London's Olympic legacy: have the Games inspired a generation? It's true that gymnastics is a sport in which it is important to start young, and one in which we don't have a great heritage of male stars, but I still think it is a shame that Luca didn't get a chance to have a go - and I can't help wondering how often that scene was repeated, in different age groups and in different sports, elsewhere in the country. It is not enough to inspire a generation, though that is a noble aim. You also have to inspire (and pay) the coaches who will instruct them, and get a positive message across to the parents who will have to drive them to and from training, and who will have to buy - and maintain - their kit and equipment. Recently, Sport England published figures on participation in this country since the Games, which made grim reading: 100,000 fewer people are participating in the sports it funds in April 2013 than in April 2012. That can't be good. But if you drill down into the data it becomes clear that the drop includes a lot of adults doing sports that have been affected by the lousy winter and the harsh economic climate, while the numbers of young people and women doing sport have increased. For this series I've interviewed a Home Counties canoeist, a family of cyclists in the north-east and a young dressage rider in the Midlands. Everywhere I have found people inspired by the Games. But I've also found that more needs to be done to keep spreading the message, and to support those whose sporting careers have barely begun. Sally Gunnell, pictured after winning the Olympic gold medal in the 400m hurdles in 1992 (Pic: AFP/Getty Images) Talent bubbles to the top Our first Legacy case study is a visit to the venue where Britain's athletes paddled to gold The best place to start any consideration of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics for Great Britain is at a venue that was created for the Games - that would not have existed had it not been for the Games - and which will continue to thrive after the Games. If in years to come anyone wants to know what the Olympics brought to Britain beyond the Olympic Park in Stratford, the Lee Valley White Water Centre, in an otherwise unlovely spot where London, Essex, Hertfordshire and the M25 meet, will be the most concrete and sophisticated monument to be found. The foaming flume where Team GB's paddlers won gold and silver in the canoe slalom (C2) event was built on a former car park at a capital cost of more than £30 million. Before the Games it was trumpeted by the organisers as a venue with a solid, quantifiable legacy - unlike the main stadium at Stratford, for example, whose future was speculative when it was built (though its future is now secure with West Ham United football club.) The White Water Centre is now in the throes of a £6 million post-Games refit but it continues to function meanwhile, proving popular not only with local stag parties but also with the national elite squads and keen young beginners, more than 50 of whom train there every week. Which is where Fraser Smalley comes in. If you wanted to embarrass him, you might say that Smalley, a lean, bespectacled 14 year-old, is the embodiment of the London legacy: a kid switched on to a sport by watching British success at a purpose-built permanent venue, now hoping to emulate that success by developing his skills at the very same venue where his heroes triumphed. Smalley remembers the day his dream was kindled, at home last summer. The rest of the family had gone out, but I stayed home because I wanted to watch the C2 final on TV. One of the British team, Etienne Stott, trains up the road from where we live in Bedford so when he won the gold with his partner and I saw him on top of the podium it was just ... it was inspirational, really. It made me feel that I want to be there myself one day. Some would be content to dream. But Smalley comes from a generation enabled by technology not only to gawp at their heroes but to get in touch with them too. I just tweeted Etienne and asked how I could get started in canoeing - I was amazed when he tweeted back. He told me who to get in touch with, so I emailed GB Canoeing, and they told me when the first session was and where to go. It just seemed really easy ... "Easy" because, like all the British sports represented at the Games, canoeing had anticipated increased interest, and sharply increased interest in the event of medals, and had plans in place to channel the interest of young people such as Smalley. A further priceless advantage is that the young would-be canoeist lived within what you might call keen-parent distance of the White Water Centre. As I know from personal experience both as athlete and parent, any youngster starting out on a career in sport depends, to a huge extent, on the support of their parents - not just financially, but in time and enthusiasm. Keen-parent distance, in this case, is a three-hour round trip in the car from their home in Cambridgeshire to every training session, so it was enormously important in the earliest encounters not only that Fraser should feel welcome to have a go at canoeing, but that his parents, Robert and Nicky, also felt comfortable with the sport. "We were really worried the first time we came down to the Lee Valley Centre," said Nicky. We had no idea what to expect. "We thought we might be overstepping the mark," Robert agrees. But they were happy for anyone to have a go. Fraser now trains twice a week in a group of mostly 13- to 16-year-olds, with one or two older paddlers in the water. "So there are people who have done it all before who we can learn from," Fraser says. On the bank will be his parents and older brother Alex, always ready to point out if Fraser has missed a slalom gate. But also present will be Shaun Pearce, GB Canoeing's head coach, who keeps a regular eye on the young paddlers at the lowest level of the pyramid of talent while also keeping the country's elite squad up to the mark. Etienne Stott is also a regular not only on the course but on the bank, and is taking an interest in Fraser's progress. "He says I'll be fine," Fraser says. He reckons I just need to eat more pies. Sally Gunnell OBE won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, is a former world record holder and is the only woman to have held Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic track titles concurrently. As the mother of three sons, she is committed to promoting greater fitness and wellbeing for families in the UK. Let Sally know if your Olympic inspiration has been fulfilled or frustrated by emailing weekend@telegraph.co.uk with "Sally Gunnell" in the subject field. London 2012: what remains All change: the Olympics stadium, soon to be a home for West Ham United FC (Rex Features) The Olympic Stadium has been sold to West Ham United FC on a 99-year lease. Following redevelopment, the stadium will be used as the club's home ground starting in the 2016-17 season. The stadium will be used for live music events and for matches at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. It is also a likely venue for the 2017 World Athletics and IPC Athletics World Championships. The Olympic Village residential complex will be made into 2,818 new homes; a school, Chobham Academy, will accept 1,800 pupils aged 3-19. The Aquatics Centre is being transformed into a public facility, attracting an anticipated 800,000 visitors a year, alongside elite swimmers. The two temporary wings for extra spectator seats are being removed. The hockey pitches at the Olympic Park will be used in the 2015 EuroHockey Nations Championships. The Velodrome will form the heart of a new VeloPark for use by the local community, clubs and elite athletes. The Copper Box, used in the Games as a venue for handball events and the modern pentathlon, will be developed into a multi-use sports centre for community use, athlete training and events. The temporary seating at the BMX cycling track at the Olympic Park will be removed and the track itself will be reconfigured to make it suitable for riders of all ages and abilities. Hadleigh Farm in Essex, the mountain biking venue, will adapt the mountain bike course for use by the public. The Lee Valley White Water Centre (see feature) remains open to the public and elite athletes during redevelopment. It will host the 2015 Canoe Slalom World Championships.