When the Spaniard, Javier Gomes, almost out on his feet after his personal triathlon inquisition, split Yorkshire's Brownlee brothers in a pulsating finish, tens of thousands roared him home in Hyde Park. When rivals in pole vault, and high and triple jumps, threatened to out-do the Brits, they were still applauded and cheered.
When an Australian and an American were in a position to deny Greg Rutherford gold in the long jump, and stood on the runway, clapping hands above their head to solicit ritual synchronised support for their attempt, the response was immediate and unrestrained. There was never anything muted or token about the warmth and inclusivity of London's welcome.
The crowd sustained it to the very end. When the final gold of the Games (women's modern pentathlon) was being contested, a Lithuanian led the field into the Greenwich arena 13 seconds clear of Britain's Samantha Murray. Yet the crowd roared Laura Asadauskaite over the line.
I witnesed a side to London and Londoners, an unfettered generosity of spirit which must be acknowledged. It showed them and their city in a new light.
Dare I say it, the warmth was almost Glaswegian.
Away from the Games, in taxis and shops, there were justified complaints. Takings, and earnings were down. Oxford Street often seemed deserted. Taxi drivers reported the Games had been a disaster for them. Market porters reported business down more than 50% against the corresponding two weeks a year ago.
"London does not need the Games," one cabbie said angrily, eyeing the Olympic accreditation round my neck. "It's done nothing for us, for the city. People from all over the world already come here."
"I would not be in your cab were it not for the Olympics," I retorted. "What makes London different from New York, Moscow, Sydney, Paris, Barcelona, Beijing, Athens, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Istanbul? Are they not all 'global' cities?"
He agreed they were, but wanted to know what that had to do with it.
Well, they are all recent Olympic hosts or candidates. They all believe that being an Olympic city enhances their already elevated status and reputation. If you want to be viewed as a great city, you have to keep reinforcing it. The Olympics would cement London's reputation, I suggested. There would be long-term benefits far beyond the Olympic summer. It would help retain the city as a tourist venue. His scepticism receeded, if only partially.
When you are a great city, you do not score points by denigrating visitors. So when English Comonwealth Games competitors are in action in 2014, the very last thing we need is the unedifying noise of anti-English prejudice.
It's likely that the independence referendum will be high on the agenda. What will it say about Scotland if spectators express such feelings?
As a youngster at Murrayfield, I recall the awed silence when a penalty or conversion was struck. That crowds of as much as 70,000 could be so stilled was a marvel to me. And then came the day when the stadium announcer, a Herioter called Tony Welton, felt the need to remonstrate: "Quiet for the kick!" His plea, at a Scotland-England match, if memory serves, fell on deaf ears. It was the end of a sporting age of innocence, although it was one which had already died at Hampden. There, anti-English chanting and booing, cat-calling, insult and obscenity, was a badge of honour for the mass of football supporters, viewed as something amusing in the vein of a racist joke. Indeed, had the opposition been, say, Jewish or black, it would rightly have been deemed racist.
Scotland's Olympians were lustily supported by English fans, and we must learn this lesson for the 2014. The land of a thousand welcomes, unless you are English? We will tell England far more about the maturity of our nation, make a far greater statement about our confidence in our place in world society, with a warm Glaswegian welcome, than with frosty street-urchin insults. If Glasgow wants to enter the super league of international cities, then it must behave appropriately.
Cornel Marculescu, executive director of FINA, the world swimming body, was one of those who accosted Sir Craig Reedie, vice-president of the International Olympic Committee. "He said that the swimming atmosphere had been great," said the Scot. "He remarked on how fans had cheered the British team, but also the Australians and Americans. 'They have been so fair; it was wonderful', he told me."
"That can happen in sport," added Reedie. "It can happen in elite sport and it happened in London. So maybe there is a message. Almost all sports have made similar comments."
Perhaps another message for Glasgow is how to fill stadia. London's ticketing process was fraught. Genuine supporters feel embittered at being denied access, especially when sponsors treated athletes with contempt, leaving £750 seats empty. This must not be allowed to happen in Glasgow.
If Reedie is not already being consulted on such issues by Glasgow 2014, he should be. Yet he can't force certain Scots to adjust their excessively partisan default setting. That will take an education process, and maybe even anti-racism legislation. If it can be achieved without that, Scotland will really have come of age.
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