Well, it’s been a cracking Olympics, hasn’t it?

Who would have thought, that in one Olympics, we would see: a world record medal haul for one individual at one Olympics; a new world record in the 100m and 200m by the same man; a clean sweep of sprint events for one country; Team GB record their best medal tally in 100 years, beating Australia in the process; a Scot becoming the first Briton to win three golds in one Games since 1908!!

Yes, it has been amazing.  For Scotland, for Britain, for China, for the World.  Here’s In The Winning Zone’s ‘Guide in Fives’ of what went down at the greatest Games of all time...

Scottish Highs

1. Gold A-Hoy! We could just leave this space blank, because you know what we’re going to say!  Of course, at number one, it’s Chris Hoy.  Three golds in one Games.  There is no question mark over this being the greatest Olympic moment for Scotland of all time, let along in Beijing.  The only question is: which was his best? 
Here at ITWZ, we’re going with the sprint.  Not just because it was to be his record breaking third, or because it is the ‘blue riband’ event of track cycling, but because it was a chance to see Hoy, against his team-mate Jason Kenny, at his glorious best – man-on-man, in a contest of wits, guts and power.  The sight of Hoy blasting round the final curve, pulsing down the last straight and pumping his fists in the air as he crossed the line will remain an iconic Scottish moment for decades to come.

2. David Florence’s silver: The canoe-king from Aberdeen was the first Scottish man on the podium in Beijing.  After scraping his way into the final, Florence produced a barnstorming performance of skill, strength and precision to make his way round the course in a time that wasn’t bettered until the final run.  What a show from the Olympic debutant.

3. Ross Edgar’s silver: Alongside the massive frame of Chris Hoy, little Ross Edgar makes up the ultimate big-man-wee-man combo in the strange but compelling keirin event.  But don’t let his size fool you.  Edgar is a keirin specialist, and one of the best in the world at his event, having won bronze at the World Championships last year in Majorca.  Edgar led the line in a display of masterful tactics by the two Scots in the keirin final, leading to an unprecedented Scottish one-two on the Olympic track.

4. Ali McGregor’s goalkeeping heroics: No medals for the ‘other’ Scotland ‘keeper McGregor, but he was without doubt one of the players of the tournament for Team GB as they recorded their best Olympic finish since 1988, (when they won gold) finishing fifth.  McGregor was singled out as the man who kept Team GB’s hopes of success alive on several occasions.

5. Katherine Grainger’s silver: A silver medal should be placed higher, you would think, but while silver for a Scot is an achievement we will always celebrate, Grainger, displaying her true warrior spirit, was little better than inconsolable with her quad team’s result.  She trained for gold, she came for gold, and to not have it draped around her neck as she stood on the podium was, in her eyes, a failure.  Still – we love her, she’s one of the best athletes Scotland has ever produced, and for the third consecutive Olympics, she has done us proud on the podium.

Scottish Lows

1. The judo flop: So much was expected of GB’s Scottish based judo triumvirate of Euan Burton, Michelle Rogers and Sarah Clark.  Rogers and Clark failed to record a victory, both crashing out in the first round.  Burton, who admits he struggled for form, came within one win of a bronze medal match, but still failed to live up to the billing he had been given.

2.  Kirsty fails the heat: Kirsty Balfour, who one year ago would have been challenging for a gold medal, didn’t manage to make it beyond the heats in the 200m breaststroke.  It was public knowledge that she was struggling for form, but to finish second last in the first round of an event in which she was the 2007 European Champion and World Championship silver medallist, was very disappointing.

3. Campbell careers out: Over-shadowed by David Florence’s silver medal in the canoe-slalom, kayak-ace Walsh was hoping to better his silver medal from Athens in 2004.  The European champion had a disastrous semi-final, finishing last and ending his hopes of winning medals at consecutive Olympics.

4. Lee’s late pull-out: Lee McConnell was the main Scottish hope of a medal at the Bird’s Nest.  While four Scottish track athletes qualified for the Olympics, McConnell was the only one considered experienced enough and good enough to win a medal in Beijing, most likely in the 4x400m.  However she was forced to pull out just one day before the race.

