In 2006, as London bathed in the afterglow of winning the bid for the 2012 Olympics, Sebastian Coe announced: "Legacy is probably nine-tenths of what this process is about – not just 16 days of sport." Presented as a benevolent behemoth of fast-track regeneration, the Games were supposed to leave behind a shiny new world of 12,000 homes and 10,000 jobs, set amid the rolling hills of the largest new park in Europe. It would be the miracle cure for the maligned East End, cleansing a swath of the Lower Lea valley – a site conveniently branded as a toxic dumping ground, at the nexus of London's poorest boroughs. On Friday, reports were published declaring the legacy to be a triumph for UK tourism, sports participation, volunteering and business. But what is the physical reality on the ground? One year on, and with £11bn of public money spent on the Olympics, the first part of the park will reopen this weekend. With national cynicism no longer suspended, now that the collective frisson of watching our Lycra-clad heroes has faded, how is the promised bounty shaping up?

Anniversary Games at Olympic Stadium Copper Box opens, becoming London's third-largest indoor event venue (6,000 seats, plus up to 1,500 added temporary seats) Northern parklands now open to public

The first female Saudi track Olympian finished her 800m in 2min 44.95sec – more than a half-minute behind the rest. But her status earned a standing ovation. "This is an honour, such an amazing experience, just to be representing women," she said. "I know that this can make a huge difference." What happened next: Attar, a student at Pepperdine University in California who continues to run competitively, told the Saudi Gazetteabout the impact her time in London had on the younger generation in Saudi. "One of my younger cousins had a class project on me. Their PE teacher had my photo up in the classroom, so they called me for interviews and it was great to talk to them. I mean, it is a big thing. I know the act itself does not change everything but you have to start somewhere. Everything begins with a step." Two events made Olympic crowds boo last summer: George Osborne turning up, and the badminton scandal. Eight Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian players were expelled for trying to lose, in an effort to manipulate the draw.

Cram was in Monaco’s Stade Louis II commentating for the BBC as Farah clocked a time of 3min 28.81sec that not only lowered Cram’s national mark of 3min 29.67sec but sliced 0.14sec off Fermín Cacho’s European record. It also elevated Farah to sixth on the all-time world 1500m list. Cram admitted he was shocked that a long-distance runner who only dabbled with the metric mile should have leapt above himself, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett on the all-time UK list. “I’m just stunned,” Cram said. “You should never become too attached to records, whatever they are, but it’s been a long time now and I wasn’t expecting it to go in that fashion with a distance runner.

Sarah Morrison hears a sports foundation’s plans for an iconic Olympic venue as it reopens this week You're fired Uzma Yakoob! Farm shop shake up turns sour for The Apprentices 2013 To sports fans worldwide it became known as the “box that rocks” and quickly became one of the most visually arresting venues of the London Olympics. But after the games, the legacy of the Copper Box was uncertain. Private companies scrabbled to secure the contract to run the third-largest indoor venue in the capital, which had hosted handball, modern pentathlon fencing and the Paralympic goalball competition.