from a range of venues in subscription-free HD.

BBC One HD and BBC HD can be found at Freeview HD EPG positions 50 and 54 respectively.

For ease of navigation, Freeview HD viewers will be able to access the additional temporary high definition service directly via the red button from these channels and it will also be listed on the Freeview HD EPG at position 304 with the other BBC Red Button services on Freeview (301 and 302).

That means viewers with PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) will be able to record even more BBC Olympics coverage in high definition.

Juggling these multiple platforms is pretty complex, as you'll have spotted by now.

But the pledge on 100 Days To Go is simple: more choice on more platforms. This includes more HD than ever before, including the first Olympics in HD on Freeview, and big live moments plus daily highlights in 3D.

“I’m quite relaxed now,” he says, perched on a stool in the athletes’ lounge at Lee Valley High Performance Centre. “99% of the work is done, so I’m of quite a peaceful mind.”

There are now just 100 days to go until the opening ceremony at the London Olympics. But Van Commenee, head coach at UK Athletics, charismatic martinet, insists there are no sleepless nights.

British Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee has set his Olympics team a target of eight medals at the London Games - double that won at Beijing four years ago. Photo: Getty

“I’m too tired to wake up in the middle of the night,” he tells me, blinking from behind his Buddy Holly black-rimmed spectacles.

“One of the key things in elite sport, and maybe in life, is that you should only bother about the things you can influence, not the things that you can’t.

“I always say to the athletes, you’ll wake up tomorrow and see the Olympic flame. So, are you ready? I’m fully aware that the next three months will go like that.” He clicks his fingers.

I ask him if he has ever felt daunted by the task in front of him. Toni Minichiello, coach to gold medal hope Jess Ennis, told me earlier this year that he sometimes feels like a man spinning plates, constantly running from one to another to keep them all up at the same time.

“I’m surprised to hear that from Toni, because he basically has one plate.”

A rather important plate, no? He nods a concession. “It is an important plate, but there’s only one. I think we’re in control.”

Van Commenee is that 21st century sporting curio, a head coach who doesn’t actually coach any athletes. So what exactly does he do with his time?

“I’ve been in Portland, spending a few days with Mo and his coach (Alberto Salazar). Then I was in Los Angeles, where we have 20 athletes. I check with them and the coach that they are still on plan, and doing the things that they are supposed to do. I help out where help is needed.”

So if Mo has his own coach, who plans his training, conditioning and racing, isn’t it a little awkward when Van Commenee arrives at the party full of different ideas?

“It can be. But if it was easy, then you could have done the job!” He laughs uproariously and looks immensely pleased with his joke, before shrugging his shoulders in a very Dutch way.

“Of course it’s not easy. Relationships, and building relationships, is important, so that there’s trust, and there’s understanding, and the same goal and direction. I do spend a lot of time with athletes and coaches on these things.

“When you come in as a stranger and you’re going to dictate whether people are going to go to the right instead of the left, very few will follow. You need arguments and reasons. It’s a process.”

Who has the final say? If Van Commenee disagrees with Salazar’s training schedule, can he over-rule?

“In the end, it’s always the athlete. Because the athlete decides whether he’s going to jump on the plane or not. Or get his legs moving.

“With Mo, it’s quite easy, because he’s got a very experienced, skilful set-up. It’s all in place. His race schedule is there. It’s more about to manage everything around the Olympic Games. When to travel in, when to go to altitude, what to do with the family.”

Van Commenee has set a target of eight medals in London – double that won in Beijing four years ago, one more than the British squad brought back from last summer’s World Championships in Daegu. With the biggest moment of his career closing in fast, he’s not about to blink now.

“We have to do much better than in the previous Olympics. But the statistics and the results over the last three years indicate that we should be able to be there.

“We know there will be surprises, but there will also be people who do not deliver. It’s about getting athletes into that medal zone.

“On the day itself they have to deliver. There’s nothing you can do about that, as a coach, as a system, as a federation. The athlete has to do it. But in the build-up you can help athletes get there. That’s what we do.”

Van Commenee has solid reasons for his optimism. Last summer saw 13 outdoor British records set. At last month’s World Indoors in Istanbul, Britain finished an unprecedented second in the final medal table.

There are also cracks not far below the surface. Of 36 individual finals across both men's and women's competition in Daegu, there were British representatives in less than half.

