after 17 days

there are only a few highlights in our lifetime, London 2012 is one of them for me. the chance to be able to go to the games brings forth a unique sense of euphoria. i kept pinching myself, if all these were real. yes, the venues were merely a tube ride away. the television and interactive coverage were beyond expectations.
a few athletes provided moments of inspiration; this page recognizes david rudisha, the brownlee brothers, mo farrah (the one exceptional gooner), michael phelps, tom daley.
RP didn't medal, again. but mark anthony barriga has real talent. he lost by a point in his second match. maybe in Rio, when the officials would get their act together, the home country would be in the medals table. sports is about funding. money rules, specially in the Olympics.

let's go to the gymnastics, one of the blue ribbon events, particularly men's individual all-around. yes, there goes the exhausting adage, we were there, as we tell our future grandchildren, to bear witness to the brilliance of kohei uchimura right before our eyes (one of the greatest gymnast ever, how cool is that?) at the O2 Centre. the three-time world champion maintained his composure and captured the Olympic gold medal that eluded him in Beijing. the action was unfolding live, our attention was divided with two to three gymnasts performing at the same time. we were enlightened. so this is how gymnastics tournaments work? we were doing maths through the giant scoreboard.

the volunteers were all too helpful and nice, almost saint-like. the spectator was catered and served. the home crowd were maybe too eager and patriotic (hey, which country doesn't want to conquer the world?). but it's their Olympics, their taxes, the repercussions are for the greater good.
it's not over yet, there is still the Paralympics. the time to re-visit the Olympic Village (i'll talk about handball in between screams and wails).