NORTH-EAST athletics legend Steve Cram has praised the business world for its role in helping to propel the London 2012 Olympic Games to unprecedented heights.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games silver medallist said British sport's governing bodies had undergone significant restructuring to create a lasting legacy.

The 1500m star, from Jarrow, in Tyneside, said tough decisions had to be taken, and a business-like approach was needed to make Britain a top sporting nation.

Great Britain won 65 medals – 29 of them gold – in the London Games following previous success at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which Mr Cram said was the result of learning important lessons on sport governance and management.

He said: “A lot of the governing bodies were badly run and they had no idea about the business they were in and were top heavy with lots of committees.

“We had to create new structures and challenge the governing bodies to think differently because success wasn’t going to be about new changing rooms at the tennis club or a new bar at the rugby club.”

Mr Cram, who is chairman of the English Institute of Sport, was speaking at an Entrepreneurs' Forum in Jesmond Dene House Hotel, in Tyneside, and said a strong business mentality behind the scenes was needed to ensure a lasting sporting legacy in the country.

He said: “If you have the right leaders and entrepreneurs who understand what success is about, it’s amazing what you can achieve.

“London 2012 was not an accident, it was well planned, and Britain showed the world what it can do.”