In men's track events, Britain had no representative in the final of any event from 100m up to 1500m; on the women's side, there were no British finalists in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m.

“Our very best athletes did very well; one tier down, they didn’t,” says Van Commenee.

“But it’s always great to have a disappointment, because then you’re triggered to do something about it. Somebody like Jessica Ennis didn’t win, but you go home and know exactly what to address.

“My job is to take luck out of the equation. If you have enough volume in the team, you’ll always have athletes who statistically reach their peak, as well as a few over the hill, and a few not there yet.

“I think overall we’re in a very good place. Not everyone can win, but we’re in a great place, much better than the last 15 years. And hopefully 2013, 2014, it will be even better, because we have even more athletes coming through.”

Denise Lewis, coached by Van Commenee to Olympic heptathlon gold in 2000, once described her old mentor as both incredibly driven and much more sensitive than most people realise.

I ask him if that sounds accurate. “Well, I don’t know what you want in terms of my sensitivity.”

Your public persona is pretty no-nonsense, I tell him. You called Kelly Sotherton a “wimp” for winning Olympic heptathlon bronze rather than silver in 2004. You’re perceived as a demanding, tough, taskmaster.

He shrugs again. “Any successful coach is sensitive, because you have to work with so many different individuals. If it’s only one card that you have to play, and expect people to buy only one idea, one concept, you don’t go very far. It’s one of the mistakes that ex-athletes or ex-footballers often make.

“You have to be sensitive and empathetic, so of course I’m sensitive. Am I more driven? I’m driven, obviously. Otherwise I would be in the wrong business.”

It takes the shape of Campbell Walsh, Athens 2004 silver medallist and Hounslow's big rival for the one place available to a Briton in the men's kayak at London 2012.

Ten feet below Hounslow's vantage point on the banks of the Olympic canoe slalom course, Walsh is paddling for dear life. Hounslow took 95.76 seconds to complete his run. Walsh has to beat that. About 15 seconds from now, the dream dies for one of them.

"Walsh's split time is on fire!" roars the commentator. Hounslow rolls his eyes and grimaces. Walsh, four years Hounslow's senior at the age of 34, barrels on past him, mere metres from the finish.

And then it's over, Walsh slumped back in his kayak and Hounslow rooted to the spot. Four unbearable seconds elapse before the time is announced.

Watch the joy and despair of Britain's Olympic canoe slalom trials

"Campbell Walsh, 95.85 seconds... and into second place."

By nine hundredths of a second - far less than the blink of an eye - Richard Hounslow becomes an Olympian. As Hounslow is lost in a tide of embraces, Walsh lobs his paddle through a graceful arc into the swirling water and lets out a loud, resigned expletive.

This same scene is borne out four times over as the boats Britain will send to the Olympic Games are decided in the most brutal of fashions: three races over three days, down the London Olympic course. Win two, and you're in.

"One of the biggest things that puts a smile on my face is seeing how happy my family and friends are," says Hounslow. "For months they've been talking about the Olympics. To have done the job this weekend, for myself but also for them, is amazing.

"We've been thinking about this weekend for four years. When you do all the interviews and people talk about the Olympics you're like, 'Well, yeah, it'd be great but I've got to get there.'

"The media attention has been on Campbell, as it should be - he's got a good pedigree, an Olympic silver medal, a European title and multiple world medals. But I knew I had a good race head on me. At the big events I can pull the results out, and hopefully I'll do that this summer at the Olympics."

Walsh, to his credit, takes barely five minutes to gather himself before presenting a composed and philosophical front for the cameras.

"That Olympic spot was entirely my motivation," he says, matter-of-factly. "I had no thoughts past this weekend. This was the focus. But this is the way these races work: you've got to win the races, and I didn't win the races.

"I've not really experienced this too much, I've generally been pretty successful and done what I wanted. It's a new experience for me to miss out on Olympic selection when I was capable of getting it."

At least Walsh has been to an Olympics or two in the past. Louise Donington, 27, has been paddling since the age of nine. She has never made the Games. This time, she is half a second off as Lizzie Neave wins the women's kayak place instead.

"It's the fact it was so close," says Donington, swallowing hard and clearly fighting back tears, moments after realising she won't go to London 2012. The last four years, and arguably her entire career, were spent building up to this moment.

"I almost had it today. That's all I can think about. I'm trying to take the positives, knowing I was good enough and that a bit here and there would have done it, but it's challenging to deal with right now.

