While the stadiums were the stage to make it complete the athletes had to deliver. And deliver they did. The sport and the drama that makes it so compelling have been excellent throughout. The US topped the medal table, team GB had their best games in over 100 years and that only added to the atmosphere all across the city.
The humour that is so prevalent in British culture has been present through the drama. It started with the Queen and James Bond jumping out of helicopters. This moment set the tone that the next two weeks built on. This was a city proud to show the world what it could do, but do it with a distinctly British style. I’ve never been prouder.This city lived every moment of these games. A million people took to the streets to watch the mens road race two weeks ago. Another million turned up yesterday to watch the marathon thread it’s way around the landmarks that are so well known all over the world.
A month ago there was doubts, there were questions about the money, the organization and was it all worth the disruption and chaos. This griping is a particularly British thing, it’s almost expected, but once it was here the games were embraced and every second enjoyed. It did not matter where I was, Swiss House in Southwark, grabbing a sandwich in Covent Garden or watching Usain Bolt, it was special.
