In no particular order …

1. Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony for setting the tone and leaving me proud to be British; and Stephen Daldry and Kim Gavin’s closing pageant for living up to its high standard

2. Double-golden girl Laura Trott’s infectiously excitable post-race interviews, be it with her track cycling team-mates or just on her own

3. Steve Cram and Brendan Foster’s historic BBC TV commentary as Mo Farah secured his 5,000m gold medal amid a wall of noise in the Olympic Stadium

4. Mo Farah and his marvellous ‘mobot’, with his missus and daughter on the track after his 10,000m title

5. Heptathlon pin-up Jessica Ennis: the tears, the winning smile, and pure all-round inspirational tale

6. Jamaican sprint stars Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake and their post-race trackside antics, artists in front of the cameras in more sense than one

7. Ben Ainslie’s Dirty Harry-style ‘and you don’t want to make me angry’ pronouncement on his way to becoming the most successful sailing Olympian of all time

8. Matt Baker’s no-holds-barred excitement on the Beeb at the gymnastics finals, particularly when Oldham, Purvis, Smith, Thomas, Tweddle and Whitlock shone

Motown Moment: Jackson, Johnson and Lewis get excited with the Beeb … big time (pic courtesy of BBC Sport)

9. Colin Jackson and Denise Lewis’ ‘hidden camera’ studio ecstacy during the Farah and Bolt golden track moments, as Michael Johnson struggled to keep calm and carry on

10. Andy Murray learning to have fun in public – too much of a rarity – with help from some shockingly good form from Laura Robson, on his way to two tennis medals

11. Bradley Wiggins and those super sideburns on the road again, from Deepest Surrey to the streets of London and Hampton Court Palace

12. Mrs Brownlee’s boys and their triumphant triathlon antics, not least that tense moment in the penalty box for brother Jonny

13. Manx road racer Mark Cavendish and his impish grin, trying to make sense of it all in the BBC’s Velodrome press box

14. The highly-professional Hugh Porter and his off-mic coughs during a mammoth spell commentating alongside Chris Boardman during the cycling road races

15. Gary Lineker’s post-time trial interview with a wonderfully eloquent and refreshingly down-to-earth Brad Wiggins

16. John Inverdale’s genuine TV interview tears after rowing silver for a gutted Zak Purchase and Mark Hunter

17. Sir Steve Redgrave and his unpaid role carrying exhausted British rowers to the podium after Inverdale’s interviews

18. Rebecca Adlington’s stirring acceptance of her bronze medals after a gruelling 800m freestyle battle in the pool

19. Dominican 400m hurdles champion Felix Sanchez and his tears on the podium, so difficult to watch but perhaps a perfect example of how much that moment must mean

20. All those sprinters playing to the gallery, including Blake’s less than convincing ‘Beast’ mime and a certain team-mate who was nothing less than greased lightning throughout.

21. Radio 5 Live’s commentary team for all those key moments, notably the switch to and from the canoe slalom and double trap finals as we won two more gold medals

22. Nicola Adams, Jade Jones, Gemma Gibbons and Karina Bryant for redefining the term ‘fighting like a girl’ in the boxing, Taekwondo and judo

23. Cyclist Chris Froome, living proof in lycra that it’s not always just about finishing first

24. Gymnast Beth Tweddle proving you don’t always need flamboyance to shine out of the arena – unassuming to a tee.

25. Equestrian Mary King proving age is no barrier when it comes to achieving at Olympic standard.

26. Sir Chris Hoy and Queen Vic Pendleton showing them younger whipper-snappers a thing or two about riding a bike

27. Coleraine rower Ian Campbell after his single scull bronze, a broken man showing us all just what it takes to claim a medal

28. Rowing alchemist Kath Grainger and her persistence paying off as she turns all that silver into gold.

29. The BBC’s radio and TV commentary teams doing their best to explain the more technical sports like diving, gymnastics and sailing

30. Clare Balding for her boundless enthusiasm at whatever sport she’s covering, and her punter-in-the-street explanations as to what the hell’s going on at key moments

31. Proud Olympian Oscar Pistorus for his determination, a perfect ambassador for the forthcoming Paralympics and one who clearly never takes no for an answer

32. Sarah Attar for her historic presence in the 800m, the first Saudia Arabian woman to feature at an Olympic Games

33. Michael Phelps and his swimming pool mastery, taking his total up to 22 medals – 18 gold – to become the most decorated Olympian of all time

34. Tom Daley for proving his doubtors wrong, and for his emotional nod to his late father after his bronze medal

35. Montenegro for taking 34 athletes to London 2012 and coming back with 14 medals – a superior 41% success rate

36. Kirani James for winning Grenada’s first ever gold medal in spectacular fashion in the 400m final, earning his nation a day off in the process.

37. Lancashire lass Sam Murray’s heart-felt advice after her modern pentathlon silver about how we can all get what we want in life if we put the hours in

38. Mancunian pensioner Peter Deary and his unusually iconic Derney bike, leading the keirin charge in the Velodrome

39. Every single Team GB athlete who made it to the podium, for proving what can be achieved with a little hard work, persistence and perseverance

40. Every single Team GB athlete who didn’t make it to the podium, all the volunteers and all those who turned up at London 2012 and during the Olympic torch relay