The world needed them to put on a show — and they did.

These are the 30 moments that etched themselves into Olympics history.

1. Emma McKeon. Wonderfully understated. Glorious overachiever. Australia’s greatest Olympian? Not yet. Most successful? Without doubt. Impeccably cool under substantial pressure. Four wins, three bronzes. “I don’t usually say things like this but … I came here for gold,” she said. “And I’ve got, what? Four of them? I can’t believe it.”

2. Cedric Dubler. Total selflessness. He helped a mate. That’s the essence of what he did. He simply helped out a mate. “He was screaming,” Ash Moloney said of Dubler riding him home in the decathlon like a Melbourne Cup winner. “I could hear his voice bouncing in my cranium like a bat out of hell.” From Dubler: “We got him there.”

3. Ariarne Titmus. For anyone to threaten the great Katie Ledecky was incredible. For Titmus to beat her in the 200m and 400m freestyles was a spectacular achievement. “I’m over the moon,” she said early in the week. “I’m absolutely buggered,” she said a few days later. Two gold and a silver under an intense spotlight.

4. Katie Ledecky. Thought to be an arrogant American. Supposedly lacked respect for Titmus. Proved to be all class. Wrapped an arm around her conqueror. Gave her nothing but praise. Won the 800m and 1500m in a gruelling program. An admirable figure who posted a photo of herself with Titmus and wrote: “Embrace the world. #StrongerTogether.”

5. Caleb Dressel. More electrifying than Michael Phelps. When he sat on the ropes after victories and spread his arms, his eagle tattoo seemed to fill the stadium. Won the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly. Had one comical moment. Gave a relay gold medal to a heat-swimming teammate – not realising the bloke would get one anyway.

6. The hosts. Such decent, happy, kind, generous people. Example. I took a hot dog and Coke to my desk. A Games volunteer said: “I’m so sorry! No food is allowed. I am so sorry!” I went out the back to eat. She came rushing out and said: “Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much.”

7. Sky Brown. “Believe in yourself. Get out there and dream big.” Pep talks to kids are more effective when they come from an actual kid. Aged 13, she became Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist. She’s a good young soul. “I’m probably gonna party with my family,” she said. Not a chocolate milk in Tokyo was safe.

8. Skateboarding. The best new sport. Ditch surfing. Didn’t fit. Flick street skateboarding. Too finicky. The park event was great, though. Fast-paced, skilful. Keegan Palmer’s win was thrilling. The women’s final was like a pyjama party — a 12-year-old and two teenagers found the podium. Innocent and nice stuff. Brown said it best: “Everybody ripped!”

9. Pat Tiernan. Ran himself to a standstill. Fell flat on his face. Got up. Fell again. Got up again. Fell again. Stumbled home for the best 19th you’ll ever see. All guts. “You come to the Olympics and you’ve got 180m to go, you don’t walk off the track there. You’ve got to finish that race.”

10. Kaylee McKeown. Pardon the French, but she said it herself. “F..k yeah!” She’s allowed raw expletives. Because she’s had a raw deal. Her father, Sholto, died of brain cancer. She had a tattoo on her foot in his memory: “I’ll always be with you.” She won three golds. Swam like she had some help. Heck yes.

11. Cate Campbell. Did herself proud. Bronze in the 100m freestyle to ease some of the Rio disappointment. Closed out a classic relay win: her greatest Olympic moment. “I’m a person first and a swimmer second,” she said. A caring soul who’ll have a mentoring role if she hangs up her goggles before Paris.

12. Emily Seebohm. Her career looked shot to bits. Won bronze in the 200m backstroke. “A lot of people said I wasn’t going to make it,” she said. “I was too old. I needed to lose weight, I needed to look different. I lost a lot of confidence … I guess I just stuck to my guns.”

13. Rohan Browning. Fleeting fame. Great while it lasted. A cocky young dude with a self-deprecating streak. “I mean, it’s just that typical alpha male event,” he said of the 100m. “There’s always a lot of posturing, a lot of staring down … having this semi-stupid haircut, is almost like a bit of an advantage.” His parting words: “I don’t think there is an Asahi (beer) that is safe in Tokyo tonight,”

14. Melissa Wu. Unforgettable as the pint-sized 16-year-old who won silver in the 10m synchronised platform at Beijing. She’s literally five-feet nothing. Won bronze in the 10m platform in Tokyo. Her first individual medal. “Before Rio, my sister passed away. and that was really, really tough for my family,” she said. “You don’t get over it.” She’s getting through it.

15. Australia’s PB. At the time of writing, the 17 golds from Athens had at been equalled. Success bred success in Tokyo. From swimmers to canoeists to runners to skateboarders to basketballers, this was a great and likeable team. “That’s the beauty of the Olympics,” said beach volleyballer Mariafe Artacho del Solar. “You are one team. One united, big team.”

