TICKETS
Do I still have a chance of getting one? If you were among the 1.9 million people who originally applied when tickets went on sale in April, you still have a decent chance. In that first phase, 700,000 successful applicants secured 3m tickets. In the second, a further 160,000 or so were accounted for. In total, Locog has shifted 6m tickets in a matter of months, which the chief executive, Paul Deighton, estimates makes it the most popular event of all time.
Those who have yet to secure a ticket have one last chance when venue configurations are finalised, with media positions and seat kills fully accounted for. From December, a further 1.2m tickets will go on sale – probably first come, first served – across all 26 sports. Deighton has resolved to offer those who were in the original ballot of 1.9 million and have yet to get a ticket (more than 1 million people) first option on those final 1.2m. After that, a number of so-called "non-event tickets" will also go on sale, allowing holders to take in the ambience of the Olympic Park and be first in line for the Wimbledon-style pass out system. Numbers will be finalised later this year. Plenty of football tickets are likely to remain for matches around the country until shortly before the Games, although Wembley is already all but sold out.
It is also worth scouring the websites of other European Olympic associations, some of which still have tickets available. Under EU legislation, they are obliged to offer them to UK purchasers. A list of official overseas re-sellers is on the Locog website.
What if I have tickets but want to give them to someone else? In theory, tickets are not transferable. In practice, Locog have indicated they will take a relaxed approach to them being passed around friends and family. Next year, an official ticket exchange will be launched where those who have bought tickets they can no longer use will be able to sell them at face value.
What events will I be able to see for free? The marathons, the race walks, the cycling road race and time trials, plus the cycling leg of the triathlon.
What about Paralympic tickets? Two million Paralympic tickets go on sale from 9 September. The same ballot system for oversubscribed events will be in place as for the Olympics, although the amount of time people will be given to make their applications will be shorter. More than half the tickets are priced under £10, or £5 for children and OAPs, and 95% are less than £50.
VOLUNTEERING
Can I still volunteer? If you haven't already applied for the main Games Maker volunteering programme, you're already too late – the closing date was last year. Coe has continually emphasised the importance of the 70,000 volunteers in defining the atmosphere of the Games. A quarter of a million applicants are being whittled down.
TORCH
How do I become a torch-bearer? You need to be nominated. The 7,200 places reserved for the public are roughly split between Locog itself and the three "presenting partners" – Samsung, Coca-Cola and Lloyds TSB. Locog's process closed on 29 June but the three run by sponsors are open until 5, 12 and 30 September respectively.
Will there be a jogging police cordon around the torch like we saw in London before Beijing? Yes, but far more low-key. A security team of 28, provided by the Met, will wear identifiable uniforms and guard the torch and the "mother flame" on its 8,000 mile journey around the UK and Ireland. A minimum of two unarmed officers will be present at all times.
Where else will it go around the world? Nowhere. After the chaos caused by protests during the international leg of the pre-Beijing torch relay in 2008, the International Olympic Committee scrapped the idea of taking it around the world. Instead, the flame will travel from Olympia in the Peloponnese to Land's End, arriving on 18 May to begin its tour of 74 locations in 70 days.
OLYMPIC PARK
Will it all be ready in good time or could there be any embarrassing Athens-style delays? Some of the permanent venues (the velodrome) may be more aesthetically appealing than others (the aquatics centre with its ugly temporary "water wings"). But all are finished.
When will I be able to walk around the park and have a look for myself? Around 170,000 people have toured the park – mainly locals and other interested groups – but they tend to be organised through the ODA and aren't widely publicised. In September, allcomers can look around on pre-booked tours as part of the Mayor's open house weekend. In the meantime, the View Tube – a cafe just outside the Park on the Greenway that is easily accessed from Pudding Mill Lane DLR station – offers good views.
What will happen to it afterwards? There is significant conversion work to be undertaken and the Park is likely to be closed for the best part of a year. But the Olympic Park Legacy Company, mindful of capitalising on the excitement around the Games, has resolved to open it up in sections as quickly as possible and is seeking legacy operators for everything from the vast swimming complex to the Arcelor Mittal tower that towers over the stadium.
Is the Tottenham and West Ham stadium issue resolved yet? Depends who you talk to. The government and the mayor remain confident that the original decision by the Olympic Park Legacy Company will ultimately see West Ham move in as planned. But the determination of Spurs to fight all the way to the high court has cast doubt over West Ham's ambition to move in for the 2014-15 season, at best. Unless final negotiations are concluded by the autumn, that will prove impossible.
LONDONERS
Are VIPs going to clog up the roads with their special lanes during the Games? Er, yes. The so-called "Games lanes" make up around a third of the 109-mile Olympic Route Network. They will mainly link Park Lane, where the dignitaries and heads of state will stay, with the Park in east London and the various Games venues around London. The ORN will be used by 18,000 athletes and officials during the Games and 6,000 during the Paralympics.
