IT WOULD have been wonderful to mark the 40th anniversary of our first venture into the Commonwealth Games with a medal in Delhi, and a gold one at that.

But, for the fourth games on the bounce, our team return home with a stack of amazing memories, new experiences and many a memento of a totally different culture to our own. But no medals.

To hear some this past week the Guernsey team have failed the mission.

Such talk grates because failure is not a word that should be associated with Commonwealth minnows such as ourselves.

The vast majority of the 42 competitors were successes to varying degrees.

It should be remembered that it is a personal triumph in simply getting selected for a worldwide sporting event that still carries a lot of clout in many of the sports the plucky and lovable Indians put on.

Sure, athletics was badly diminished by absentees, but in squash, full bore shooting and bowls the entries approached world status.

Any swimming event contested by Australia is a severe test in itself and badminton and table tennis were strong also.

Cycling still had such notables as Mark Cavendish, and they do not come much more notable than the ace sprinter from the Isle of Man which, in the sports contested by Sarnians, leaves tennis as the weakest in India, with many of the leading old Empire players opting to keep to the official tour schedules.

From our distant vantage point the Guernsey squad looked sharp and snazzy in their colourful design incorporating as it does our national flag.

The red cross with yellow cross sitting within it works well and I could never see John Bourgaize’s alternative Guernsey flag forming the basis of such an attractive kit.

What now?

Our athletes, in the broader terms of the word, will get their deserved rest.

Some may quit on what is the pinnacle of their careers, others will pull back on their commitment, while some will re-double their efforts and have a plan to be even better in Glasgow in four years’ time.

In the broadest sense this was Guernsey’s most talented squad ever to leave for a Commonwealth Games which, in itself, shows our standards to be on the up.

But the day after our squad returned to the island, it is appropriate trimming to suggest that the selection process is once again examined, because what we saw this time around was not wholly successful and disadvantageous to sports such as athletics, swimming and cycling, as well as individuals.

But, for now, it’s just great to have you all back fit and well.

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ONLY just over half of the 71 countries competing in Delhi won medals.

Those who did not make a podium included many with populations far greater than our own.

Here are just a selection who go home with nothing to show but memories:

Jersey, Malta, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, Bermuda, Mozambique, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zambia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Malawi.