Gary Lineker reveals he nearly made 'costly mistake' while presenting at the Olympics

Gary Lineker has revealed he almost made a severe mistake when presenting at the London Olympics in 2012.

The BBC regular has been a continuous part of shows such as Match of the Day and began doing so back in 1999.

Drafted in to help during the London games, Lineker was not picked for coverage this summer in Paris and recently admitted he may know the reason why.

"I did the evening show [at London 2012]," Linker stated on The Rest Is Football podcast.

"And what would happen was that people would win a medal, whether silver, gold or bronze and then there’d be a good chance that they’d be in the studio. So, I’d come in very early in the morning, I’d watch every event and any time there was a medal winner, I’d do massive amounts of research on them."

He continued: "I’d find out what I could about their background, where they’re from, what their interests are, on the off chance that they might come into the studio.

"Now, normally, there would probably be three or four interviews during the show in the evening, But I remember one day, we were starting to win so many medals, gold, silver, bronze, loads of them. We were doing so well. It was amazing."

Gary Lineker hosting BBC's coverage of the FA Cup final. Image: Getty

Back in 2012, Team GB won a whopping 65 medals on home soil, including 29 golds. They came in third place behind only China and the United States on the medal tally as a result.

"It took a while to get going," said Lineker. "For the first three or four days, we struggled, but suddenly, it was madness, and everyone was winning.

"I remember sitting in the studio, and I was on my own. They'd keep coming back to me, and I’d have a guest with me. This one night, I had nine separate lots of guests. That might’ve been one individual, a pair, a four, and I think there was even a group of eight.

"At about the seventh guest, I was sitting there, and these four lads came in. They sit next to me, and I hear, ‘We’re coming to you in 30 seconds, Gary, we’re coming to you.’"

Lineker added: "Now, I’ve looked across at the floor manager, and I've gone, I've hid behind my hands and went, 'Who the f*** are they?' I was about ten seconds away from interviewing them! I can't remember who they were, but they wore helmets, and it was impossible.

"I was going, ‘Who are they?’ and people were shouting in my ear: ‘It’s the so-and-so team,’ and I managed to scramble my way. It was an amazing experience, but after that, I made the conscious decision to stick to football."