More performers than you can shake a stick at

The men's marathon had kick-started the whole shebang, and the finish was spliced midway into the evening's festivities.

With Gezahegne Abera sprinting past Simon Biwott on the last lap, the crowd remembered what all the fuss was about and screamed themselves silly. It was a genuinely scalp-tingling moment.

Soon the thesps were back on top. Hordes of children dressed in white, all-in-one hooded suits appeared, looking like a cross between petrochemical workers and the Woody Allen sperm character from 'All You Wanted To Know About Sex'.

There was immediate concern. Had there been a toxic spill somewhere? Were dangerous fumes responsible for the trippy, multi-coloured spectacle that was unfolding before our baffled eyes?

No. The kids were simply there to produce that perennial favourite of the opening ceremony - the spelling of giant words on the infield using hundreds of humans as letters.

All the classic Canadian icons were present

Da-da! Four huge words were formed. Da-da! Four more!

Squinting from low down in the stands it was impossible to see what they spelt, but anyone in a passing light airplane must have had a whale of a time.

Seconds later, the suits were ripped off to reveal smiling teenagers in lurid, tight-fitting outfits.

Before you could blink they were cart wheeling away joyously, back flipping across the grass with happy abandon.

A stirring melody pumped out. "Rise up, rise up," sang the hordes, and thousands in the crowd nearly did, right out of their seats and onto the nearest bus out of town.

It can surely be no coincidence that this all came just one day after the Canadian government legalised the home-growing of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

There must be a lot of sick people in this country.

It ended with a bang, hundreds of fireworks exploding around the track into the night sky.

They were brilliant, but then fireworks always are.