The Olympic games are over, and they were great. Circumstance put me in a position where I could watch quite a bit of the games . “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” is the phrase that applies. The line is from the opening of the old ABC Wide World of Sports program.

The top of the list of Olympic moments that stood out for me were two obscure gold medals. To wit: on a Saturday night at the Stade de France, Thea Lafond-Gadson from the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica won the gold medal in the women’s triple jump. That same day Julien Alfred of tiny St. Lucia, also in the Caribbean, won the gold medal in the women’s 100-metre sprint. It was the first time either of those tiny nations won a medal. It is the stuff that dreams are made of. Those two athletes will never have to pay for a drink again back home. They have become immortal. Two tiny nations celebrated, and the world celebrated with them. It was great.

I loved basketball and watched it with both the American men and women winning their gold medals. I am not usually supporters of big nations that share our language, but the basketball players brought a joy to the game. They were in tough battles, and the world has closed the talent gap since the days of “The Dream Team” but still the US came through. Steph Curry was great in the American victory over the French. He nailed three pointers in the final stages as he went into a kind of rapture. That happens in sport. It was great to watch.

The Canadians in the 4-by-100-metre relay took me to the edge of my seat. The Canadians weren’t individually the fastest runners in the world. They barely qualified for the final but as a team they were the best. It was a big upset. The Canadians were an underdog, but they won. It is part of what makes sport so great. I was standing during the race. That is sport for you.

The Canadian women’s soccer team didn’t perform as well. I must tell you that given the controversy about the use of drones to “spy” on rivals and the recall of the coach and several other people associated with the Canadian team (not players) I wasn’t terribly disappointed. I shouldn’t say this out loud and I know that cheating is a part of many sports, but I shed no tears. When they were eliminated in a game they should have won the word that popped into my head at the time was “karma”. I didn’t want our team to lose but …well “karma”.

The opening and the closing of the games were both fabulous. The presentation as great. Paris was great. It was all that beautiful city can be. Celine Dion was great. Her rendition of Edith Piaf’s Hymne A L’Amour performed on the the Eiffel Tower at the opening of the Olympics had people gasping.

My favourite moment of the games however came from an instant of spontaneity. It was not part of the competition or part of the formal pageantry. It was rather the taking of “selfies” between gymnasts of South AND North Korea. It spoke loudly to the essential element of the Olympics which is a competition between athletes. For a moment the North and South Korean athletes were just that, athletes.

The Olympics were wonderful and there are a hundred highlights I haven’t mentioned. Summer McIntosh in the pool was a breath fresh air. Ethan Katzberg won Canada’s first gold in a “throwing” track event in a hundred years.

Sport in its highest form can take us away to another place in our troubled world. The athletes in Paris and the games did just that. Those athletes seemed more important than medal count. There were times when the whole show seemed almost spiritual and Paris and the games set a new standard.

You can contact Jim Furlong at [email protected]