What is your most memorable moment so far of the 33rd Olympiad in Paris? For all the astonishing athletic achievement on show, and the acts of individual and collective courage, and the stories of glory and redemption and anguish, I have my own particular favourite. It was when Clare Balding, our very own broadcasting Olympian, broke down in tears on live TV in the middle of her valedictory tribute to Andy Murray.
This made her fellow presenter, the swimming gold medalist Rebecca Adlington, also start crying. It made me well up with tears, too, and, judging by the reaction on social media, it turned much of the nation into a sobbing, snivelling mess.
“In terms of his professional career, that is it. It’s over,” Balding said, to pictures of Murray signing autographs one last time. “And all we can say is ‘thank you’. ‘Thank you.’” She couldn’t continue through the tears. Cue waterworks all over the place.
We’ve had plenty of time to reconcile the end of Murray’s outstanding........