Olympics 2008

Never agree to do things before you have discovered all the facts.

When I was asked if I minded going down to the launch of Team GB's Olympic kit, I jumped at the chance. Not until later did anybody tell me this would require lugging a camera over to Oxford Street for 7am.

It was worth it, though, just to see the smile etched across Tom Daley's face as the young diver took his place at the front of the Olympic pack.

There was never any doubt who would be the star of the show. Tom laps up media coverage with the ease and charm of a seasoned television presenter, not a 13-year-old diver. "Just Tom and the girls," called the photographers. Chris Tomlinson, Bradley Wiggins and John McFall departed, leaving Tom flanked by Heather Fell, Liz Yelling and Victoria Pendleton.

All this, moments after he'd been live on BBC Breakfast television, sporting the new gear in front of the nation. Tom's dad, Rob, follows him everywhere - today he was standing next to me during the photocall, and I can only imagine how proud he must feel at each event like this. Now and then he'd call out his son's name and Tom's perma-grin would obligingly snap into view, more pictures for an unbelievable family album.

Tom's face would never show it, but these sessions must be daunting experiences for at least some of the assembled troupe of athletes. It's tricky enough when you're behind the camera, drifting across a sea of colleagues in the hope of landing a distant Olympian, let alone having to face the lot of us and summon up something to say to each one, blinking away a thousand flash bulbs at the same time.

Modern pentathlete Heather Fell, who I saw in training at the University of Bath a few weeks ago, was there in the new Team GB version of a crop top. She decidedly felt she'd drawn the clothing short straw - especially since, resplendent in the top, she then found herself thrust in a shop window to wave at passing shoppers. If you've seen the photos, I'm sure you'll agree some of the athletes in the window could be extras from Shaun of the Dead. It's an interesting look.

This was the second stage in Team GB's attempt to show that Beijing won't be a problem for our athletes. Last week we had the technology and tricks being put into use, this week the clothing. According to the piece of paper in front of me, the new kit incorporates all kinds of cleverly-named stuff intended to "ensure athletes' bodies stay at the optimum temperature" and "ensure that the kit moves seamlessly with athletes' bodies when they perform."

Which reminds me. Liz Yelling couldn't think of the "worst thing" about marathon running when we went to film her. I suggested chafing might be an issue (if I ran 26 miles, my inner thigh would be reduced to mush). The look on her face... Contempt? Disbelief? Derision? Or all three?