A surprise package

BBC athletics commentator and Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram gives his reflections on the men's action at the Sydney Games.

It's been a very successful Games, which has probably produced a little bit more than we expected from a British point of view.

We didn't do so well in Atlanta, although we were very close, but things went our way this time.

There were some great British performances - with Jonathan Edwards winning and Darren Campbell doing brilliantly.

Steve Backley was outstanding, and really had our hearts in our mouths.

I don't think many of us thought he would challenge, but he was phenomenal.

Quite a few red-hot favourites didn't produce the goods and that's not normal

  Steve Cram

Some new names came through, like Daniel Caines in the 400m, and Christian Malcolm is getting better and better in the 200m. We also had three guys in the triple jump final.

Britain had a good Games, and there's lots to be positive about.

Elsewhere, the races involving Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson went to form.

But if you look at the other events, there was a lot of surprises.

Boldon, Kipketer, El Guerrouj and Saidi-Sief were all beaten.

Quite a few red-hot favourites didn't produce the goods, and that's not normal.

It highlights how different the Olympics is to the Grand Prix circuit.

El Guerrouj is consoled after his defeat

There is also a tremendous amount of pressure on the athletes.

The King of Morocco apparently called El Guerrouj after his semi-final to wish him well, and the runner was in tears.

With 110,000 people watching, to go out there and do things that are normally simple is not so easy. That's what makes the Olympics such a special event.

It's been hugely successful, with a lot of great events.

To have 80,000 or 90,000 at the morning qualifying sessions was brilliant, and was a benefit for the athletes.

My highlight was probably the 200m. I was commentating on that, and it was a great race to do.