Cultural pride has been running high over the last few days of the Olympic games in London. Every packed tube carriage, red bus and street corner has been revivified with colour from the painted faces or flags of patriotic spectators. From every London pub, café, bar and restaurant you can hear collective cheers when their teams compete and in every home someone is jumping up and down in front of the TV when an athlete from their home country gets that gold medal.  For anyone sucked into the Olympics, watching the Athletes compete has been nerve racking, and heart stopping with full of adrenaline-charged moments.

On the night of the 6^th of August 2012, nineteen year old Grenadian Athlete Kirani James sprinted to the finishing line in 43.94s in the men’s 400m final. For me, and my country it wasn’t just another gold medal, it was our first and we couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador for our tri-island state. Today I had the pleasure of congratulating Kirani and meeting team Grenada at the Grenada House at the Arlington Business Centre in Camden Town.

It was a beautiful moment when fellow Grenadian Margaret Noel who carried the torch for the London Borough of Ealing planted a motherly kiss on Kirani’s cheek. Margaret proudly declared that she had been following his career long before the Olympics and believed he would be the one to inspire young Grenadian athletes coming up. When I asked her what she was doing on the night he won, she shyly confessed, ‘I broke my flag jumping up and down in Grenada House! It was a brilliant atmosphere here and probably the second best place to be after the stadium when he won his race’.

It was even more admirable when Corporal Johnson Beharry VC who was awarded the Victoria Cross, the UK’s highest military award for bravery was humbled by the presence of the young Olympic gold medalist. He later admitted to me that Kirani’s presence gave him goose bumps. While the High Commissioner of Grenada, Ruth Elizabeth Rouse and special guests hugged and congratulated the athletes and members of the Grenadian Olympic Committee, excited Grenadians were packing into another room anticipating the appearance of the team and eager to get a picture with the man of the moment.

Athlete Kanika Beckles who wasn’t able to compete in the women’s 400m race because of a hamstring injury told of her disappointment, but eagerness to get back into training. Confident 100m freestyle swimmer Esau Simpson who was the first and only swimmer to represent Grenada at the start of the Olympic games and who won his heat, was happy with his personal best but plans to work on his sprint endurance over the next four years.

When asked at the prospects of a Grenadian swimming medley he mentioned a few strong talents, who if trained with the right facilities and structure could see a stronger presence in the pool for Grenada. 800m runner Nisha Bernard-Thomas, who hinted at a possible retirement to sports journalist Michael Bascombe, advised aspiring 800m athletes that they need passion and dedication to take up a sport that requires a lot of repetitive training and physical endurance. Andrea St Bernard who became the first individual to represent Grenada in Taekwondo said she was proud to be a part of Grenada’s Olympic Team, and competing heightened her sense of pride for her small island.

And that sense of cultural pride filled the corridors of the Arlington Business Centre when children, adults and elders couldn’t contain their excitement charging forward like athletes going for gold when they finally got to meet team Grenada.

As the Olympics draw to a close, we anticipate the closing ceremony and the torch gets handed to Brazil, there is a melancholy feeling among Londoners who are actually going to miss hosting the games for such talented athletes and spectators who travelled from far and wide. I am sure we are all going to miss the collective support for the outstanding athletes who made us proud no matter what country they came from.

I’m looking forward to celebrating more achievements from our athletes as the torch gets passed onto Brazil.