Interview: Olympic rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave

The 47-year-old, who was in Canary Wharf recently promoting his new book Inspired, has been appointed by the Government to oversee the sporting legacy, and it's a role he's relishing.

He said: "Part of this role is looking to the future. People will be, and have been, inspired and one of the things London got really right is the useable legacy, like adapting the stadium from 80,000 to 25,000.

"But there's a human element to it as well. You've got all the different agencies - Locog, UK Sport, Sport England - and I'm trying to get everyone to put down in very simple terms what they have done in terms of human legacy so far, what they plan to do, and in an ideal world what they would like to happen. You'll get the plan of what everyone's got.

"We want to pull all of it together, make sure we're not doubling over what's been done before, and more to the point plugging the holes in between, with education and health involved in it as well.

Money is being thrown at Olympic sports but Sir Steve is concerned it will dry up after the Games, arguing it is imperative to keep the momentum going.

He said: "The funding won't be cut completely but it will be reduced heavily from 2012 onwards so I've got a few schemes and ideas which we could bring in.

"The country staging the Games normally does better than they have ever done before. At the following Games you hold that level because of the enthusiasm of the people who have been drawn into it. But then it tails off a bit. I want us to be the first country to carry on success for more than one Games after we've hosted."

Sir Steve is excited about the London Games, but has one regret.

He said: "I would have loved to have competed in a home Games. I supported the Manchester bid a few years ago and people kept asking me why.

"Sydney was in the running, and atheletes kept saying they would rather go there than Manchester. But they tended to be younger athletes breaking into the international scene, so it was the romance of travelling around the world and seeing these places.

"Once you've done it a few times the draw and excitement of having your own crowd, where almost everyone in the stadium is shouting for you, is so much more exciting."

Sir Steve has written a book, Inspired, which he was promoting in Canary Wharf last Thursday. In it he profiles some of the world's greatest sportsmen and women, analysing the ingredients that made them successful.

He said: "The idea was to be a book of short stories, so people could dip in and out of it. The way it's turned out is that it is a sit down and read, but you can dip in and out of it as well.

"The kind of books I like to read are biographies, how they achieve things and how they do it. So I came up with chapters like perserverance and self-belief, and picked people I felt fitted into that category.

"People ask is there one key element, but they are all key elements, it's a mixture of them all. If I could bottle it I'd be a multi-millionaire and wouldn't be writing books."

After such a glittering career Sir Steve has plenty of highlights to look back on, but his favourite memory is, surprisingly, not Olympic related.

He said: "The Olympics is the one that's always profiled because it is the highest achievement you can have in our sport, but I always wanted to be a single sculler.

"I talk about it in the book, and I wouldn't put it on the same level as the Olympics, but to win the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986 in the single scull - I won three golds in Edinburgh and it was one of the most fun weeks of my life."

Inspired by Sir Steve Redgrave is published by Headline, priced £18.99.