It is good to shout about yourself, but even better if someone else can do it for you.
There may have been a collective hangover feeling this week in the UK since the Games finished, but beneath that there is a swelling of pride, and it is good to see the world shares that feeling.
The world reaction to the London 2012 Olympic Games and the legacy it will leave for East London has been overwhelmingly positive, as these snippets below will show:
New York Times:
One of the great stories of these Olympics was the effect they had on England itself. Triumphalism does not come naturally to this country, where the cultural stock in trade has long been dignity in defeat. This, let's not forget, is a nation where one of the most beloved poems is Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade," which valorizes a military rout at the hands of the Russians. Full story.
Sydney Morning Herald:
London, you didn't half do a decent job. These Olympics had Sydney's vibrancy, Athens's panache, Beijing's efficiency, and added British know-how and drollery. With apologies to Sydney, they might just represent a new PB for the Olympics.
They were superbly organised. The Olympic Park's setting, in one of Britain's poorest boroughs, proved inspired. London consists of layers, new cities built on top of fallen or demolished old. Now another has been added. Some Olympic sites become wasteland after the Games. This one began as wasteland and is now full of possibilities. Derelict bits of old Stratford still poke through, without ruining the effect. It is a measure of Britain's maturity that it went to less effort to disguise its warts-and-all self for the Games than most Olympic cities do.
The Games were preceded by the usual fatalistic anticipation of a cock-up. It proved groundless. Moving masses of people around a mazy city was expected to be a nightmare but London made it look effortless. Security was plentiful but low key. The army, called in to meet a shortfall, proved to be Britain's finest ambassadors. Full story.
Chicago Tribune:
For the seven years after the IOC chose London, its residents expected a nightmare of transportation snafus, armed camp security, a recession made worse by Olympic cost overruns. What they got was the opposite, plus a different view of themselves through British athletes who now come from far more places than the playing fields of Eton. Full story.
China Daily:
British supporters will also cherish memories of the venue, where Somali-born runner Mo Farah won the 5,000 and 10,000 double to deafening roars and was celebrated as a symbol of the capital's multi-culturalism.
The host nation won 29 golds to take third place in the rankings, its best result for 104 years which helped lift the nation out of the gloom of an economic recession temporarily buried in the inside pages of the newspapers. Full story.
Washington Post:
Urged on by massive home crowds and a cheerleading press that defied predictions of Olympic cynicism, British athletes ran, cycled and rowed their way to their highest medal count since Britannia ruled the seas in 1908.
At these Games, the United States and China might be coming home with more gold, but this country of 62 million people that is roughly the size of Michigan reminded itself of its uncanny ability to punch above its weight. Full story.
London pulled it off very well. Everything was well structured and organized not forgetting the security which had been a main priority from the very start to ensure everyone elses safety