“I wasn't really too sure what to expect going in,” admitted Laura Muir.

Then again, who did, quite frankly? Tokyo’s Olympics. The Pandemic Games. Mission Impossible. And yet, Japan, somehow, some way, pulled it off. 12 months behind schedule. Light years away from the spectacle that they had foreseen when the bid was won in the September of 2013. Not all-singing and all-dancing thanks to Covid. Not close.

But there were tunes and boogying aplenty as the Closing Ceremony brought down the curtain last night and who could begrudge the hosts for finally letting down their hair, if not their masks? Sixteen days where normality of sort unexpectedly broke out, superlative sport, embracing emotions ranging from delight to despair and everything in between, heroes created and legends born as only this stage can provide.

Chaos, organised, added Muir, a silver medallist in the 1,500m whose joyous tears caused the eyes of so many to water. “There's been far more glitches in previous championships just in "normal" circumstances. It's been so smooth, and they've been so organised. I'm very, very thankful to them.”

Gratitude, a theme as the Village prepared to empty and any madness becalmed, at least until the Paralympians begin to rock up barely a week from now. “We have to give a massive credit to the NHS for getting us double-vaccinated and being able to get out here,” said Duncan Scott, history maker with his four medals in the pool that were the most any Briton has purloined from a single Games.

“A high-risk, high-reward strategy,” repeated British team’s chef de mission Mark England yesterday. “Over 20,000 tests in 40 days in Japan without one positive. We were a delta variant country. There were additional pressures and protocols put on us.” Just one athlete, unfortunate shooter Amber Hill, unable to make it to the start line when it was feared they would drop like flies.

An incredible challenge, added Katherine Grainger who, as chair of UK Sport, was visibly pleased with a return on investment that saw 65 medals brought back to Britain, equal to London 2012 and just two shy of the mammoth haul of Rio in 2016. “Winning medals across more sports – 18 - than any other country,” added England. “Across 23 disciplines. I think it is the greatest achievement in British Olympic history. It has been the miracle of Tokyo.”

Up for debate, perhaps. Yet there has been a subtle but welcome shift in the narrative too. Criticism, and rightly so, in past times of the reliance on so-called ‘posh’ sports and a skew towards those educated privately. Urban crusaders, the brilliant BMXers and skateboarders, the breakthroughs here. British Rowing, one of few with a sinking feeling. The inquest should see more funding diverted for the many, less so the few.

Important messages driven home elsewhere. Athletes, as advocates. “The best role models,” Grainger added, “who speak out on issues very close to their heart, who are powerful on the field of play but equally powerful off it. Adam Peaty speaking about mental health, Tom Daley speaking about LGBT issues, Alice Dearing speaking about inclusion and diversity, Hannah Mills working in sustainability. These athletes are incredible examples for all of us.”

The former rower had told pre-Tokyo of a wish to pass on her Olympic torch to a new cluster of Scottish superheroes. Many have put their hands in the air. 17 medals for Caledonia, one shy of Rio’s apex of 18. A dozen different medallists, including golds for Scott, his aquatic ally Kathleen Dawson, sailor Eilidh McIntyre and the two-wheeled human dynamo that is Katie Archibald. Great moments from all, those who stood on the podium and those who, regrettably, did not.

Individually driven. But this, Grainger, asserted, was a vindication of a high-performance system that is transforming itself away from the ‘no compromise’ era that arrived in the wake of embarrassment at Atlanta’s Games in 1996, with the wads of Lottery cash deployed to engineer a medal machine.

At what cost to the soul, we asked? The Scot has overseen a shift to a holistic, healthier climate. To no little surprise, the results have still come in. “I'm thrilled that we are in a better place now and we haven't seen any drop off in performance,” Grainger said. “If anyone was unconvinced before, hopefully they will be now. I'm very pleased, I'm not surprised. I always felt it was the right thing to do.”

A last thought, indeed word, to those who made these Games happen, and so well. Not the International Olympic Committee. Their job, that. To Tokyo, to Japan, reluctant and fearful hosts as they were. Unseen by television, as they were at London 2012 and Glasgow 2014, the army of volunteers, aged 19 to 91, the wheels who made this all turn. 

“Everywhere we went, the volunteers were just smiling,” McIntyre underlined. “I mean, they stood out in the baking sun all day and they're still smiling and clapping and excited about the Olympics.” 

Added hockey bronze medallist Sarah Robertson, “the Japanese people have welcomed us and waved at us at every opportunity. Said hello. Two-handed waves constantly. It's been an absolutely incredible month out here. I think it's hard to  digest every little moment. But certainly, there’s so many moments that I'll cherish for a long time.” Us too. Us too.