When my grandfather arrived in Victoria in 1908, he had other things to worry about and couldn't have been overly concerned about that year's Olympics being held in the capital of the Empire - London.
And a planet picking up after the Second World War had many other things on its mind when former basketball player and retired Victoria physician Bill Bell, Naden boxer Eddie Haddad, Victoria swimmer Peter Salmon and Victoria track star Cliff Salmond competed when London hosted the 1948 Summer Games.
But in the age of mass culture and mass leisure time, everybody seemed to notice that the Olympics were being in held in London in 2012. Both CTV and NBC are reporting the 2012 Summer Games have blown the doors off with viewership ratings that have staggered even the most optimistic TV executives.
And our Island produced 48 Canadian athletes for the 2012 Games - whether homegrown or drawn to live and train here - to give us a unique window through which to view this event happening.
Yet, as much an anglophile as I am, and as little as the francophone world interests me, I thought the IOC had made a huge blunder in 2005 by awarding these Games by a mere four votes to London over Paris. I believed a Paris Olympics would have been distinctive. But what I, and many others, did not anticipate was the surprisingly resonant chord these London Games would strike.
It's hard to explain why some Olympics work and others don't. We all get the coming-out aspect of Beijing/China 2008 and Rio/Brazil 2016. But who could have guessed that the return to the Olympic homeland would turn into such an uninspiring dud in 2004 in Athens?
Many could think of no good reason why London - a city which certainly doesn't need the Games for validation - should host the Summer Olympics of 2012. So their compelling success these past two weeks has amazed many.
For Canadians, it was another reminder of just how much tougher, bigger and more complex the Summer Olympics are than their Winter cousins. They don't give out medals to sa国际传媒 just for showing up, like they do in women's ice hockey. We won't be topping the gold-medal table ever in the Summer Games like we did at home in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
So sa国际传媒's success or failure in the Summer Games must be measured in relative terms. Heading into today's final day of London 2012, sa国际传媒 was at 18 medals. Four of those - truly impressive on a per capita basis - came through Victoria swimmer Ryan Cochrane's silver, the Elk Lake-based Canadian men's rowing eight's silver, Victoria track team pursuit cyclist Gillian Carleton's bronze and Victoria open water swimmer Richard Weinberger's bronze.
Let the naval-gazing begin. Eighteen medals overall matches the Canadian total from Beijing and places sa国际传媒 within its goal of the top-12. But out-side North America, standings are ranked by gold medals won. By that standard, sa国际传媒's lone gold places the nation a mere 35th at London.
So sa国际传媒's performance, and whether more funding needs to go to programs such as Own the Podium, is open to debate and will be debated.
What isn't open for debate is Britain's handling of the 2012 London Olympic Games. London's third hosting of the Summer Games was a stunning success in terms of presentation, although the financial accounting is yet to come.
The world watched and took notice. Jolly good show, mates.
Now on to Rio.