"It has to be like this, though. This is the pressure and environment we need to prepare for the Olympics: to listen to the commentary at the start line and know what you have to do. That's what it will be like for Lizzie at the Olympics, that's what she needs to practise."

Commendable clarity of thought from somebody who started the day an Olympic hopeful and will now, as of five minutes ago, be watching it on TV like everyone else. Not all who missed out could put that misery into words - some simply broke down in quiet corners of the course, sobbing into friends' shoulders.

"There is no failure in life," says Jurg Gotz, the British canoe slalom head coach, in his thick, sing-song Swiss accent. Having asked Gotz how his athletes should deal with missing the Olympics, the answer that comes back is surprising, not least because it segues into a Churchill quote.

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm - I think Churchill said that," he continues. "I usually go to the athletes, establish eye contact, and tell them they are as good as they were before.

"There is only one winner, and they all accept that. It is part of the business. You keep your head up."

Campbell Walsh, pictured battling for Olympic selection on the Lee Valley course. Team-mate Richard Hounslow won the race and the Olympic place. Photo: Getty Images

The five who will paddle for Britain this summer - Neave in the kayak; Beijing 2008 silver medallist David Florence, Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott in the canoe events; Hounslow in both - can now for the first time start to grapple with a home Olympics, without any 'subject to selection' asterisk.

"Since the Beijing Games finished, I've wanted to go to my home Olympic Games in London. Until this weekend, I didn't know I would be," says Florence, in a room buried beneath the course, several hours after racing finished. Interviews and a lengthy stop at doping control have turned this into a successful but draining day. Everybody else has gone home.

"There's a lot of expectation on me this time," adds the 29-year-old. "Last time, I'd never been to the Olympics and I was insignificant as far as the media were concerned. This time, having won silver last time, loads of people expected me to turn up here and do it no worries. It's not that simple.

"To compete at an Olympic selection didn't excite me: there is so much to lose. But at the Olympics? There's a huge amount to win."

Dedicated to the memory of Randy Starkman, Olympic sports reporter for Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star, who died on Monday aged 51. He understood better than most these personal triumphs and disasters with which athletes in Olympic sports must routinely contend, and reported faithfully on them at no fewer than 12 Olympic Games. He was, and remains, the most respected in his field.

And I confess I'm personally not that keen on preview programmes, because at worst they can be a load of hot air that tells us little that's fresh.

All of which is a rather unpromising opening to a piece recommending that you watch a special programme about the London Olympics being transmitted this Wednesday - when it's 100 Days To Go.

I should explain that this is a show that is part of the agreement between the International Olympic Committee and rightsholding broadcasters across the world: there is an official programme ahead of each Winter and Summer Games.

We, and some others, have not traditionally placed them in prominent parts of the schedule - which is one reason why this time round the IOC commissioned the BBC to make the official preview in the hope that it would be a more compelling piece of broadcasting.

We were delighted to be asked, and that 30 minute show is now being transmitted across the globe.

It was, however, something of an outside view of London designed for audiences from Peru to Papua New Guinea. So here in the UK we've adapted and extended the programme to give it more of a British focus and to capture some of the Team GB hopefuls who will be aiming for success this summer.

As you may guess, this is not a programme about the cost of the Games - we've covered that countless times in our news reporting.

Nor is it about the potential risks around transport, security or organisation - because there'll be plenty of time for those in the weeks to come. But what it does have is a stellar cast, and some beautifully-filmed images of the London that the world will see in 100 days' time.

She's probably the best example of the years of effort that go into the performances that we'll see on our TV screens between July 27 and August 12, with the stark revelation about whether the dedication has paid off - or not.

So I hope you'll find time to watch "2012 Olympics - One Hundred Days To Go" on BBC One this Wednesday. It's at 10.45pm in England and Wales, or 11.15pm in Scotland and Northern Ireland - with catch-up on the BBC iPlayer.

And if previews are not for you - at least the action is now only a hundred days away...

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year, holder of the Tour de France green jersey, road cycling world champion and likely contender for Britain's first medal of the London Olympics now has another priority in this, the busiest of years: tiny Delilah Grace Cavendish.

Daddy Cav tweeted the big announcement, wasting no time in proclaiming it the "happiest day of my life". Mum, former glamour model Peta Todd, added she had "started that birth malarkey at 6am" but praised her other half as "incredible" throughout.

