A British mark we much try to attain

The crowd at The Mall cheered appreciately when Lesotho's Tsepo Ramonene crossed the finishing line in the men's marathon here on Sunday.

The reception was such a warm one that some might have mistaken him as the winner.

Ramonene finished in 85th position, clocking 2 hours, 55 minutes and 54 seconds to come in last.

The British crowd didn't care.

The weather here throughout the two weeks of the 2012 Olympics Games regularly ranged from hot to cold, but the excitement, energy and warmth displayed by the Brits for all competitors, regardless of country, sport, creed, colour, or final positions, has truly been inspirational.

Unless of course you're playing to deliberately lose your match, as the Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean badminton women's doubles pairs did at the Wembley Arena.

The spectators have been lauded by many athletes, both British and foreign, for giving them a boost.

It helped spark an incredible contest in the sporting arena, where athletes performed heroics on a daily basis.

I have been impressed, and I'm also full of envy.

If the Brits, so well-known for their reserve, can let loose and create such a unique atmosphere to help make the Games such a memorable event, surely Singaporeans can.

While it is obviously a far cry in terms of global appeal and level of excellence, our big test will be the South-east Asia (SEA) Games in 2015.

Hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010 was supposed to be one of the catalysts to elevate sports interest among an entirely new generation of Singaporeans.

But, outside of the Formula 1 race, spectatorship figures across all the other sports in Singapore still makes for desperate reading.

It's not as if Singaporeans cannot display passion.

We do show it off at the National Day Parade, which essentially is "same same, but different" every year, if you know what I mean.

National celebration

Perhaps the Singapore National Olympic Council and the Singapore Sports Council should turn the 2015 SEA Games into a national celebration, in an attempt to get throngs of Singaporeans out to the various venues.

And we have to fully embrace the Games and let our hair down, for our visitors to see that we are capable of more than just shouting "referee kayu".

We cannot let regional rivalries overpower grace, as it did after the SEA Games badminton women's singles final in Jakarta last November.

Then, Fu Mingtian had beaten home favourite Adrianti Firdasari 14-21, 21-12, 22-20 to clinch Singapore's first gold medal in the event at the Games.

The partisan 10,000-strong crowd later drowned out the Majulah Singapura at the medal presentation ceremony.

It was not good.

The Brits showed how it should be done.

They cheered lustily for Jessica Ennis and there was electricity in the air when Mo Farah finished the 5,000m here last Saturday.

They also roared for Japan in men's football and David Rudisha, the 800m king.

They cheered especially for those who struggled to finish.

It was impressive.

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt did their thing and it was a privilege to watch greatness.

But Liu Xiang's courage and determination was my defining moment of the 30th Olympic Games.

The 29-year-old, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games, ruptured his Achilles tendon after crashing into the first hurdle in the 110m hurdles heats.

He also missed out on a gold-medal challenge in front of his own fans in Beijing four years ago through injury, and tragedy struck in what was almost certainly his final Games.

Liu started to limp out into the tunnel at the start line, but changed his mind and hopped nearly the entire length of the race on his good leg, stopping to kiss the last hurdle in his lane, before hopping across the finish line to "complete" his heat.

Full of respect, his rivals rushed to support him, and the crowd at the Olympic Stadium roared their appreciation.

Our athletes will need such courage and determination if they are to make breakthroughs.

Singaporeans can do worse than to follow the example of the Brits, who turned the 2012 Olympic Games in London into a thrilling sporting spectacle.

sayheng@sph.com.sg

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