Is there going to be a Murray Mount-style big screen in central London? Yes, several. There will be three official live sites, which concert promoter Live Nation has been appointed to run, in Hyde Park (80,000 people), Victoria Park (50,000) and Potter's Field on the South Bank of the Thames (4,500). Tickets will be made available on a first come, first served basis later this year. All will be free apart from the final day of the torch relay, the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony.
Where will the Olympic rings be displayed?
There is already a giant set of rings at St Pancras station to welcome overseas visitors to the capital. They will be augmented with others around the capital over the next year, including one on Tower Bridge.
Is there a ban on other sports in London or the UK during the games? Yes, sporting events of any scale are banned during the Games for purely logistical reasons and the strain on public services. There will be no international cricket and the 2012-13 football season will be delayed.
ORGANISATION
Who does what? IOC: International Olympic Committee, which voted for London in 2005 after buying Lord Coe's vision of a Games that would have athletes and young people at its heart and would leave a legacy for British sport and future generations.
Locog: London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, responsible for putting on the Games. The chairman, Lord Coe, is indelibly linked with the Games in the minds of the public, while the chief executive, Paul Deighton, keeps the plates spinning. Has defied the recession to raise 90% of its £2bn budget with a year to go, but emphasis will now shift from planning to delivery.
ODA: Olympic Delivery Authority. The chairman, John Armitt, and the former chief executive David Higgins, who has already moved on to Network Rail, are credited with ensuring the clearing, building and delivery of six new venues on the Olympic Park, delivered on time and on budget. Spent heavily on rewarding consultants and contractors with bonuses, but argue the results – and the boost to UK plc – have been worth it.
BOA: British Olympic Association. Responsible for liaising with governing bodies and spending £13m on taking the biggest ever Team GB squad of 550 to the Games. Wide ranging responsibilities include pre-Games camp at Loughborough, kit and preparation.
UK Sport: Tasked with turning more than £100m in public investment per year, from taxpayers and the lottery, into "more medals in more sports" and fourth place in the medal table. Its ruthless "no compromise" approach of investing most in sports where medals are a possibility paid off with the best medal haul in a century in Beijing.
MONEY
How much will it cost? The public funding envelope for the Games was set at £9.3bn by the Labour government in March 2007, including £2bn in contingency, after it emerged the bid estimate of £2.4bn was woefully inadequate. That pays for building the venues (£8.1bn), plus security and transport costs and investment in elite sport. Locog's budget of £2bn to put on the Games is privately raised.
Who is paying for it? Us, mostly. Of the £9.3bn budget, around £6bn has come from the Treasury, with a further £2.2bn from the National Lottery and the rest from London's council tax payers. There is a complex formula for repaying some of the Lottery money through profits generated from house sales on the Olympic Park, while the government is also in line to recoup some of the contingency budget if it remains unspent. Of Locog's £2bn budget, a third comes from 44 domestic sponsors, a third from the IOC's 11 sponsors and a third from ticket sales.
What's been the biggest change of plan since we won the bid six years ago? It's remarkable how little has changed. There have been some changes on the Park, with some of the venues moved around. Badminton and rhythmic gymnastics have been moved to Wembley Arena in a bid to save money and Tower Hamlets councillors were annoyed when the marathon was moved to central London. But much remains as it was in the bid book.
MASCOTS & LOGO
Who are the mascots? One-eyed Wenlock (named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock that helped inspire Pierre de Coubertin to launch the modern Olympics) and Mandeville (the Bucks town of Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympics were founded) are mascots. Expect to see much more of them. Locog is looking to sell £1bn worth of merchandise between now and next September.
Are they still using that weird logo? Absolutely. Hugely controversial when it launched, the £400,000 design is still far from universally loved but has lost its shock value. The claim that it would prove versatile and modern has been even been borne out.
ATHLETES
When will they start arriving? It depends on the event. Sailors may start arriving in Weymouth months before the Games in a bid to understand the conditions, while others will wait until much closer to the Games.
Where will they be based? All around the country. Many pre-Games training camps are inevitably grouped around the south-east. Several of the biggest teams, including China, are yet to decide where they will be based. Team GB's preparation camp is in Loughborough, and all 550 athletes will pass through at some point.
When will athlete selections be finalised? Open water swimmer Keri-Anne Payne last week became the first British athlete to secure her place in the Games. For the first time, the BOA is planning a rolling programme of sport by sport announcements. Most will be selected between March and July next year.
AND A YEAR ON WEDNESDAY…
Who is choreographing the opening ceremony? Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, is ensconsed in a warehouse in east London working on it.
What do we know about it so far? Not a lot. Even Coe and Ruth Mackenzie, the director of the Cultural Olympiad, claim not to know what Boyle – and his team of four "creatives" that also includes Billy Elliott director Stephen Daldry – is up to. On his appointment he said his job was "to provide a thrilling, enthralling, captivating evening." But don't expect a Beatles reunion – Ringo Starr has scotched rumours that he would team up with Sir Paul McCartney, saying he would be on tour.