Keeping professional focus at this most personal of times is going to be quite the challenge for Cavendish. Most new fathers probably find that's a full-time occupation, without the British public expecting you to win an Olympic gold medal and Tour de France honours before your child has reached four months old. But Cavendish has known his priorities all along.

Cavendish raced in the Milan-San Remo classic a fortnight before the birth of daughter Delilah. Photo: Getty Images

"It doesn't matter what I have achieved or could achieve in future on the bike," he told me recently. "I'm going to be a dad, and when April comes nothing is going to be quite as important as that.

"Everything is prepared, the nursery's done, she's got enough clothes for a few months.

"She's kicking. We know she's a person, and it just warms you. I want to hold her, cuddle her - something that's me, that I've made. It's a feeling that nothing else in life ever comes close to."

Delilah's name was kept a closely guarded secret, even from family members. As Cavendish explained, someone always knows an idiot (he chose a stronger word) with the same name that you picked, so why share it till you have to?

If the name was an easy enough dilemma to resolve, it's fair to say Cavendish has yet to turn his attention to all the longer-term consequences of parenthood. The nervous grin and widening of the eyes when we mentioned things like choosing schools, setting aside money for university fees and so on, told its own story.

"I don't want to think about it," he squirmed, scratching his neck awkwardly. "I'll just deal with her up to being a teenager. Once she turns teenage, it's a different matter."

But Mark, you're going to have to have 'the chat' about boys and all that...

"No, don't. Don't. We're not going to talk about this. I'll just deal with my little baby girl and that'll be it.

"She's like her mum, she's got long legs. It'll be like Russian dolls - a big one and a little one. I'm really happy."

Cavendish and Todd seem like they will make fun, lively and loving parents from their constant conversations and asides on Twitter. There you will find regular glimpses of daily life in the Cavendish household.

But professional road cycling will not allow expectant fathers to linger around the home, popping along to parenthood classes and leafing lazily through catalogues while waiting for the paint in the nursery to dry. Cavendish has been out earning a crust, touring the Middle East and Europe with Team Sky.

For much of the year, contact with heavily pregnant Peta has been via a laptop screen. The same will have to happen for vast chunks of the summer to come. And for her part Todd has become a cycling expert, propped up in front of live coverage on TV.

"She's good, isn't she," said Cavendish. "I've seen her commentating on races on Twitter, she knows her stuff now. I'm impressed of her and proud of her with that.

"We spend a lot of time on Facetime and Skype, and that's kind-of good, it keeps you in your room and relaxed. Rod Ellingworth [Cavendish's coach at Team Sky and his mentor for many years] has always said to me that my most important thing is a good home life.

"I haven't been chilled for the last couple of years - certainly before the last year - but now, finally, everything is settled and going good. I'd rather be at home but I've got a job to do and if I can sit with my family on a screen and kind-of interact, I'm as relaxed as I can be.

"But it's hard. It's incredible how, naturally, something in your mind changes. I think any dad can appreciate what I'm saying. Evolution changes you. Even now, every single decision I make is not about myself any more. Consciously and subconsciously, there's always the future of my family involved in it. Everything I do affects the future of my baby girl."

Dad could be an Olympic champion by the end of July, although that will be the last thing in his mind for a while to come. At least he'll have one more fan by the roadside - Locog need to make room on Box Hill.

"She already gets excited," said Cavendish of Delilah. "When I'm racing, she's kicking. She'll be there at this year's Tour, and at the Olympic Games. That'll be a nice way to start a life."

The first is that these will be the Games where HD (High Definition) is mainstream, and if you're like my family and friends, then for events like the 100m final you'd probably want to be sprawled on the sofa in front of a TV set to watch every detail on your own large screen.

That's what our flagship channels BBC One and BBC Three will deliver across a range of events - taking you to the action when it matters and catching the medal-winning performances.

The second is that these are the first truly digital Olympics where we'll offer more choice than ever before, and the pledge we made is that you'll be able to watch sport from every venue from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.

How times have changed: The 24 extra BBC-branded Olympic channels will massively extend choice for viewers

At peak this will mean we bring in 24 HD streams of content - with the result that hockey fans can watch live uninterrupted hockey, and table tennis fans can stick all day with their sport too.

This represents four times more channels than in Beijing, and a total of around 2500 hours of live sport - which is at least double what we've offered in the past.

