Mr Blue Sky beamed and the barges of Birmingham’s waterways bristled with flags of St George and other competing nations as they pootled beneath Black Sabbath Bridge.
The city embraced the Commonwealth Games like no other has done before it, a constant backdrop of jam-packed grandstands delivered an emphatic vindication of its relevance in the international sporting calendar.
Eleven days of action drew to a close at Alexander Stadium on Monday night as organisers turned the traditional Closing Ceremony into a non-stop party involving local luminaries like Dexys Midnight Runners and UB40.
It continued an atmosphere that had pervaded throughout, be it lawn bowlers from the Cook Islands performing an impromptu South Seas love song in Leamington Spa, or the semi-final celebrations of Jamaican netball’s ‘Sunshine Girls’.