Lord Moynihan has made a shrewd decision to announce his November departure from the post of chairman at the British Olympic Association (BOA). Moynihan is leaving on a high, following Team GB’s most successful games since 1908 – and with ringing endorsements of the Games emerging from every corner of the globe.

The BOA’s lengthy squabbles with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) over post-tournament allocations of surplus cash would surely have entered his mind when he made this decision. But nothing should be taken away from a man who wants to seek pastures new after a job well done – especially as he has left his employers ample time to find a replacement.

For Charles van Commenee – head of Great Britain’s athletics programme – the situation is slightly more opaque. Prior to the Games, the Dutchman said that if he failed to meet his self-set target of eight medals, including one gold, he would quit.

Having seen his track-and-field team haul a total of six medals, including four golds, van Commenee may well have failed to reach his numerical target – but he failed to reach it in spectacular, awe inspiring fashion.

Unsurprisingly, Olympic insiders have called for him to renege on his promise and stick with Team GB. It would indeed be a boon for UK sport if he were to change his mind.

With Moynihan deciding to go of his own volition after running a great event, and van Commenee being begged to stay, the real shock is that we have reached the end of a major sporting tournament and, for once, the heads of those in charge of the British effort are nowhere near the chopping block.

That, in itself, is a change worth celebrating.

Management ups and downs

Promotion:

London
For pulling off a fantastic tournament, despite all of the setbacks and hurdles that beset the process of running such a huge event in one of the world’s largest cities. If the British public can remember this sense of optimism for a while, we’ll be on to a real winner.

Relegation:

Nadzeya Ostapchuk
The women’s shot-put gold medalist has been stripped of her title after failing a doping test. As well as making a mockery of herself and her sport, she denied newly-crowned champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand her rightful gold-medal ceremony.