The main way we planned for you to be able to watch those 24 streams was via our BBC Sport and 2012 websites.

But we were always conscious that in a perfect world we'd try to make the services available on your television, because we recognise that the 40-inch HD experience is one that the hockey and table tennis fans and the rest might want for their dedicated service as well as for BBC One and BBC Three.

So we're pleased to announce today that's precisely what we're offering to a range of television platform operators - that they can use the BBC's 24 streams in standard or high definition to create additional television channels through the BBC red button and their Electronic Programme Guides.

We've had discussions with cable and satellite providers on a non-exclusive basis to see if they'd like to run BBC-branded Olympic channels that will massively extend choice for their viewers in addition to what we can offer ourselves online, via the BBC iPlayer or through connected TV services.

The aim is that you'd be able to pick from watching BBC Olympics 1 right through to BBC Olympics 24 with full programme guides and the ability to record your favourite sports.

Many of those discussions are still continuing, but the BBC, Sky and Freesat have announced today that they've come to an agreement that will deliver the 24 channels to all Sky and Freesat homes. Sky will also pick up the costs of satellite distribution, irrespective of whether other platforms join in - though we hope and believe there'll be more announcements soon.

Just to underline - this is a distribution agreement for the Sky platform and Freesat, and it's not about sharing the broadcast rights which remain with the BBC within the UK.

This is no different from existing BBC channels being on Sky, Virgin, Freesat and BT Vision. But clearly we're delighted by the ability to get BBC channels to as many people as possible on the device of their choosing.

We should be clear that not every platform will be able to accommodate such a huge technical offer, which amounts to 48 channels in total if you count 24 SD (Standard Definition) plus 24 HD.

But for Freeview users at peak there will be two extra channels (Channel 301 and 302) available via the EPG and BBC Red Button, that will double the choice on offer from BBC One and BBC Three - meaning that from 7pm you'll have at least 4 television services plus the full 24-stream service via our website.

As ever, we'll keep you up-to-date here with further developments.

But in the complexity of navigation through all the content of a digital Olympics, which my colleague Phil Fearnley writes more about here, we reckon this is an exciting development that will make BBC content more convenient and simpler to find.

I want to highlight the importance of our news services in complementing what we deliver from the other genres, including the Games-time sport.

It's odd when you think back now - but when London was bidding for the Olympics, the vigour of the British media was seen as a disadvantage.

It was thought the IOC wouldn't like the challenge there is in this country, as opposed to the control of China or more compliant host nations.

We in the BBC did our bit to test that thesis by transmitting a Panorama that was unflattering about the IOC during the bidding process and it's to the credit of those making the decision that it appeared to have no influence on the vote in Singapore - and nor should it have done, since a robust media is in our view a prerequisite for a successful Games.

The decision-makers should be held to account, and the voice of the public - whether supportive or critical - should be heard.

But there is, just occasionally, a question about how it is that the BBC can corporately want the London Games to be a success - and yet foster a news operation globally, nationally and locally that will scrutinise every bit of the story.

The answer is pretty simple.

As a public service broadcaster, we support the success of the people of Britain and the Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event in the world, on our doorstep and supported by all the major political parties.

So in the same way that we'd rather it didn't rain throughout Wimbledon - and that we get great competitive finals in which the best men and women win, watched by large audiences, and with Wimbledon enduring as the world's greatest tennis tournament - yes, we would like the Olympic Games to turn out well.

However it's vital to retaining the trust of our audiences that we tell the news story of the London Games fairly and impartially.

Whether it's a story of glorious weather and golden success, or transport chaos, drought and disorganisation, the BBC will be independent in its coverage.

The threat of traffic congestion is a major worry for this summer's Olympics.

We will never let our partnerships dictate our journalism, and the IOC and Locog know that they will get tough questioning about any problems - alongside our live coverage of what we hope will be brilliant athletics, swimming, cycling and the rest.

And this is not automatic in the modern media world. Commercial interests or government pressure, as we can see in some foreign countries, can tame journalism.

It's as important to maintain the independence of what we do as it is to share the events with the greatest number of people.

A world of pay barriers and compliant reporting isn't one that serves the public good, and this summer we aim to show the advantages of universal access alongside the benefits of lively, independent media with BBC journalism at the forefront.

And it is - with an appropriate fanfare - the Olympic torch relay.

