Vancouver 2010: Memorable Right up until the Moment We Forget

So long, Winter Games—it’s been lovely seeing you again.

Like a dear relative coming for a visit, we excitedly awaited your arrival. There was a party to welcome you back, and then the games began.

For a while we loved it. We revelled in your wacky antics. We marveled at the amazing feats, celebrated the victories, brushed off the defeats, and mourned the passing of one of the family members. You are a soap opera in the snow.

But soon, the gloss wore off. Wacky became irritating, the amazing became mundane. It’s time for you to leave. We’ll miss you, but we’ll see you soon enough.

It’s sad to say farewell to the characters that have made our brief time together such a hoot.

We’ll miss you, Johnny Weir. We’ll miss your outrageous "screw you" attitude to figure skating’s powers-that-be. You took flamboyance to whole new levels, and that’s not easy in the already-camp world of figure skating.

So long, Sven Kramer. Your brilliance and your petulance brought you into our homes. Let’s hope that you’ve learned not to piss off journos. They bite back.

Goodbye, Lindsey Vonn. The Michael Phelps of the ski slopes you ain’t—but you’ve got a gold medal, and you look hot, so you’ll probably do okay anyway.

Good luck, Kwame "Snow Leopard" Nkrumah-Acheampong. Let’s hope the leopards in China last longer than our memories of you. Unfortunately for you, Kwame, you were nowhere near as bad as Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards or Eric "The Eel" Moussambani. Although we remember the pitifully bad, the mediocre slip from our minds in an instant.

We’ll miss you, Shaun White. Your aerial ability is unsurpassed, but it’s not hard to see your medal as being bought for you by your sponsors. You did put one thing to rest, however: Red Bull really does give you wings!

So long, too, Joannie Rochette. Your story is touching and heart-warming, but it’s time for you to grieve in private

Goodbye cross-country skiers, Nordic combined, and biathlon competitors. Your feats may well have been earth-shattering, but we’ll never know because they don’t capture TV ratings as well as non-competition figure skating.

Congratulations to you, cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen. The most successful athlete at the Games, it would have been great to see you compete. Maybe next time.

We’ll miss you all—at least for a week or so, or until the playoffs start, or baseball, or the AFL, or the FA Cup, or the IPL or...

Probably the only thing that will definitely not be forgotten is the hockey. No matter who wins and who loses, the game will stick in the memory. Only the reason will change, depending on which side of the border you’re on.

Except you, Nodar Kumaritashvili. We will remember you always. You’ve reminded us of the sacrifice necessary to become an elite athlete, something that we who sit in judgement often forget in our headlong rush to criticise. Rest in peace.

So, until we meet again in four years, we bid you adieu. Remember, you’ll stay in our hearts…until something else comes along.