It’s 10 years to the day since the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, the start of a glorious summer of sport as Team GB carried the hopes of four nations on their shoulders.

Reporter Alex Hoad recalls the highs and lows of covering the Games and we take a look at how Kent's athletes performed.

July 27, 2012. It feels a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it feels like it was only yesterday.

I jumped on the shiny new javelin train to Stratford that warm Friday afternoon.

The train was packed, but a different packed to usual.

There were no suits and ties, no noisy phone calls which should have been an email.

Instead there were groups: families, friends, sports clubs, probably some schools and offices too. I suspect at least four generations were represented in each carriage.

The air was thick with a sense of anticipation and the smell of sun cream while the uniform of the day was evidently shorts, T-shirts and sun hats with, of course, a splash of red, white and blue.

The Union Flag was sparkling away on sequined tops, smeared over the rosy cheeks of children (but not just children) and draped around shoulders like a cape.

Those who watched the opening ceremony on TV will probably remember it fondly. Those of us fortunate enough to actually be there can’t forget it.

I was wedged between veteran Olympic correspondents from Minnesota and Sydney and even they were in awe.

I was just a kid from 45 minutes down the road who had never seen anything like it, and never will again.

I got a text just as the Queen appeared 50 yards to my left following her OO7-style arrival at the Stadium. My mum said: “You’ll never have a better day at work than this. This is as good as it gets.”

She was right. That summer in Stratford was the hardest I have ever worked.

The logistics of covering more than a dozen local athletes competing in eight sports in as many different locations across 14 days was incredibly complex.

I realised from the outset it was the privilege of a lifetime to be chosen to cover the Games, so I tried to do Kent, and Team GB, justice with my coverage in the papers, via KentOnline and kmfm.

There were countless nights when I missed the midnight train home and had to sleep in a chair in the Main Press Centre.

Twice I was on a bus from Stratford to Eton Dorney at 4.30am to ensure I got to see Tom Ransley in action.

I existed mainly on coffee, cereal bars and adrenaline that summer and I had goosebumps for a dermatologically-worrying amount of time after Super Saturday, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

London 2012 impacted the lives of many, not least me.

The Kent youngsters who were inspired by the likes of toothy teenager Adam Gemili, and Ransley’s podium finish, and went on to find their own path into sport, the volunteer Gamesmakers whose spirit enhanced the Games for everyone.

There were some tears too: Jack Green hitting the deck in an Olympic semi-final, Lisa Dobriskey seething at the injustice of being beaten by athletes she believed were cheating in her final global competition.

She was right, too. Four of the nine who beat her have subsequently been disqualified.

Off the track, London in the summer of 2012 saw the best of us. That Union Flag united people, whereas latterly it’s often used as a tool in the division which has eaten away at the world.

The aim was to inspire a generation, not just to run faster or jump higher, but to be better. It’s never too late to start being inspired by that summer. I always will be.

From medal-winning joy to tears of despair: How Kent's Team GB members performed, by Thomas Reeves

Equestrian’s William Fox-Pitt, from Canterbury, who attended Wellesley House School in Broadstairs, had claimed team silver in Athens and a bronze in Beijing four years earlier.

He added to that tally with silver as part of the five-strong eventing team in the three-day eventing at Greenwich Park.

Ashford rower Tom Ransley, a former pupil from Canterbury's King's School, won bronze in a dramatic men’s eight final at Eton Dorney in Berkshire.

Arch-rivals Germany were simply too strong for the GB team, which included Ransley, as Germany held on at the finish while GB claimed bronze.

Former Sutton Valence School pupil Ashley Jackson was a part of the GB hockey side but, despite reaching the semi-finals, they narrowly missed out on a medal despite a fine effort.

In the athletics at the Olympic Stadium, Dartford sprinter Adam Gemili – then aged only 18 – just missed out on a place in the showpiece 100m final, while a botched handover between Danny Talbot and Gemili led to the British 4x100m relay team being disqualified.

Meanwhile in the women's 1500m final, Ashford’s Lisa Dobriskey came home 10th.

Hurdles specialist Jack Green, a former pupil at Saltwood Primary and Brockhill Park School in Hythe, was involved in GB’s fourth-placed finish in the 4x400m relay.

Green, originally from Snodland, also cut a tearful figure after crashing out of the Olympic 400m hurdles in the semi-final.

The football saw both former Gillingham defender Ryan Bertrand and fellow defender Chris Smalling, who has connections to Maidstone and Medway, play for Team GB’s men’s team.

But they lost their quarter-final on penalties to South Korea.

Meanwhile for the women’s team, Orpington-born left-sided player Claire Rafferty was involved in GB’s run which also ended at the quarter-final stage.

Former Beckenham Swimming Club star Ellen Gandy took part in the 100m and 200m butterfly race as she came eighth and 17th overall.

Judo duo Kelly Edwards and Sophie Cox were involved in the Games, as well, however, they couldn’t get onto the podium.

Medway’s Kat Driscoll finished ninth in the individual trampoline competition after the preliminary routines and therefore didn't qualify for the finals.

In the windsurfing, Bryony Shaw, of Tunbridge Wells, got as high as second before eventually crossing the finish line in fifth.

Sidcup-born weightlifter Jack Oliver competed in the 77kg event and came 10th overall – the best result of any British weightlifter at the Games.

In the Paralympics, meanwhile, there was more county success.

Table tennis proved a particularly fruitful event at the Games for Kent, with Tunbridge Wells-born Will Bayley taking Class 7 silver and Sheppey player Ross Wilson able to earn team bronze in Class 6-8.

Judo’s Ben Quilter was another medallist.

Having been selected at the same time as boccia player Joe Ingram (Dartford), Quilter, from Stone, near Dartford, went on to take 60kg bronze.

Brothers Dan and Marc Powell from Dartford competed in the judo at the Paralympics where they were knocked out of the repechage.

Dan was first to take to the mat at the ExCel and lost by ippon to world number one Matthias Krieger of Germany in the under-81kg category.

He recovered in the repechage to beat Harley Damiao Pereira, but suffered defeat to Isao Cruz Alonso of Cuba in the second session. Older brother Marc lost to Ukraine's Dmytro Solovey in the quarter-finals and then Iran's Mohammad Ali Shanani in the repechage.

Chatham-born Steve Brown, from Sittingbourne, was captain of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad.

Brown retired from international sport after London 2012 having led his team to a fifth-placed finish.

Another GB captain was Claire Harvey who was the captain of the GB Women's Sitting Volleyball team as her team were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Iran.

On the track, Stephen Osborne was disappointed by his performance in the T51 100m final in front of 80,000 people at the Olympic Stadium, but revealed afterwards he had never competed in front of more than 50 people before then.

Wheelchair sprinter Osborne from Longfield, near Gravesend, got away slowly and was left in the wake of Finn Toni Piispanen in the next lane, who stormed to gold in a Paralympic record of 21.72sec, while Osborne came home fifth in 23.40 – well outside his personal best.

Gold medal shooting prospect Nathan Milgate was left hugely frustrated after agonisingly missing out on a place in the Paralympic final.

Canterbury-born Milgate, who grew up in Herne Bay, had 60 shots at the target in the R1 10m standing Air Rifle SH1 qualification round at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, with a maximum 10 points on offer from each shot.

However, despite hitting the '10' 48 times, his score of 588 was only good enough for 10th, with the top eight making the final.