I was way, way wrong I readily admit it (which became pretty obvious right from the off), and it was much much more than I thought it would be and we won a helluva lot more than demographics alone might imply we would - maybe there just might be something in multiculturalism after all.
But
We are not stupid people on this forum, however diverse the opinions might sometimes be. I think we sort of get a feel for the vox pop and the fickleness of the customer base, and how the big event will always win over people but longer term tenacity either in support or participation in sport (or in any arduous pursuit) is by no means a natural by-product of that single event.
To answer the question, I think it is a matter of philosophy. For every winner there will be thousands of losers, so statistically the chances are the upcoming generation will fill the latter role. For too long we have been beguiling youth that this is not the case - we were not honest enought to tell the truth because the path of least resistance is placation in the form of "everybody wins". It is, of course, utter nonsense for they all find out in due course anyway. Perhaps an Olympics of such brilliant british magnitude is not the best place to instill the values of sport simply for the sake of participation in young people - it's not going to be like that.
To get widespread engagement even in the face of lousy odds means other values need to come to the fore; Being in a team, looking and feeling good, winning at the level at which you compete, the sheer joy that comes one day with stopping doing a thing that hurts so comprehensively, and yet the next day comes so easily to you that you feel that you could take on the world. Testing yourself and not finding yourself wanting - sure, watch the olympics of 2012 and emulate them, but these are the things that stick to the psyche like shyte to a blanket. For a more widespread good, these are the things we ought to push.