[MK Chris]

I predict we will finish on either 19 or 20 gold medals (plus one or two more silver or bronze), depending on how David Price gets on in the super-heavyweight semi-final.

19 then. Assuming, of course, that James DeGale is up to the task in his final.

Apparently our Taekwondo girl is .

Oops, I didn't finish this sentence off. I was going to say that apparently our taekwondo girl is good, so if she can nick a gold, that'd be brilliant.

[Munki Bhoy]

Well they're wrong. It's a horrible Americanism and should be stamped on. We'll be using "winningest" next.

You're the head of Google, aren't you?

[MK Chris]

My word, we're unlucky in this taekwondo. Every time someone plays or fights a Chinese competitor in a sport with judges involved, they're not going to win.

* shocking.

[MK Chris]

Wow. Justice!

I don't envy the official who made that decision, but what a drama!

[foot-loose]

Have we won yet?

[Munki Bhoy]

Do we get an extra bronze medal if we finish third in the table?

[MK Chris]

It's not over yet, but we have finished fourth. Still, there's absolutely no shame in that.. I'd say it's a * huge achievement. Apparently Steve Cram had a bit of a rant about our athletics earlier and from what I hear, I think he has a point... but some other sports are flourishing.

[Bruvva]

Finishing fourth is a fantastic achievement considering most pundits thought we'd finish 8th or so. The same pundits thought we'd get 8 medals in track and field, we got 7 which isn't too bad : had Sotherton not underperformed, Radcliffe not been injured and the relay squads not been tits we'd have exceeded that.

Following on from this in 2012's going to be difficult, mind you, hopefully we'll get the benefit of the home town judging decisions in boxing, diving and tae kwon do then.

[MK Chris]

I was discussing the judging with a gymnastics coach the other day, who seems to think that you can tell what way the judging is going to go by what countries the judges are from... that may be a bit of a generalisation, but she says the most British judges do judge what they see.

The taekwondo was outrageous.. and who knows (not me, with the very little I know about taekwondo), maybe Sarah Stevenson would have won that semi-final, had she had more notice that she would be in it. (As an aside, Sarah Stevenson doesn't half sound like Annie from Life on Mars.)

I don't really rate Sotherton that well. She never seems to do that well.. maybe I'm thinking back to Denise Lewis' days, when she was odds on favourite for gold and indeed, Lewis is a hard act to follow... but Kelly should be up there challenging for gold and she is only just (on occasions) challenging for bronze.

As for the diving, well I think it's unrealistic to have expected Tom Daley to have won a medal. He's only 14, remember, obviously he is immensely talented, but in four years time he'll be 18 and maybe that is his time. These Olympics, I'm sure, were more about experience for him. The media seem to put people like him on a pedestal.. they get a whiff of this talented sportsperson that we've got up and coming and they elevate them to stardom before they've actually done anything - and then when they don't do something amazing, people are disappointed. The lad needs to be kept out of the spotlight for the next four years now. They did the same with Laura Robson at Wimbledon; OK she won the junior girls, so she coped with the pressure very well and is obviously a very talented player - but in a way it's a blessing for her that, as Yudster says, most people in this country are only interested in tennis for a fortnight in June and July, because the media will lose sight of her... until next year, when they'll expect her to win the women's singles, a totally unrealistic and stupid expectation.

[MK Chris]

Sorry about the double-post, but I forgot to put that I absolutely agree that finishing fourth is a fantastic achievement, no matter who is ahead of you. That's why, when everyone went on about the Russians catching us, I wasn't bothered.. we have achieved our medal table 'target' set by UK Sport four years ahead of time.

Also, watch out for Steph Twell in 2012.

[Munki Bhoy]

The one other thing I would say about the medal table is this. Only three countries did better than us. China, USA and Russia - the three heavyweight superpowers of the world. They're almost expected to be there. China doubly so as the host nation. But that's it. It's almost like you should take those three countries out of the equation - we're top of the next tier. The hard bit will be managing expectations in four years time. We've excelled this year. We'll be expected to do even better next time. Doubly so as the host nation.

Anyway, now we reach the closing ceremony. Always a sad time, especially after such a great games. And what will we do without Topher's 12 posts a day?

[MK Chris]

Feck off, I've moderated myself since I was moaned at. Anyway, the Paralympics are still to come.

I kept an eye on the closing ceremony to see what the London presentation was like.. I thought they should have used a Routemaster instead of the bus they used - I know it's pretty much defunct now, but it's far more iconic.

[catherine]

He still has the paralympics to post about...

[foot-loose]

Is that this pish over now?

[Munki Bhoy]

Feck off, I've moderated myself since I was moaned at.

I'd noticed. Which was a shame, since I quite enjoyed reading through this thread to get updates. It was more efficient that sifting through the BBC web site!

[Yudster]

Anyway, the Paralympics are still to come.

Oh come on, you can't seriously think that anyone who isn't involved in some way with the Paralympics is actually interested in that PC Parade?

[ZoeC]

what kind of hidden ("hidden") disabilities are allowed in the paralympics (like, les autres [the others])

and i noticed that the scoring was a tad unfair in all the judged events at beijing... but that may be an underdstatement. did anyone see the (was he a cuban?) who didnt like the judges decision in kickboxing (i thhink it was unfair though) and kicked one of the officials and started to beat them up (he didnt get far)

can you say "lifetime ban?"

i thought in the medal tables, they focus on top 5 medal-ers, and if we came fourth then thats a great achievement

did the rightful little chinese singing kid get the chance to sing at the closing ceremony? aparently she was going to...

[MK Chris]

Anyway, the Paralympics are still to come.

Oh come on, you can't seriously think that anyone who isn't involved in some way with the Paralympics is actually interested in that PC Parade?

I still enjoy watching it. Granted, I can only name one Paralympic athlete (and she's retired), but I still enjoy it.

[Ballbag]

Is it me, or is Bradley Wiggins not getting the credit he deserves.

Everywhere you look it's Hoy and Adlington, the king and queen of the British team. Wiggins got two golds too, but he's hardly getting any mentions. Perhaps he should have stayed out and taken the same flight back as the rest of the team.

[MK Chris]

Is it me, or is Bradley Wiggins not getting the credit he deserves.

Everywhere you look it's Hoy and Adlington, the king and queen of the British team. Wiggins got two golds too, but he's hardly getting any mentions. Perhaps he should have stayed out and taken the same flight back as the rest of the team.

I agree with that, certain people have become overshadowed by others' achievements. I can kind of understand Adlington, because it's been a long time since we had success in the pool and obviously Hoy is the first British person to win three gold medals for over a hundred years and is now Scotland's greatest ever Olympian, but the others do deserve just as much recognition for their own achivements.. it's kind of the Phelps argument I guess; Hoy had the chance to win three medals, whereas the coxless four, for example, only had the opportunity for one; both acheivements are absolutely brilliant, but one makes for a better story.

I watched (read: was sad enough to watch) when the flight landed yesterday and it was funny how disorganised it was. The presenter woman was interviewing people and more often than not was blocking the camera, so you couldn't see them... having said that, it was kind of a short notice thing I guess, so they perhaps didn't have time to plan it out and make it more professional.

Anyway.. Flushing Meadows now.

[Bruvva]

Anyway.. Flushing Meadows now.

Christ, you must have a big toilet.