Kelly: 'We're ready to live the dream'

The 100m sprinters go this weekend too and I could see from Darren Campbell's reaction when he heard about Kostas Kenteris probably being out of the 200m that the news gave him an extra buzz.

Without judging the ins and outs of the Kenteris business, I'd say the one positive thing that definitely can be taken from the whole thing is that it shows that nobody is immune from being pursued by drugs testers.

You have outsiders who might have looked at the sport and thought cynically that athletes from the home country might be protected from testing. But they're not and that's fantastic for our sport. It proves that testing is happening and that efforts at antidoping really are serious.

When anyone who is a threat is taken out of the equation, then it does boost you. Darren's a championship racer and I'd never count him out, just as I'd never discount Steve Backley, who is going for a medal at a record fourth consecutive Games. That would be amazing.

Then there is Paula Radcliffe. You can never say anything is certain when it's the marathon you're talking about and you never know what's going to happen on the day, but the probability is very high that she's at last going to get the full dues on Sunday for all that hard work she's put in down the years.

Of course, it won't be easy. Liz Yelling, who's also doing the event, was telling me at the camp about the course and it it sounds very, very tough. The race starts at 6pm when it's still hot - it wouldn't be possible to stage it during the day because it would be an absolute nightmare - but at least it has cooled down a bit at that stage and nobody prepares more thoroughly or is more experienced than Paula. She will be prepared for everything.

The weight of a nation's hopes - that's a lot to have to carry, but I'm sure she can cope. Let's face it, what she has done this past couple of years is absolutely remarkable. She trains so hard, focuses so well and absolutely eats, breathes and lives her sport.

She is incredibly focused on gold. The expectation is a lot to ask anyone to carry, but that's why she's kept out of sight, doing her preparations in her own way. I believe Paula is strong enough to cope with that and, realistically, she is so much better than all the others that she could afford to be at 80 per cent of her best and still win.

There will certainly be more expectations on me than when everyone wrote me off in Sydney four years ago. I had been injured and didn't even have to think about what might happen, so maybe there'll be others this time who, like I did, come out and amaze everyone.

Now I've committed to both the 800m and 1,500m, I believe I am running well enough to bring home two medals but you can never be sure. These are the Olympics, utterly unpredictable.

All you can be sure about is that everyone in the British athletics team will be giving it 100 per cent out there to let down no one.