by Alex Hoad, our man at the Olympic Games

Well the flame might have gone out and the ticker-tape swept away, but the memories created at the London 2012 Olympic Games will remain forever.

I was at every day of the Games and I could do a top 200 moments with Afghan women sprinters and Oscar Pistorius and the velodrome, but I won't, I'll just leave you with my top five most abiding memories of the best Olympic Games ever!

5 - Broadening your horizons

If you’d told me when I was 18 that I’d be sat on my own, quietly enthralled by the power, grace and drama of a trampolining competition I’d have laughed at you.

Much the same if you’d said I’d be on the edge of my seat watching a handball game between Tunisia and Croatia or banging my first on the desk with glee when a New Zealand show jumper rider knocked-off a single bar.

The minority sports are what make the Games for many and I loved the chance to see and enjoy sports I would not ordinarily be exposed to.

4 - Kent athletes

I was proud to watch our Olympians take part. Believe me when I say they could not have put any more effort in to try and bring us back some medals.

We had more than our fair share of bad luck and trouble and enough despair and emotion to last five Games.

We finished with one silver medal and a bronze and at one stage led India and Spain in the medals table, however it was ultimately to be a tale of missing finals or medals by fractions of seconds or points.

It was a very emotion-charged experience, being around these guys. They deserve all of our respect.

3 - Usain Bolt

The guy just exudes something special, something positive.

His aura arrives about 10 metres before he does. He makes people happy, just with his character. It's the way he is. He is pretty simply the best thing to ever happen to athletics.

In London Bolt won the 100m in the second fastest time ever recorded (9.63), led a Jamaican 1-2-3 home in the 200m and then, for once, ran as hard as he could all the way to the line in the 4x100m relay to smash the world record.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he's changed the world. His presence in the sport is vitally important.

2 - The Opening Ceremony

If ever there was a night which made it feel ok to be British for the first time in a long time, it was this one.

Not only was it the best birthday party anyone’s ever thrown me, but it reminded the country, and the entire globe, just how much our islands have given the world over the past couple of hundred years.

It showed Britain is Great, makes the best music, has the best inventors, has made huge contributions to culture, technology and entertainment. We should be proud of ourselves and our place in the world.

When Team GB came out at the end of the athletes parade it was the single most spine-tingling eruption of noise I have ever witnessed.

1 - Super Saturday

The overall experience of watching GB land three gold medals in 46 incredible minutes will never leave anyone who was present.

Jess Ennis was nailed-on for gold, but to see her storm to the front in the final lap of the 800m, roared on by 80k people, was very special.

Mo Farah was maybe even moreso. The noise as he pulled away in the final 30-40metres of the 10k, when people realised he was going to do it, that was as loud as I have ever heard any crowd at any event ever.

The fact that Greg Rutherford claimed an unexpected (by anyone but him) gold in the long-jump while Farah was loping round the 10k saw people around the stadium jumping up and punching the air, even though they were 100-yards from the action in some cases.

The morning and afternoon were great, with another three golds, but the Golden Hour must have been the single greatest hour of sport in British history.

It was an absolute privilege to be there.

What were your favourite memories of the Games? Have your say below.

Pictures: Barry Goodwin & PA Wire