Britain is living through an unparalleled era of Olympic success. As recently as Atlanta 1996, the team mustered just one solitary gold, thanks to Steve Redgrave and his crew-mates in the coxless four. From 2012, they have hit 29, 27 and 22, with every chance of a fourth straight 20-plus haul in Paris. What renders this latest instalment so memorable for a home audience is the proximity. In Rio, the finest moments were late at night. In Tokyo, they arrived before most had woken. This time, they are all unfolding in an adjacent time zone, creating a daily fix of dawn-’til-dusk exhilaration.

Paris represents a true cordon bleu Olympics, a refreshingly extravagant counterpoint to the ghostly voids of Tokyo during a pandemic. In 2021, the golds were mixed in with anxieties about which athlete would be the next to test positive for Covid from the daily saliva tests. Now, Britain can experience the Games as they were meant to be savoured – with crowds, without nasal swabs, and with almost every victory framed against the world’s most sumptuous cityscape.

Logic would suggest that this golden start cannot possibly last. The timeless vagaries of sport would indicate that sooner or later, the photo-finishes and breathless late dashes will stop going Britain’s way. But this coldly rational thinking dissolves once Olympic fever truly sets in. The mind begins drifting to the second week – where Keely Hodgkinson, Josh Kerr, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Molly Caudery all have outstanding chances for gold in athletics – and wondering if we are about to witness an Olympics for the ages.

Perhaps such optimism is wildly premature. Perhaps it is rooted in nostalgia for London 12 years ago and all that “Super Saturday” euphoria. But what better time could there be to ride the wave? After all, this team are not just giving priceless lessons in courage and resilience. They are also offering an enraptured nation a licence to dream.