It was she who persistently blew in the ear of then Prime Minister Tony Blair in the early 1990s that hosting the Games would be great for Britain.

The Labour MP, who was secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, finally convinced a reluctant Blair to support the bid in the face of fierce opposition within the Cabinet, especially Chancellor Gordon Brown, who is said to have held his head in his hands when London won the bid in 2005 and asked plaintively: "What have we let ourselves in for?"

It was Tessa who trumpeted the regeneration of east London and ambitious sports participation targets as the raison d’être for London hosting the Games for the third time - the only city to do so.

Later, as Olympics Minister, she was part of the delegation to Singapore in 2005 that engaged in last-minute lobbying with International Olympic Committee (IOC) members to push London to a narrow victory over rival bidder Paris.

In 2010 she was appointed to the Olympic Board, a key decision-making body. A social worker before venturing into politics, she previously served as the Minister of State for Public Health and the spokesperson for women in the House of Commons.

A prominent Blairite and a keen advocate of the New Labour project, she attracted controversy by spearheading the liberalisation of gambling during her time as Culture Secretary.

But now as Baroness Jowell, the redoubtable champion of the Olympics is fighting an even bigger battle, having been diagnosed with brain cancer, which she has been told is terminal.

Tessa insists she is not afraid of the disease and recently spoke out about it for the first time.

The Labour peer, who stood down as an MP in 2015, said she had a "clear sense of purpose".

The 70-year-old was diagnosed with a high-grade brain tumour known as glioblastoma last May. That type of the disease is so rare that she has been told there is no further treatment she can have on the National Health Service (NHS).

The former Health Minister is now campaigning for better cancer treatment in the UK and received a standing ovation when she spoke about the issue in the House of Lords recently.

She argued that innovative cancer treatments accessible in other countries should be available on Britain's health service.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "I tell you something. I am absolutely 100 per cent trying to stay alive. That is exactly the kind of risk that patients should be free to take. It should be a risk that they have the chance to take and it's certainly what somebody like me wants.

"It got to the point in the NHS in London where I couldn't be given any more treatment, but it was very clear that if I went to Germany then I had a chance of taking out this immunotherapy, a new experiment. I was and I am prepared to try that."

Baroness Jowell, who announced she had the disease on her 70th birthday last year, said 2,000 people have penned her "the most wonderful letters" because she publicly revealed her cancer. 

She said: "I have so much love in my family, my children, my close friends, it's the most extraordinary, blessed and recreating sense, and I feel that I want that to be experienced by so many other people as well."

She was the only political figure involved in the Olympics and Paralympics from the day they were awarded to London until the Closing Ceremony. 

When she resigned from Parliament her work on the 2012 Board while in opposition earned tributes from her successor as Olympics Minister, Sir Hugh Robertson, and Sebastian Coe, who both praised her non-partisanship. 

Robertson, now chair of the British Olympic Association, said at the time: "I'd like to pay tribute to Tessa's excellent work on the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Not only did she play a vital role in the winning bid team but she laid the foundations for a successful Games.

"I was pleased that, with the cross-party approach to the Games, Tessa continued to be involved throughout, with a position on the Olympic Board and as deputy mayor of the Athletes' Village during the Olympic Games. 

"She took on both roles with her usual enthusiasm and expertise."

And Coe certainly has reason to be grateful to her.

When the Olympic bid initially was being assembled, he was left looking in on the outside; in some circles he was perceived as too much of a smooth operator, cocksure, complacent and fired with unrequited political ambition. And a definite threat to those blazers who liked to think they were sport's powerbrokers.

So forgive a spot of personal indulgence. If it were not for a few media colleagues and myself - as well as Tessa - Coe might not have taken charge of the Games and we probably would have spent the summer of 2012 by the Seine.

For after the confirmation that London would be bidding for the Games under the chairmanship of UK-based American businessman Barbara Cassani - a jaw-dropping left field appointment engineered by the then London Mayor, Ken Livingstone - a whole raft of appointments to the bid board were announced by the Department of Culture Media and Sport.

Among them were worthy names like Craig Reedie, Alan Pascoe and Keith Mills but there was one glaring omission: Sebastian Coe.

It was believed at the time that his political affiliation (he had been a somewhat wet Tory MP for Falmouth and William Hague's chief of staff and judo partner) was not to the liking of the Labour Government. And so strong was his personality it was felt his presence might put a number of noses out of joint.

It was during a Grand Prix athletics meeting at Crystal Palace that a small group of sports jounos, including insidethegames editor Duncan Mackay, Colin Hart of The Sun, the Daily Mail’s Neil Wilson and myself chanced upon Tessa, the Minister of State who had just persuaded Blair to back the embryo bid.

We gave her quite an ear bashing about the omission of one of Britain's greatest-ever Olympians. Why, we asked, was someone as articulate, well connected and a favourite son of the IOC, being snubbed?

Tessa was clearly taken aback by the force of our argument but to her credit, she listened, promised "I'l look into it" and shortly afterwards Coe was recruited as a vice-chairman.

A few months later Cassani - always a square peg in the Olympic rings - stepped down when it was apparent that the bid was imploding. 

Coe was the natural choice to take over as chairman; any political and personal prejudices were shoved aside and, lo and behold, the rest, as they say, is Olympic history.

Thanks to brave Tessa Jowell, which is one mighty reason for wishing her well in every sense.