IF enthusiasm alone could win gold medals, Jonathan Edwards would still be leaping with the best of them.

As he led the press on a tour of the Olympic Park, the former triple-jump champion pointed out the vast array of venues and landscaped backdrop with as much gusto as he used to approach his hop, skip and jump.

Retired from sporting competition since 2003, one of Edwards’s key roles these days is an ambassadorial one as part of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Heavily involved in London 2012, it is little surprise to hear him waxing lyrical about the festival of sport which will hit these shores in the summer.

But as the media was given a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the burgeoning Stratford site, it appeared that his passion for the upcoming Games was not without foundation.

While much of the area remains a work in progress, the impressive cluster of sporting stadia is already cutting an imposing figure in the capital’s skyline.

And despite the questioning of the Olympics’ merits in some quarters, Edwards is adamant the country will proudly unite come Games time.

The triple-jump world record holder, whose father was a vicar in Bearwood, said: “I think most people are cynical because they don’t necessarily know what is going on.

“They see something about the Olympics once in a blue moon on the news. It is normally a bad thing because generally that is what is reported – the bad rather than the good, maybe around tickets or security.

“But this project has been run in an exemplary fashion – it is on time, under budget and the benefits are spread out across the UK.

“I guarantee whatever the cynicism is now, when you get to the opening ceremony, people will be behind it.

“Once the eyes of the world are watching and your athletes start to win some gold medals, everybody gets on board. It will be stunning. I think we will be proud to be British.”

Much of the land on the Olympic Park itself had to be decontaminated before work could begin, while power-lines were moved underground.

Now, the site is unrecognisable from the one inherited by Games chiefs.

It boasts a piece of ‘modern art’ dubbed The Orbit, while a host of sporting venues including the Velodrome, Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre stand proudly alongside a huge athletes’ village.

Edwards added: “I think it’s phenomenal what has been done in a relatively short time.

“It is a regeneration project at heart but in terms of a site for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the atmosphere at Games-time is going to be amazing. In terms of a venue and site, I think it is going to be the best there has ever been.”

London 2012 statistics

• 205 national anthems have been recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the victory ceremonies.

• 98 per cent of materials reclaimed from demolition within the Olympic Park were reused or recycled.

• 800,000 people are expected to use public transport to travel to the Games on the busiest day – which is more than the entire population of Leeds.

• 300,000 spectators will cycle and walk to Games venues in London next summer.

• 75 pence in every pound the Olympic Delivery Authority is spending is an investment in the long-term transformation of the area.

• 52 electricity pylons at the Olympic Park were dismantled and the power lines moved underground in one of the largest civil engineering projects in recent times.

• 4,000 trees have been planted across the Olympic Park and Olympic and Paralympic Village.