On Monday, as we published details of the Torch's route across the UK, there were more than 2m views of that information on bbc.co.uk.

This ties in with the research that shows it's the thing more people want to try to see than anything else, which is perfectly logical given that the flame will travel all around the country and could even be coming along your street.

So here at the BBC we're taking the Torch relay seriously.

It's a chance to share the Olympics across the whole of the United Kingdom, and if it works it should do two things - help everyone feel part of London 2012, but also celebrate the communities of our islands as they have their moment in the spotlight.

We'll disclose our network coverage plans nearer the time. Today, though, we're announcing a range of programming across the BBC's Nations and Regions - which will mean audiences will have unrivalled access to the Olympic torch story when it's in their area.

Each of the BBC's Nations and Regions will transmit a special extended version of their flagship News programmes when the flame is in their patch. This means they will be on air from 6.30 to 7.30, replacing The One Show for just one night. The plan looks like this:

22 May Olympic Torch Live: West, Bristol
24 May Olympic Torch Live: West Midlands, Worcester
25 May Olympic Torch Live: Wales, Cardiff
1 June Olympic Torch Live: North West, Liverpool
6 June Olympic Torch Live: Northern Ireland, Belfast
13 June Olympic Torch Live: Scotland, Edinburgh
15 June Olympic Torch Live: North East, Newcastle
18 June Olympic Torch Live: East Yorks and Lincs, Hull
25 June Olympic Torch Live: Look North (Yorks), Sheffield
29 June Olympic Torch Live: East Midlands, Derby
3 July Olympic Torch Live: East, Peterborough
12 July Olympic Torch Live: South West, Weymouth
13 July Olympic Torch Live: South, Bournemouth
18 July Olympic Torch Live: South East, Dover

The shows will be live from the evening celebration events in our major towns and cities and we're confident they'll be a popular addition to the schedule. But if for some reason you'd rather stay with the network schedule, you'll be able to on satellite and cable providers or by tuning to BBC One HD.

This will be supplemented by radio - by the national stations Radio Ulster, Radio Scotland, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, and by local radio across the English regions.

Most typically the flagship output will be at breakfast time as the Torch is starting its journey, but you'll be able to keep in touch all day while the torchbearers and convoys are wending their way across the countryside.

On the evidence of previous host countries, it's when the flame makes its appearance that the public realise the Games are really, finally about to begin.

The UK looks like it's already spotted that, so we'll do our best to live up to those expectations locally and regionally as well as nationally and internationally.

When I signed up to the National Registered Testing Pool last summer, in order to experience first-hand what our sporting heroes go through, I found the old version of Adams clunky, slow and impossible to access from your phone. You got the hang of it with time, but it was far from simple.

With the new system freshly in place ahead of the London Olympics, I decided to test it out myself.

The old Adams looked a little like a very old version of Microsoft Outlook. The new one looks like an up-to-date one - easier on the eye, easier to use and harder to make accidental errors on - which, considering that three missed tests can lead to a ban from all Olympic competition, is about as grave an administrative error as any athlete could ever make.

Eighteen months in development from Wada (the World Anti-Doping Agency), it has one instant advantage over the version it replaces: any date or action that needs your attention shows up red. Any detail you've successfully updated comes up green.

It might not sound like much. But when you're inputting three months of detailed information at a time - addresses of your home, your partner, your parents, any hotel you might stay in, training centres, race venues, physio appointments - every tiny piece of assistance is welcome.

This time, there is also an in-built user guide. Before if you wanted to make a last-minute tweak to your hour to reflect a change to your training time, you had to phone UK Anti-Doping or your sport's own experts. Now you should be able to do it yourself, wherever you are in the world.

One of the biggest complaints from athletes was the issue of specifying where you would be for that hour while on the move. Those flying to competitions, for example, often had to input the airline, flight number and seat number, and add in somewhat caustic comments like 'OVER THE ATLANTIC'.

The new system fixes that. Now you can input a day as 'TRAVEL', and a blue 'AIR' signifier with an airplane icon will appear on that date in your Adams calendar. If the flight is delayed, you can text an update in from the departures or arrivals lounge.

How well is it working?

Speaking to anti-doping officers at various Olympic sports, a number of recurring themes emerged. While almost all prefer the new system, there remain a number of key concerns.

