In one golden hour yesterday Australia re-established itself as an Olympic force.
It’s a feeling that had been hard to capture through the past two Games in Rio and London where regrettably judgment resided in what had been lost rather than what was being won.
A good measure of Australia’s worth is invested in our sporting performances internationally and the Olympics has long been the most acute measure.
From gold medal hauls of 16, 17 and 14 across Sydney, Athens and Beijing Australia slipped to eight golds in both London and Rio and fell through eighth to tenth on the overall medal table.
With finite funding, targeted programs had been developed to enhance the chances of success but the truth was the harder Australia hunted for gold the more elusive it became.
It led to acrimony and infighting across the bodies responsible for Australia’s Olympic performance.
But politics was a distant echo as the national mood soared yesterday proving again the Games are about athletes and the capacity to deliver a performance under maximum pressure at the moment of decision.
Three gold medals in an hour makes the count six in five days.
It’s a trajectory back toward double figures with optimism and confidence contagious.
Critically they came from two of Australia’s bedrock sports of swimming and rowing both of which failed to produce the budgeted results in London and Rio.
Counting medals can seem crass, even mercenary. Ultimately that’s the measure.
But that’s not the full extent of it. That’s underestimates the Olympic spirit.
While we ride high with the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos. We feel the pain of the Olyroos.
For the ecstasy of Arianne Titmus. There’s the agony of boxer Skye Nicolson.
Today we feel the excitement for Kyle Chalmers and the tension for Jess Fox.
It’s what makes the Games so magnificent.