The problems in buying tickets for Glasgow 2014 which many sports fans encountered a couple of weeks ago appear to have been remedied and when the remaining tickets for this summer's Commonwealth Games went up for sale last week, few people had any trouble.

It is hugely encouraging to see so many different sports experiencing high demand for tickets - people are likely to be buying tickets for sports which they have never before watched live.

This is the beauty of the Commonwealth Games; there are few opportunities to see world-class judo or elite table tennis in Scotland at other times of the year but Glasgow 2014 provides a unique chance for everyone to watch these sports live.

There is nothing quite like watching live sport - it is often impossible to fully appreciate the skill, speed and precision of the athletes when one is watching on television.

One of my most unexpected highlights of being in Team GB at London 2012 confirmed this belief to me. The Olympic badminton competition ran for just the first week of the Games meaning we had the second week to bask in the experience of being an Olympian.

Tickets for every sport were available to members of Team GB and this was taken full advantage of by everyone who had finished competing. I managed to get my hands on tickets from everything from athletics in the Olympic Stadium to swimming in the Aquatics Centre.

But, perhaps surprisingly, one of my most enjoyable afternoons was when Imogen Bankier (my badminton team-mate and Glasgow 2014 medal hopeful) and I secured tickets for taekwondo. I had never watched taekwondo in my life before and I must admit that neither Imogen nor I knew very much about the minutiae of the sport.

However, on arrival at the ExCeL Arena armed with our tickets, we used to our full advantage the fact that we were wearing Team GB kit and blagged our way into the athletes' seats. The next few hours opened our eyes to just how spectacular a sport taekwondo actually is. I have little doubt that if we hadn't spent that afternoon engrossed in the Olympic action, I would still be ignorant of the complexities of taekwondo.

There is sure to be many sports fans who are due to attend Glasgow 2014 and will experience a similar situation to that which Imogen and I did that afternoon. Whether it is judo, weightlifting or indeed badminton, I have little doubt that everyone witnessing these sports for the first time will leave the arena with a newfound respect for the athletes. More often than not, elite sport looks disproportionately easy when watched on television; I am convinced that it can only be fully appreciated when watched live.

The Glasgow 2014 organisers have received some welcomed news in the past couple of weeks with Mo Farah's announcement that he will run at the Commonwealth Games. This is a huge boost for the Games and the benefit of having the big-guns competing in Glasgow this summer cannot be underestimated.

There was a worrying lack of attendance of the star athletes at the Delhi Games four years ago and this risked doing irreparable damage to the Commonwealth brand. The Games can only be considered relevant on the worldwide stage if the top athletes consider it worthy of competing in.

Farah had initially been reluctant to commit to running in Glasgow - indeed a few months ago the signs appeared to be distinctly unpromising. But his announcement in the last fortnight that he will be running at Hampden in a couple of months proves the importance of the Commonwealth Games to even the superstars of elite sport.

There has still been no indication of whether the real superstar will be in Glasgow, however. Usain Bolt has, so far, remained tight-lipped as to whether he will attempt to add Commonwealth gold to the plethora of Olympic and World Championships gold medals already in his possession.

A Commonwealth Games gold medal is the only major medal which is, to date, missing from Bolt's collection. This omission may not be the deciding factor in the Jamaican's decision to compete at Glasgow 2014 this summer but the prospect of completing the set is likely to provide at least a smidgen of motivation.

The list of the sporting great and the good who will be at the Games this summer is growing - cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish; 800m Olympic Champion David Rudisha and 100m Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson among others, have already stated that they will be in Glasgow.

There can now be little doubt that the city will witness countless displays of true sporting excellence in just a couple of months from now.

We will not know Bolt's decision until the end of June but the signs are looking promising. He will run at the Diamond League meeting in Glasgow just a fortnight before the Commonwealth Games begins and if I had to bet on him appearing at the Games right now, I would be fairly confident that my money would be safe.

It would be a fantastic addition if Bolt were to join the galaxy of stars who are already confirmed for Glasgow 2014.