If an athlete enters a new overnight residence into a date on the in-built calendar, for example, the programme takes that to mean they will be there that morning, rather than that night and following morning - an illogical oversight that could lead to a missed test.
There is still no smartphone app. Although Wada promise one is being developed, it certainly won't be ready for this summer's Olympics.

While you can access Adams through the browser on an iPhone, it won't work at all for BlackBerry users. Should you update your whereabouts with a text message - as many athletes regularly do - you still don't require a password, meaning that anyone with access to your phone, could alter your personal information. And any update you do text in will reach UK Anti-Doping but won't appear in your own online diary.

Neither is it quite as universal as Wada would like.

One of the many interesting nuggets to come out of the Tackling Doping in Sport conference in London last week was that Qatar's national anti-doping body has decided not to implement ADAMS because of trenchant athlete opposition to home testing.
So how are British athletes finding it?

The early signs have pleased UKAD. From 400-odd sportsmen and women in the testing pool, there were less than a handful of missed submissions in the first quarter.
"It is so much better than the old one," says Jeanette Kwakye, British 100m champion and Olympic finalist in Beijing.

"There were times with the previous version when I would be typing in my whereabouts info at one in the morning. I couldn't get my head round it.

"There are still one or two little things that aren't perfect, but now it's a couple of clicks and you're done.

"The next thing I'm desperate for is the app. Everyone is on smartphones. I can understand the security issues, but we travel so much - changing venues, changing training times - that it's so important to be able to update on the move.

"But I'm a massive fan of testing. It protects the sport I love. This system isn't convenient, but everyone in office jobs has paperwork, so us athletes shouldn't be any different. We go really hard to make it work for us."

And what of the whereabouts system itself, famously dubbed "draconian" by Andy Murray? At the same conference in London, I shared a platform with Ian Smith, legal director of the Professional Cricketers' Association, during a discussion about the ethics and legality behind it all.

"What we need to know is whether no-notice out-of-competition testing is even effective," said Smith.

"This is where there is a gigantic hole. It is definitely perceived wisdom that, if someone will cheat, they will do it at home. I'm not saying that is not the case, but we have no evidence because the reporting provided to WADA is simply not happening. The lack of statistical evidence is alarming.

"The whole system is weighed in favour of the police and against the athlete. Who does this system exist for?

"Why is it for the athlete to prove that there isn't one (intention to cheat)? A man can commit the most heinous crime in front of the world, on television, and he still gets a fair shot at trying to prove he is not guilty. The same does not apply to athletes just trying to make their living."

The start of the Olympic torch relay in the UK is 70 days closer - which means it gets under way in just two months' time with its arrival in Cornwall on Friday 18 May.

Today we learned a lot more about where it will go street-by-street across Great Britain and Northern Ireland - and, equally important, we found out about some of the people who'll be carrying the flame.

These are exciting times for those fortunate enough to have been selected, and when you put together the runners with the locations you can see what's shaping up to be an amazing journey around the UK.

Here at the BBC, two of our staff are named today among the 8,000 runners.

These places weren't part of Games organisers Locog's allocation for the general public, but were made available to us as the Olympic broadcaster courtesy of Lloyds TSB, one of the presenting partners of the torch relay.

Our key selection criterion was that the individuals must have given something to the wider community - to have made a contribution greater than just doing their job - to merit the honour of being part of the relay.

I hope you'll approve of our choices.

The first is Alec Collyer a video journalist at the BBC in Plymouth.

It's 35 years since Alec became a founder member of the Dartmoor Search and Rescue, an entirely voluntary role, and he's still with them today having taken part in countless rescues in weather conditions including blizzards and fog.

The Search and Rescue teams are called in to help people in distress when required by the Police, and you may remember one of the biggest recent calls on their services was assisting hundreds of motorists stranded in the snow on Dartmoor in 2009 and 2010.

Our second torchbearer is Stuart Hughes - the diplomatic producer in our World Affairs Unit. Stuart is a journalist who's been to many trouble-spots. But in 2003 he lost his right leg after stepping on a landmine in Iraq; and the cameraman he was filming with, Kaveh Golestan, was killed.

Despite this tragedy, Stuart has returned to work and continued to travel the globe; and he's also become a high-profile campaigner against landmines. He's helped other amputees achieve their goals by showing that losing a limb doesn't mean the end of an active life - and equally important, he's used his own experience to highlight the psychological toll faced by journalists reporting from warzones.

You can watch a film about Stuart here: