The 2000 Olympic heptathlon champion is one of several former top competitors who have been accompanying a group of 152 athletes and coaches who have travelled to Beijing to gain valuable Olympic experience.

 

Other athletes who are part of the scheme include rowers Ed Coode and  Alison Mowbray, gold and silver medallists in Athens four years ago.

 

Lewis, who attended her first Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, said: “I became involved because of my own Olympic experience.

 

"I remember what it was like for my first Olympics - I was completely terrified and quite overwhelmed by the whole situation.

 

“Luckily I came out on top at that time, in Atlanta, but if I can impart some of my knowledge and experience, offer any advice and help going forward as part of their preparation for 2012, then I think it’s a job well done.

 

“It’s important that you almost demystify the Olympic Games for a lot of athletes. In some ways you need to treat it as just another competition.

 

“These guys are good enough to qualify, there are some athletes here [on the Ambition Programme] who were painfully close to being at these Games.

 

“If you can give them the confidence and allow them to see what it’s like so they are not completely blown away by the experience then hopefully they’ll do their best and be the best prepared athletes going into the London Games.

 

“Team GB has competed and performed above and beyond all of our expectations.

 

"It’s been a privilege and an honour to watch their success.

 

“Let’s use swimming as an example.

 

"There’s mass participation back home and people might be thinking ‘Can we get there?

 

"'Can we challenge the Americans and the Australians in the pool?’.

 

"The answer is yes.

 

“We can take on the rest of the world. We have the confidence to do that and win.

 

"I think [Britain's performance in Beijing] sends a strong message throughout all the sports that we are one of the best countries in the world.

 

"It’s taken a long time to prove that.

 

"This whole BOA experience is about preparation - about giving the athletes the best preparation they can get.

 

"I think it can only get better going onto 2012.

 

"I’ve seen the changes down the years and there is so much more attention to detail now - the sports science, the nutrition, location - it’s all moving in the right direction.

 

“You’ve got to keep pushing the boundaries to keep striving for excellence, that’s the only way forward."

 

Among the youngsters on the trip is sprinte Asha Phiip.

 

She said: “We spent a couple of days in Macau at the preparation camp and then came to Beijing.

 

"We went to the Olympic Village to see how it works and to see the athletes wandering around.

 

"It was amazing, but it’s easy to see how you could get distracted by all the stuff going on.

 

“The crowd was absolutely amazing at the stadium last night and now I want to hear them calling my name in London.

 

“We came here two years ago for the world juniors, so we’ve experienced the transformation of being in a preparation camp and then moving to the Village, getting used to the food, the atmosphere, all that sort of stuff.

 

"It’s all the little things that mean a lot.

 

“I want to be there.

 

"The saying here is, ‘One world, One dream’ but I want to make it, ‘My world, My dream’.

 

“Denise has been like a mother to us all, she’s wonderful.

 

"I’m too young to remember watching her compete, but my sister watched her and we talk about her a lot.

 

“So I’ve got people like her, Jeanette Kwakye and Christine Ohuruogu to look up to and try to emulate.

 

"I train at the same track as them and they ask how I am doing, help me with my diet and that sort of thing.

 

“Jeanette has been there and done it now and she tells us, ‘I’ve done it, so can you’.

 

"In 2012 we all can be there.”

 

Craig Hunter, the project manager for the Ambition Programme, said: "One of the greatest experiences we could give them was a trip into the Olympic Village.

 

"With 16,500 people living in there and a dining room that seats 5,000 it can be a fairly distracting and mind-blowing experience for a lot of young athletes.

 

“We think it’s a superb opportunity and will enhance our medal potential in 2012.”