Olympics blog: Your favourite memories

Great Britain's glorious Games are at an end and our heroic athletes left us with a host of golden memories to treasure until London 2012.

The gold rush was ignited by Nicole Cooke way back on the opening weekend, inspiring a plethora of world-beating Brits in the velodrome, swimming Cube, Shunyi lake, Qingdao water and the Bird's Nest.

Our Orange sports team has picked its favourite moments from an unforgettable two weeks. Now we want your thoughts on the Games.

What was your favourite Beijing moment, which sports were you fascinated by and which athletes' performances stood out for you? Tell us using the boxes below.

Olympics blog: Finally, controversy!

Little did I imagine, as I innocently parked my bum on the sofa with a bowl of Rice Krispies, that my Saturday morning was soon to be so dominated by taekwondo.

My sense of raging injustice was surely shared in living rooms across the country as Doncaster's Sarah Stevenson (pictured) was quite blatantly robbed of a place in the semi-finals in the women's +67k category.

For those who did not watch the scandal unfold, it will not surprise you to learn that our girl was fighting a Chinese opponent, nor that all four judges were also indigenous.

Trailing 1-0 with seconds to go in the final round, Stevenson nearly knocked Chen Zong's block off with the clearest of kicks to the head. It should have won her two points and would have seen her through to the semi-finals.

When the kick did not register on the points board, Stevenson reacted with understandable fury. The judges briefly collaborated but miraclulously decided nothing was amiss and Chen was awarded one of the most hollow and unjust victories since ... yesterday, when our boy Aaron Cook was denied victory in similar circumstances against Zhu Guo of, you guessed it, China.

In what other sport, we all wondered, would all judges be allowed to officiate in a game in which one of their compatriots is competing against another nation? Especially in front of a partisan crowd and in a sport where fighters rely entirely on the judges to award them points?

But as teeth were gnashed, spleens were vented (and as I was about to press 'send' on a furious and indignant blog!) yet more drama unfolded as an Olympic official appeared in the arena and announced, in broken English to an uncomprehending Chinese crowd, that the result had been reversed.

This awe-inspiring but largely uncontroversial Games suddenly had a sensational story. Stevenson was suddenly back in it and within half an hour was back into an arena, surrounded by 4000 now fully-briefed, furious and vengeful Chinese fans. With little time to to draw breath, let alone prepare herself mentally, she lost to Mexico's Maria del Rosario Espinoza, but went on to claim bronze and will return to Britain a hero.

The outrageously partisan judging had threatened to leave a nasty taste right at the end of these otherwise awe-inspiring Olympics. But now that justice has prevailed, it could be the best thing that has ever happened to British taekwondo.

What was your view on Stevenson's ordeal? Does it pour further scorn on sports where competitors rely on judges' votes? Give us your views using the boxes below.

Olympic blog: The most pointless sport

There's been nearly two weeks of television watching to work out what the most pointless Olympic sport of all is - and there are some strong contenders.

Standing with a massive metal bow firing arrows at a small gold circle in front of thousands of screaming Chinese fans is way up there. Racing around a track on a bike taking off over jumps in the BMX racing should probably be the reserve of 12-year-old kids the world over. And then there's diving side by side with your countryman in a tight pair of Speedos - surely time could be better spent?

However, every Olympics there's a runaway favourite for the most pointless sport and it's got to be the synchronised swimming. Having tuned in for the women's doubles - or whatever it's called - I gave it my all to get to grips with the sport.

The commentator ooh'd and aah'd over the power of the Russians, the technical skill of the Canadians and the lightning footwork of the Japanese. But all I could think was that this should be replaced with a gold medal for the person who can hold their breath under water for the longest time possible.

What's the most pointless sport Olympic sport? Does the synchronised swimming take the award? Post your comments below.

Olympic blog: Britannia rules the waves

Iain Percy and Andrew "Bart" Simpson rounded off a truly great regatta for Team GB at Qingdao with a stunning gold in the Star class - sailing's blue-riband event apparently - in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The British duo had gone into the medal race lying second to the Swedes but with Brazil also in contention of winning the gold. The Brazilians got a stunning start and the Brits looked dead and buried as Sweden moved ahead. However, that all changed on the final leg.

I didn't have a clue what was going on but Percy and Simpson threw everything at their boat and, sure enough, they did enough to oust the Swedes to win Olympic gold, Britain's fourth of the Games.

The sailors may have been marginally overshadowed by the track cyclists but their achievements are truly remarkable. Apart from Britain, only one other nation, Australia, won more than one gold at the regatta. It brought the obvious Britannia rules the waves remarks from the BBC TV pundits who also did their usual trick of warning viewers to put down their Cornflakes for what promised to be an exciting finale.

So the gold medal tally's up to 17 and there still seem to be more on the way...

Olympic blog: Anyone else bored of gold?

Is it me or is anyone else just a little bit bored of Team GB winning gold in these Olympics?

The tally is now up to an impressive 16 golds in Beijing with more likely to follow if Phillips Idowu can live up to the form book, if Britain's boxers can come good and if Shanaze Reade can stay on her BMX bike.

But the golds are coming so thick and fast, there's not enough time to dwell on the amazing achievement of each and every Brit on the top spot of the podium. It might be wrong but I slightly pine for that feeling of Britain being the world's pluckiest losers when it comes to the Games, when athletes were just edged into fourth, although Nick Dempsey bucked the trend in the windsurfing today with just such a finishing position.

