This has not been based on sport, of course, but on politics, and of the emergence on the international stage of what seems inexorably the world's next superpower.

But now, on the first day of the games and until the last, I hope the focus can turn to the sport, because it has barely been touched.

Comparisons to the 1936 Nazi-organised Olympics in Berlin have been unhelpful.

That the Beijing Games may represent the peaceful return to the wider world of one in five of its total inhabitants should at least be some cause for celebration.

Not that I'm conveniently forgetting the countless Chinese forced from their homes because of the event.

The Olympics remains the greatest sporting event in the calendar and give viewers the opportunity to dip in and out of such a varied range of sports.

It will be interesting to see how the 313 athletes competing in 20 sports that make up 'Team GB' do.

Locally, the focus falls on former Harleston Magpies' star Richard Alexander, born and raised in Homersfield, as part of Great Britain's 16-man hockey team and Attleborough shot-putter Danny Nobbs, who will compete in the Paralympics next month.

It would be a tragedy if the efforts of our local heroes and all those competing were to be overshadowed, at least for the 17 days of the games, by politics.

To the sportsmen and women competing, this is the pinnacle of their career, possibly of their lives and the culmination of all of their efforts over the years.

The International Olympic Committee wants to keep sports and politics separate and I hope that from today, this can happen.

It's the athletes' turn to take centre stage.