Olympics Day 15: Go, Mo!

On the penultimate day of the Olympics, Britain had two of its biggest stars going for medals. And both delivered. There are still events tomorrow, but today it felt like the UK had won the whole Olympics.

First there was Mo Farah's astonishing 5000-meter race, which he really wasn't expected to win. But then he wasn't supposed to win the 10,000 meter race last weekend either. And now he's a double gold medallist. I think the entire nation screamed in unison as he executed a beautiful victory.

Second was poster boy Tom Daley, who dove at Beijing 2008 when he was just 14. Now 18, he had been the face of the Games for the past four years. So no pressure then when he faced off against the formidable Chinese and American divers in the 10-meter final tonight. He won bronze - not gold but still a major achievement.

Of course a lot of other countries won medals today, and so did some other Brits, but these two things sent the home nation into an even more massively celebratory mood. Stephen Daldry's closing ceremony tomorrow night can hardly fail to increase the ecstasy.

Olympics Day 14: Artistic merit

Aside from the usual finals in things like athletics, Friday was a day for the more artistic Olympic pursuits like rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and diving. The argument is whether these actually belong in a competition whose central slogan is "faster, higher, stronger". Of course, this same argument could apply to most of the team sports contested at Olympic level. And when I think about this logically, I start to wonder.

Tonight the poster boy for the London Olympics, Tom Daley, seemed to struggle with the pressure. At just 18, competing in his second Games, it's difficult to imaging how he's coping with the expectations of the entire nation. And it's also not surprising that he struggled with his dives tonight. At least he qualified for the final, so the nation can sleep easily tonight. Even as he plays each dive over and over again in his mind's eye.

Today I had a busy day but I hardly saw any of the action. Although I was reporting on the action from 7.45am to 6.45pm, I only watched bits of the diving on TV and that's about it. I missed all of the athletics, which I'll try to catch up with. I also took a trip into an unusually crowded West End this afternoon - people are really buzzing in London at the moment! The whole city is throbbing with positive vibes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out after the Paralympics end in a month's time.

Olympics Day 3: Surprise surprise

One of my favourite things about the Olympics is the way so little goes according to expectations. The world's top competitors arrive confident of adding to their already impressive collection of medals, but go home empty-handed. Sometimes this allows someone unexpected to sneak onto the top of the podium, and other times it's heartbreaking.

Over the last few days British hopes have repeatedly been dashed. In Saturday's men's road cycling race, everyone expected Mark Cavendish and recent Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins to medal in the event, but they were knocked way back in the field. Today it was the turn of the Olympics poster boy Tom Daley (right) in synchronised platform diving, but he and his partner Peter Waterfield came in an agonising fourth.

Conversely, in the women's 100m breaststroke, 15-year-old Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte shocked everyone by winning gold, beating the American world champion in the process. Her stunned face while receiving the gold medal (with the president of Lithuania cheering her on) was priceless.

Meanwhile, London's transport system has held up for three days without any severe problems. No one expected it to last that long. Yesterday, two of three trains I took went to different destinations than announced. It's not too difficult for a Londoner to get back on the right route, but tourists must find that kind of thing bewildering. Ah well, almost everyone in the Underground looks bewildered at the moment! But that's not unusual for summer time.