I WOULD like to award a gold medal to the whole London Olympics.

From the Opening Ceremony to the competition late last night, I think it’s been absolutely brilliant.

To finally have some gold in the locker is great on home soil, but that’s not the be all and end all as far as I’m concerned.

Just going back to the Opening Ceremony, I thought it was done superbly.

The British, more than any other nation on the planet, don’t have a problem with basically taking the Mickey out of ourselves.

We have a great ability to look inwardly and have a go at ourselves, and when we do it with humour we do it better than anyone else – no-one comes close.

To have the Queen, James Bond and Mr Bean all involved in the proceedings was an absolute master stroke and it worked perfectly.

And what was fascinating was that so many other countries loved it as well.

My son’s girlfriend is American, though, and she admitted that no-one in the States would have appreciated it. “We just don’t get you guys,” was the phrase she used.

All the events – with the exception of those disgraced badminton players – have been terrific as well.

Obviously the medal-winning performances grab the headlines and they should rightly be celebrated, but I have to say I’ve really enjoyed watching the women’s football during the past week.

I know the cynics tend to get their knives into the women’s game, but the technique of the players is absolutely fantastic.

Sure, they don’t play at the pace of the men and never will do, but their dedication is just the same, the skill levels are very high and we’ve just had the record crowd ever for a women’s match when Team GB beat Brazil.

That’s tremendous, and if it inspires another generation of girls to get involved in football and love the game, then all power to them.

I think people have warmed to the women’s team more than the men because they realise, for many of them, this will be the pinnacle, whereas the men will be off back to the Premier League etc as soon as the Games are over.

With many of the sports, I think the selflessness of the competitors has really shone through.

Most of them know they are never going to win a medal, but they work and train and dedicate their lives to taking part and representing their country.

That’s the Olympic ethos, of course, it’s all about the taking part. And London has sparkled so far.