Well, wasn't that a rollercoaster of a games

It seems that everyone has had a say on the Olympics, so never one to follow the crowd, I would like to have my say also.

This has been a long journey.  It started 7 years ago when we won the bid, which was a marvellous day that was followed by a terrible day; seven-seven.

From that point onwards, right up to maybe a day before the games started, it was a case of business as usual for the British and their press, by which I mean that the negativity versus positivity was at a pretty standard 80:20 ratio.  There were a few gems in there; G4S provided some headlines, and even visited Parliament for a chat, and there were other general moans and groans about how much it was costing etc.

Then we had the opening ceremony.  Wow.  I am sure there were knockers, but I simply loved the magnificent, extravagant and bonkers nature of it, and felt it reflected the British character very well, as much in the little details as the big scenes.  That made a bit impact on the turning of the tide.

Then we had a few days of worrying about empty seats, and more than that, worrying about the fact that we had not won any medals yet.  And then the rowers got on the water, and Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won GB's first gold medals in The Coxless Pairs.  From that point on, we could not stop winning the medals.  There are so many golden moments for me, and on reflection, the most important bit was that from the moment GB first medalled*, all the negativity evaporated, and from that point onwards, we also became a happy nation of believers, and that atmosphere continued right until the final medal, the Modern Pentathlon, a most strange but magnificent sport.  It was also something of a delight to turn on the news and sometimes not seen any but stuff about the latest medal.

I will remember the GB gymnasts getting bronze, Tom Daley's smile, Jess, Mo and a bunch of other people that, actually, I cannot quite remember at the moment, but show me a picture and it will all come back to me.  I only hope that that rather dodgy word "legacy" really can linger and make a difference in normal life.

And on that fine note, I wish you a good week.

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* I know, medal is a noun, and should never be verbed