Having the BBC pundits interview these hard-done-by Brits with repeated comments of "you gave it everything" was the essence of my Olympic experience growing up. And having bronze as the best medal to hope for seemed to be the way things went every four years from the comfort of every British sitting room sofa.

The track cycling perhaps highlighted the ridiculous gold rush more than anything else. And Team GB won so many golds I found myself cheering on the plucky Danes and the Dutch hopefuls, and even found myself comiserating with the Australians of all nations.

Anyway, here's to a few more fourth-place finishes and getting back to normality!

Olympic blog: Hoy's a true British great

Chris Hoy put himself into the front seat to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year with four months left to go before the winner is announced after a historic third gold at the Beijing Olympics.

To put it into perspective at these Games, if he were a country he'd be above Canada, New Zealand and Kenya among others as things stand, having become only the second British athlete in Olympic history to win triple gold at one Games and the first for 100 years.

Hoy's the perfect professional. He trains hard and is one of the nicest men in sport. He has time for everyone and his praise for silver medallist Jason Kenny will do the youngster no harm as he bids to go one better in four years time. Hoy won't be in London competing - his next aim is a place as an athlete representative on the IOC. As just the sort of model that kids need heading to 2012, he'd be an ideal candidate.

And few people would bet against him to pick up the Beeb honour and a gong at Buckingham Palace, at the very least.

Is Hoy the star of the Games for Team GB or is there someone else that stands out? We want to hear your views?

Olympics blog: Joy to end

Another gold to celebrate for Great Britain on day 10 of the Olympics after yet more success in the cycling. It’s been a fantastic Games for Team GB to date but with the cycling, rowing and sailing coming to a conclusion, the medals are now expected to dry up.

This is because despite dominating in these events which have propelled Great Britain to third in the medal table, our downfall is the meat and gravy of the Olympics, also known as track and field.

Phillips Idowu (left), Christine Ohuruogu and Martin Rooney all have a chance of standing on the podium in Beijing but if they fail to reach expectations then GB’s Olympic journey could end in disappointment.

But why have we been unable to replace athletic greats such as Dame Kelly Holmes, Jonathan Edwards, Colin Jackson and Steve Backley?

The Lottery funding is provided for these athletes yet each year we seem to be taking a step backwards as our rivals move further away. Not ideal ahead of London 2012.

Hopefully, GB’s track and field ‘stars’ will shine in this final week of the Games but unfortunately, we now look to be heading in one direction after the dizzy heights that have been set away from the Bird’s Nest.

Olympics blog: No tears for Radcliffe

There have been many heroic performances by Briton in Beijing, particularly during the weekend's gold rush, but it's hard to know whether Paula Radcliffe's marathon display fits into that category.

Sure, finishing a marathon is a great achievement, but what exactly was the point in such a great athlete competing in these Games when anyone with a sane mind knew she had no chance of challenging for medals? Why did she put herself through it?

After the outpouring of public grief in Athens when she completed neither the marathon nor the 10,000m, it's hard to see Radcliffe getting quite so much sympathy now. This time the tears just seem a little less convincing; it's not as if anyone else didn't see it coming.

Lightning strikes

Take a bow Usain Bolt. The Jamaican produced a scintillating display to win gold in the 100m final and doing so, broke the world record on a memorable day eight in Beijing.

Bolt’s sprint success will serve as one of the highlights of the Games. When have you ever seen somebody showboat towards the end of a race in a 100m Olympic final?

Bolt pulled on the breaks with 20m to go, had a cheeky look across to see his rivals virtually back in their blocks before holding his arms aloft and pounding his chest. That was all before he crossed the finish line.

Bolt set a new WR time of 9.69 seconds after jogging the final fifth of an extraordinary race that saw six athletes dip below 10 seconds.

That is usually good enough to win gold but nobody can touch Bolt. Had he run flat out, the sprinter (or if you like jogger) would have easily clocked a time below 9.5 seconds.

The scary thing is that the 100m isn’t even Bolt’s favoured event. The Jamaican will be back for the 200m in which he is untouchable and virtually guaranteed to add another gold medal.

Michael Johnson will be sweating alongside Hazel and Jacko in the studio because his world record could easily be erased by a 21-year-old athlete who is easily the fastest man on the planet.

Olympic blog: The gold rush begins

Up until now, it's the girls that have been grabbing gold but now the men's sprint team have joined both Nicole Cooke and Rebecca Adlington on the top spot in Beijing.

A cycling gold for the British is not in itself that surprising, judging by the number of medals they won at the World Championships in Manchester. However, what's startling is that the British were by no means favourites to win gold on the Beijing track. In fact, at the worlds they were half-a-second off the pace of the French, who looked the shoe-in to win the Olympic final. But they were nowhere near in a final sprint dominated by the Brits.

For Chris Hoy, it was a second gold in as many Games, for Jamie Staff it marked a great finale to an illustrious career that began in the BMX world and for the 20-year-old Jason Kenny it was an amazing achievement at his first major event.

In fact, day one of the cycling was entirely dominated by Team GB. Bradley Wiggins topped the times in qualifying for the individual pursuit and looks a certainty for gold, while Wendy Houvengal and Rebecca Romero managed the top two times in the women's pursuit.

In short, expect world records to tumble and gold medals to come Great Britain's way.

Is the team sprint gold your Olympic highlight to date or do Cooke or Adlington still take that tag?