Image: The heroics of Bradley Wiggins has had a direct impact on participation numbers

A number of national governing bodies of sport have reported encouraging increases in participation figures following the 2012 Olympics.

Hockey clubs are also reporting a spike in interest – England Hockey estimates that if even half of the people who have shown an interest in playing do decide to take up the sport, it would account for another 18,000 participants.

Meanwhile, British Canoeing has seen a four-fold increase in the number of people searching for a local canoe club thorugh the BCU website since the start of the Games and a five-fold increase in web traffic generally.

British Rowing has also reported a remarkable rise in interest, with 5,500 searching the website to find their nearest club on the first rowing finals day and almost 28,000 searched during the Olympics.