Plenty to celebrate

Former 400m hurdles gold medallist and BBC Olympic expert Sally Gunnell looks back on the women's action at the Sydney Games.

The British women have come out of the Olympics really well.

Obviously, Denise Lewis proved herself to be number one, but the performances of Kelly Holmes and Kataharine Merry will also stick in my mind.

There was pressure on Denise going into the Games as favourite, which isn't easy.

She had lots of injury problems, but she fought through them all without giving up. That took a massive effort.

So many of our athletes have done personal bests and excelled themselves

  Sally Gunnell

We didn't expect Kelly to come away with a medal, and so many of our athletes have achieved personal bests and excelled themselves.

I did feel really disappointed for Paula Radcliffe, who gave everything in the 10,000m final.

There was no other way she could run the race. She went out and committed herself so early on, you just had to feel sorry for her. She deserved to win a medal.

Hopefully, some of the British performances will encourage more youngsters to come through.

I think it's really lifted us. It's just what British sport needed, and we couldn't really have asked for a better Games, although maybe we need a bit more depth.

Cathy Freeman (r) with Marion Jones

Away from the British effort, Marion Jones has come away with three gold medals, and not many people have done that before.

But my highlight was probably the 400m. We got two girls in the final, and of course, Austalian Cathy Freeman won.

I was very impressed by her, and the way she handled all the pressure and expectation.

Being in the stadium and hearing the noise for that race was amazing. I wouldn't have liked to have gone through what she did.

The Australians helped make the Games. The atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable, and I've never seen so many people at the early morning practice rounds.