So the 16 days of the Beijing Olympics are over. Jiang Yimou's opening and closing ceremonies were astonishing with huge spectacle but with small telling moments that linger in the mind.

How refreshing it has been to see sportsmen and women who have all shown genuine happiness, humility and common sense when interviewed, whether they were successful or not. How sad that now the spotlight will swing back to the overpaid, preening, scowling, prima donnas of football who so often under-perform on the international stage.

By the way how strange that the complaints of human rights abuses and Tibet etc. kinda stopped when we started winning medals?

My quote from the last day? Steve Redgrave talking about the over-zealous security checks which made waiting time for non-media ticket-holders up to 45 minutes "This has been a real chink in their armour". Ooops.