The Olympic torch for 2008, named “The Cloud of Promise”, was put on display by its designers in London yesterday. At the same time, a fog of doubt was descending over the role of Sir Clive Woodward as the Great Britain Olympic team’s performance director.

A survey by the BBC of 28 of the 35 Olympic sports found that 18 felt that Woodward, the former England rugby union head coach, had made no impact after a year in charge of elite development. Ten of the sports’ governing bodies said that they had had no contact with Woodward.

Many bodies were confused about Woodward’s role, how it would affect their funding and whether his “high-performance support structure model”, based on the success he has had working with Melissa Reid, a young amateur golfer, was relevant to their sports. “I did not realise golf was an Olympic sport,” one national performance director said. “Surely a high-performance support structure based on a rower, cyclist or sailor would have been more suitable.”

Woodward said that some sports needed a “new mindset and way of doing things”, adding: “There’s obviously a lot of talking going on — I just hope they’ve been working hard at their jobs, too, and not just wondering what I’m doing.” Woodward has spent the past 12 months learning “what elite sport looks like”. He said that he had worked with sports such as boxing and judo and that they were full of praise for his efforts.

Next year’s Beijing Olympics will be a final hurrah for Gail Emms, the badminton player who with Nathan Robertson won the mixed doubles Olympic silver medal in Athens in 2004. Emms, who was promoting the Olympic torch, which was designed by Lenovo, her sponsor, confirmed that she will retire after the 2008 Games.

“The Olympics is the only thing we haven’t won,” Emms said. “We’ve won the All-England, European, Commonwealth and world titles and after Beijing, when I will be 31, it will be a good age to think what to do next. I’ve had enough of badminton, anyway. I’ve been playing since I was 4.”

Emms and Robertson first played together when they were 15, but Robertson ended their partnership when Emms went to study a sports science degree. “He dumped me by letter,” Emms said. “ ‘Dear Gail, I’m sorry, but . . .’ Then he had a few partners, but he couldn’t replace me.”

Their success is based on a strong friendship and a deep understanding of each other’s game. They have been playing for six years in their second stint together and are ranked No 4 in the world, having been knocked out of the World Championships in the quarter-finals in August.

“Nathan’s had a few niggly injuries — he had elbow surgery and has a bit of a dodgy ankle — which has put us on hold this year,” Emms said. “But I’d rather win the Olympics next year than the worlds this year. We’ll have to be wrapped in cotton wool.”

And after the Olympics? “Nathan will trade me in for a younger model, I imagine,” Emms said.

Leigh McMillan and Will Howden, Britain’s pair in the Tornado class in sailing, were also promoting the torch, which resembles a traditional Chinese scroll. Reg White won the inaugural gold medal for Britain in the class at the 1976 Olympics, but Britain have not won a medal since. Yet there is confidence that Howden and McMillan can rectify matters.

“We’ve had a consistent year: fifth at the worlds, fifth at the pre-Olympics regatta and second-best over the two,” Howden said. “We’re looking to make the small gains that will help us in China next year.”