Yes, we did do well.

People will remember the Olympic games for many reasons, and I'm sure that one of those will be the superb organisation at the venues. I've been very impressed with the friendly efficiency of the volunteers I've met, and from what I've heard most people feel the same way. Whoever selected and trained these people got it right.

Ditto for the Police and the armed forces who provided security coverage - they were excellent. There were guns being carried by Police, but that was to be expected.

The organisers wanted this to be an occasion when people came first, and they went to great lengths to make sure we all knew it. The way that they had the athletes filtering into the stadium through the spectator seating areas in the closing ceremony was a master-stroke, as was the way that gold-medal winners publicly congratulated a selection of people from the volunteer force.

Aitchbee - I doubt that they will be required as Brazil has plenty of expertise. Brazilian Portuguese is slightly different from European Portuguese - a bit like UK English and USA English (we will discount Glaswegian!). It was one of the few countries that I have visited where I found English was only spoken and understood by a few.

FE. I imagine that the rest of the forumites will back you up in doing that. I know I do. I like a good joke in the right context of course and I know I sometimes seem a little eccentric in my feeble attempts to get others to join in, on a more relaxed forum. But that's the way I am (eccentricity comes with age and experience).

fm

The reuse of the park all seems well set but the Stadium seems stuck in arguments between which football teams will take it on and whether the running track should stay.

I can see both pulling out and the Stadium lying empty and unused.