CONGRATULATIONS to Kieran Reilly on becoming the North East’s first medallist at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Kieran, from Gateshead, won silver in the men’s BMX freestyle with a truly exhilarating display of spins, twists and loops on his little bicycle.

In the next couple of days, the region has further genuine medal contenders in rowers Sam Redgrave, also from Gateshead, and Lauren Irwin, from Peterlee. Good luck to them as our region bids to contribute to Team Great Britain’s excellent tally of success.

Apart from the occasional incident involving a drone, the Olympics appears to be contested in a truly Olympian spirit. There is no diving (except in the swimming pool) or rolling around feigning injury or attempting to bully the referee into changing his decision. Even in the tennis, when Andy Murray and Dan Evans were convinced of a let call, the umpire disagreed and they immediately got back on with the match.

The spirit of the competitors looks incredible. Even Kieran, who was hoping for gold, did not begrudge the Argentinian victor the gold, and there has been amazing grace from our gymnasts who were pipped into fourth place – the worst position – and by the swimmer Adam Peatty, who missed gold by 0.2 of a second. Competitors are obviously disappointed if they don’t strike gold, but if they’ve done their best for themselves and their country, they seem content to have been part of this amazing spectacle.

They seem so supportive of each other, urging each other on to go faster or higher in pursuit of athletic glory.

Never mind, in a fortnight’s time the football season will start and we’ll get all the spitting, play-acting and cheating – both fellow players and the referee – we could possibly wish to see.