Rio rises to the occasion

Despite the decidedly shaky run-up to the Rio Olympics, when nothing seemed to be going right for the Brazilian organisers, the games themselves have run relatively smoothly.

Yes we’ve had some obvious organisational failures, not least of which was the diving pool changing a rather eerie shade of green. I know of at least half a dozen Maltese pool companies that could have sorted that little problem out for them overnight. Yet, somehow the Brazilians managed to drag it on for a week.

But for the most part, people will take away traditional Olympic memories from Rio: world records being broken, tragic near misses, unfortunate injuries, surprise victories, unexpected failures and glorious team triumphs.

Personally speaking I enjoyed watching Team GB exceed their expectations, make breakthroughs in disciplines like gymnastics and continue their dominance of sports like cycling.

I have to admit that the controversy over the British cyclists, with some of their rivals suggesting they cheated, did raise a chuckle. Britain’s dominance in this sport has nothing to do with bending the rules, but everything to do with forward planning and resource management.

After a dismal performance...