The Olympics - its "inspirational magic"

Our Aussie swimming girls carried the nation with them through every stroke of the Olympics pool. Our stars have revved up our national pride and we’re glad for multi-medalled Stephanie Rice who leads her countrymen in the final celebration of the 2008 Olympics.

But the inspirational magic of the Olympics is best described by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter FitzSimons in his column The FitzFiles:
“Somehow,” he writes,” through all the oft-overblown cynical nonsense, you get stories like those of Sally McLellan and Anna Meares … McLellan made no endless look-at-me, look-at-me, look-at-me statements before the Games. She just sucked it up, got on with it, and took her moment when it came in the final of the 100 metres hurdles.
“Her (Silver Medal) joy afterwards was so heartfelt, so unscripted, so wonderful so, somehow un-commercial, Australia loved her on the instant. And ditto Meares - an Olympic glory story, just like mother used to make.
“Her saga had it all, from a set of parents who would regularly take their children on 600-kilometre round trips through outback Queensland to get them to cycling tracks, to a terrible accident in January that put her for a short time in a wheelchair.
“And, then, when Meares won her silver medal, again, her joyful reaction was so touching, as was that of her parents and husband, it made you think that despite everything that has been done to suck the Olympic spirit dry, there's still enough there to create that kind of sporting magic. Bravo to both.”