We will not know until the end of next month whether the Beijing Olympics – the so-called “coming-out party” of modern China – have been the organisational triumph and successful sporting extravaganza that the Chinese and the world’s athletes and sports fans are hoping for.

If the games do fall short, it will not be for want of money – China’s total investment is estimated to exceed $40bn (€25bn, £20bn) – or effort. Beijing’s provision of the hard infrastructure has been exemplary, in contrast to the last-minute chaos in Athens in 2004 and the characteristically British disputes over cost overruns already dogging the London Olympics of 2012.