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There's a lot of tension in London, but then you realize it's always been there, in its history, and that the best thing about London, that there's always been this tension.

The Olympics were the most pressure I've ever felt.

London was a really multi-racial city ... It's incredible how comfortable people are with race there.

London was the Olympics that I was most nervous about. From coming into the venue and stepping on to the mat, people were supporting with 'Saori' banners and waving the Japanese flag, so even though it was London, I felt much more like fighting at home that way, which was really inspiring.

I had more pressure when I competed in Moscow. I had no pressure in Montreal because I only went to do my routines and hoping I didn't mess it up when I was on the bar. When I came back, 10,000 people were at the airport and I thought, 'Why?' because, in my mind, I hadn't done anything different from what I used to do in my gym.

I first came to London when I was 22 and working as a roadie. Having watched the 'News At Ten' all my life, I thought Big Ben was going to be massive, but I was underwhelmed.

London had so much death in its history, it was hard to find a spot without spirits. They formed a safety net. Still, you had to hope the ones you got were good.

They never were planning to be here. All my family are going to London because they wanted to go to the big one. There was never any showdown - there wouldn't be.

It came as a great shock to me when I heard that England and Soviet Russia had become allies. So much so that I thought that the people responsible in London were acting in a manner that no longer coincided with British imperial interests.

I was putting all those pressures on myself.