The spectacular fireworks that kicked off the Beijing Olympic Games was overshadowed by a man they call "Lightning Bolt".

One came at around 40 metres when Usain Bolt straightened to his full 6ft 5in stature, legs extending like telescopic antennae.

Another came around 20 metres from the finishing line of the 100m when he held out his arms, palms upwards, beat his chest and with a wild-eyed glance to his right beseeched the world to witness history in the making. Rivals nowhere. Easy as you like.

The third gasp came when the scoreboard in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing flashed 9.69 seconds. A world record. Confirmation that those present had just witnessed the sporting equivalent of landing man on the moon.

When the revellers usher in the next millennium I swear Olympic enthusiasts will still be talking about that night of August 16, 2008, when Bolt, with the eccentric slapping of the head and the surreal stance of an archer, bewitched the globe.

He went on, of course, to break the world record for 200m in 19.30 secs and took the share of a 4x100m relay world record for good measure.

Which is why Bolt was the heartbeat of the Beijing Games, just as Jesse Owens was synonymous with the 1936 Games when he smashed Hitler's notion of Aryan supremacy and Carl Lewis was the face of Los Angeles in 1984.

From the moment the opening ceremony delivered a proud and spectacular message to the world, Beijing was a wonderful Olympics.

The Chinese could not have been more welcoming. The organisation could not have been more meticulous, nor the security tighter.

The action could hardly have been more historic.

Not when the Water Cube pool was treated to the sight of American swimmer Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals, eclipsing the seven golds won by Mark Spitz in Munich in 1972.

Phelps, who now has 14 Olympic golds following the six he won in Athens, was magnificent.

But there was something even more heart-warming for home consumption and that was the sight of the Union Jack being hoisted up flag poles all over China.

By the time the fireworks were crackling over the Bird's Nest for the last time and London Mayor Boris Johnson was waving the Olympic flag at the handover ceremony for 2012 Great Britain had amassed 19 gold medals, 13 silver and 15 bronze.

Forty-seven medals in total to take fourth place in the medal table behind hosts China and Olympic heavyweights, the United States and Russia.

The best showing by a British Olympic team for 100 years. And what great expectation that brings for London in four years' time when the challenge in recessionary times is to emulate the organisation and spirit of goodwill as well as keep the traffic flowing and supply the sense of fun which at times eluded Beijing.

The scale of Britain's success had much to do with the feelgood factor which surged through the athletes' village as news of each achievement filtered through.

From the moment Nicole Cooke set the wheels in motion with gold in the women's road race against the backdrop of the Great Wall of China, Britain was scaling heights it had not reached for a century.

There is no need to recall every medallist, save to say the Olympic spirit of courage and determination was present in them all.

But Rebecca Adlington's two golds, the only golds for Britain in the pool and the first by a British woman since Anita Lonsbrough 48 years before, were a source of particular delight.

Ben Ainslie made it three consecutive golds in the sailing, where the Yngling 'blondes in a boat' also delivered as we knew they would.

Rowing provided its usual ration, including Steve Williams, Tom James, Peter Reede and Andy Hodge in the coxless four, who followed in the wake of Sir Steven Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent in the nation's flagship boat.

But while the controversial Christine Ohuruogu, having served a one-year ban for missing three drugs tests, provided Britain's only athletics gold in a compelling finish to the 400m there was no doubting which sport flew the Union flag longest and highest.

The story of British cycling is both a fairytale and a lesson in what can be achieved with strong leadership and burgeoning talent.

Take double gold Bradley Wiggins. Take Rebecca Romero, who took gold in the individual pursuit to become the first woman to win medals for Britain at different sports, having already taken silver in Athens in the quadruple sculls.

Does that not just sum up the extraordinary achievements on show in the Laoshan velodrome in Beijing?

But there was more and it was provided by Chris Hoy, an intelligent, articulate 32-year-old Scot who won three golds and elevated sprint cycling to an art form of power and perfect timing.

Life will never again be quite the same for Hoy, even if he modestly insists his four golds at three separate Games does not rate with the feats of Redgrave and Pinsent.

There were disappointments, too, notably poor old Paula Radcliffe who bravely attempted the marathon with only two weeks' full training following a fractured femur and not surprisingly trailed home in pain and in tears, but pledging she will try again in London at the age of 38.

The Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie, had their own family spat in a tennis tournament which was remarkable only for its empty seats.

The historians, of course, will not give them a second thought.

They will be too busy revelling in an Olympic Games in which Britain regained its sporting pride and the world paid homage to Usain Bolt.