16. Peter Bol. Had a crack. Missed a medal but captured the attention. Oozed warmth and goodness. “I didn’t know if I was going to win, but I knew one thing for certain, that the whole of Australia was watching. I loved that part. I’m grateful to Australia. We inspired the whole nation. That’s the goal.”

17. Ash Moloney. Bronze in the gladiatorial decathlon. Australia’s first ever medal in an event steeped in prestige. Pardon his French, too. “F..k yeah!” he shouted at Dubler. Again, forgiven. When you’ve run, pole-vaulted, high-jumped, long-jumped and just finished a lung-busting 1500m, you can say what you like. “I just started crying,” he said. “I can’t believe this has happened.”

18. Jess Fox. Two unforgettable images. The shattered Fox after blowing the K1 final: face in her hands, shell-shocked. The overjoyed Fox after winning the C1 final: hands in the air. Tears came for hours on end. “Relief, pure joy, it’s all the emotions,” she said. Her C1 run was pure guts under pressure.

19. Ash Barty and John Peers. Their reaction to winning bronze was priceless. To the suggestion Novak Djokovic’s forfeit made it hollow, they respectfully made it clear the Serb could tell his story walking. Thanks for coming! “To contribute to the Australian medal tally, I couldn’t be happier,” Barty said. “It’s one of the best moments of my career.”

20. Men’s High jump. A tie between Qatar’s Mutaz-Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi. Barshim asked: “Can we have two golds?” An official nodded. “He is one of my best friends,” Barshim said. “This is a dream come true. It is the true spirit, the sportsman spirit. This is beyond sport. This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”

21. Tatjana Schoenmaker. Normally shy and reserved. Had a joyous meltdown after winning the 200m breaststroke with a world record. Cried so much the pool nearly overflowed. Three other swimmers swam to her lane. Group hug. Beautiful moment and photograph. Her South African teammate Kaylene Corbett kept telling her, “Amazing! You did it!”

22. Sally Fitzgibbons and Skye Nicolson. They won’t see themselves as highlights, but they were. For the sincerity of effort and response. They were openly devasted by quarter-final losses that denied them medals. “My heart is shattered,” Fitzgibbons said at the surfing. So was Nicolson’s when she sat in the boxing ring in sorrow. Why were they highlights? Because they showed how much they cared.

23. Hidilyn Diaz. The Philippines’ first Olympic gold medallist. Won the 55kg division of the weightlifting. She put her face in her hands and burst into tears. She fairly bellowed the national anthem. She’s set for life. As part of the government’s incentive scheme, she gets $1.4 million, a house, land — and a lifetime of free flights and food.

24. The camaraderie. Countless acts of soul-stirring sportsmanship among the athletes. They’ve covered themselves in glory. Example. After finishing last in the triathlon, Belgium’s Claire Michel sat on the ground and cried inconsolably. Norway’s Lotte Miller went over and told her: “You’re a f..king fighter. This is the Olympic spirit, and you’ve got it 100 per cent.”

25. Simone Biles. The great debate. Was it a choke, exclusively a mental health issue, or a bit of both? She admitted to “the twisties”, a gymnasts’ equivalent of the yips. She was brave to walk away, saying: “We’re all human.” And she was brave to return for her bronze medal in the beam. She said: “I did it for me.”

26. The Matildas v GB. As wildly entertaining as football can be. Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler and Teagan Micah were extraordinary in a 4-3 extra-time thriller. What a shame they went medal-less. Could have just as easily won gold. “This team’s special,” Kerr said. “We showed so much heart, so much team spirit. I actually can’t explain how proud I am.”

27. Oarsome Foursomes. The Australian rowers who plundered gold at Tokyo Bay. In the men’s four, Alex Purnell spent the final stages screaming at Spencer Turnell. “I yelled out his dad’s name as I know it gets him going,” he said. “And then Spencer is like, come on Raiders! Over the last 100 it was Raiders, Raiders, Raiders!”

28. Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan’s attempt to win the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m. A feat thought to be impossible. At the time of writing, it was still on the cards. “For me it is crucial to follow my heart,” she said. “Doing that is far more important than gold medals. That keeps me motivated. It keeps me enjoying this beautiful sport.”

29. Yulimar Rojas. The pink-haired, heart-on-sleeve Venuzuelen triple jumper raised in a slum. She wants to be a symbol of hope for poverty-stricken youngsters in a country mired in economic crisis. She was a sight to see. Gold medal, world record. “We raised Yuli in a humble universe with lots of problems,” said her mother. Said Rojas: “The sky’s the limit.”

30. Riley Day, Jessica Hull and Linden Hall. Three Australian women who shone at the track. Day’s story was the best. She works at Woolies. “Our very own team member, Riley Day, is proudly representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics,” her employer said in a promo. “Riley is an adored team member of our Beaudesert store in regional Queensland and is known for going the extra mile for our customers. For the past 18 months, she’s helped 90-year-old local John, who is visually impaired, with his weekly shop. She’s even memorised his grocery list and calls him on Sundays if he doesn’t turn up for his weekly shop.” More power to her – and to John.