5. Double fault: Hopefully we’ll see them again in 2012, but the dynamic duo of Andy and Jamie Murray didn’t quite perform the heroics we had hoped.  Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect much of them, considering they don’t play together much, and Andy isn’t a doubles expert.  And maybe it was also a little rich to expect Andy to squeeze in an Olympic medal between Wimbledon and the US Open.  But then again, maybe it was a little rich of him to expect to be in contention for a medal having hardly prepared...

Our favourite Brits
1. Team GB: We have to give them all a mention, don’t we?  They were great.  The rowers, the sailors, the cyclists, it’s hard to pick a top five of Britain’s best.  So, assuming the ‘team’ was number one, here’s our top four, excluding those already mentioned in our Scottish countdown.

2. Christine Ohuruogu: You’ve heard of UFC, but Christine is the ultimate fighter, of that there is no doubt.  To come back from a two year ban and having been derided unfairly by many, it could have been easy for the 400m runner to disappear into obscurity, just to get some peace.  But she had a point to prove.  She was written off in Osaka last year, she went on to become world champion.  She was written off again in Beijing – ‘she might medal’, they said, ‘but she won’t win’.  Shows how much ‘they’ know.

3. Ben Ainslie: Another warrior, now Britain’s greatest ever sailor with three consecutive golds.  He is peerless in the Finn class.  But to win three times shows not just his ability as an athlete, but his mental strength, focus, determination and above all, his will to win.  It takes more than prowess to do what he has done. 

4. Rebecca Adlington: The first British woman to win two swimming golds since 1960.  What’s more, she is only 19.  You can only have respect for people who are winning Olympic medals while most of us are still at home eating Pot Noodles and deciding what to do with our lives.

5. Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter: To win a rowing medal you need to be phenomenally fit and incredibly strong.  The likes of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent were perfect for the event, man-mountains well over six feet tall and fifteen stones.  So consider poor Purchase and Hunter, racing the lightweight category, who had to starve themselves whilst undergoing brutal training sessions to ensure they stayed under the competition weight of 11st, 6lbs.

Olympic Highs

1. Chinese Success: From the spectacular opening ceremony, through the Aquatics Cube and Bird’s Nest, the raging seas of Tsingtao and swirling cauldron of the Laoshan Velodrome, into Tiananmen Square and over to the London handover, the Beijing Olympics, and the Chinese themselves – athletes and spectators – were by far the best thing about this Olympic Games.  Top of the medals table, and without doubt the most gracious Olympic hosts in modern memory. London will have to do it differently, because they won’t do it better.

2. Usain Bolt: The most breathtaking 30 seconds of running the world has ever seen?  It is hard to decide which race, the 100m or 200m was the more thrilling to watch.  His time of 9.69 – smashing the world record – in the 100m defies the old term for the race, the ‘100m dash’ because, inconceivably, he didn’t dash!  He raced for the first 60m then eased off.  One for the spectators.  Purists, however, will adore his 200m run.  Bolt’s ‘true love’, the longer sprint once again saw him shatter the record, running 19.30, flat out.  It was a masterful performance, respectful to his opponents while utterly devastating the field.  Awesome.

3. Michael Phelps: Phelps doesn’t set the heart racing in quite the same fashion as Bolt, but there is no doubt he is the now the greatest Olympic competitor of all time.  He owns 15 gold medals – four less than the entire British team, and if he were a country he would have finished in the top ten of the medal table with his eight golds in one Games. His greatness lies in his invincibility.  Will he ever be beaten?

4. Matthias Steiner: The most heart-warming, yet heart-breaking moment of the Games, undoubtedly.  In winning gold in the men’s heavyweight weightlifting crown, the 23-stone giant can lay claim to being the world’s strongest man.  But his true strength was revealed on the podium when, with medal around his neck, he raised aloft a picture of his dead wife, Susann, who dies last year in a car crash.  The Olympics is about tales of bravery, daring and courage.  Steiner should be on the cover of that particular story book.

5. Yelena Isinbayeva: The tears showed just how much it meant.  Even though the Russian was winning her second consecutive gold, and breaking her 24th world record in the process, it was evident that she couldn’t be prouder.  If Bolt was the King of Coolness, Yelena was definitely the Princess of Pride.

Four years is a long time to wait to see it all again...

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