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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2010/10/did_delhi_live_up_to_expectati.html
It is easy to forget as these Games draw to a close that they came fairly close to never happening at all.
Even Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the Delhi organising committee, admitted to me earlier this week that, at the height of all the problems with the athletes' village, he had feared that some teams would withdraw.
So, it's been quite an adventure over the past month for all of us involved in this project - organisers, team officials, competitors and media.
It's always difficult to know how to measure the success of any event like this. For example is it really fair to compare Delhi with Melbourne, the host city in 2006? Australia has such vast experience in putting on major events, whereas these are India's first multi-sport event since the 1982 Asian Games.
Perhaps a more reasonable question is: Did Delhi manage to do more than the rest of the world predicted?
In the fortnight before the Games began, the athletes' village was described as uninhabitable, a footbridge had collapsed, hardly any tickets had been sold and, above all, there were major concerns about security.
Even a year before, those same fears existed about security, and the building of competition venues was so far behind schedule that even some experts genuinely believed that they would never be ready on time.
Whichever way you look at it, expectations were low. People acknowledged that, as Mr Kulmadi said when I spoke to him, "A Third World Games would present unique challenges."
Now let's look at what actually happened.
Security was by far the most serious concern and I don't think that anybody who has been in Delhi would feel any more could have been done.
Wherever you look around this city there are people in uniforms carrying guns. You can't go anywhere of note without passing through airport-style scanners. More than 100,000 security personnel have been deployed. It's been impressive, and so far very successful.
What about the athletes' village? It was a massive embarrassment for the organisers that some competitors had to delay their arrival in Delhi but all the athletes that I spoke to praised it.
Maybe that has something to do with low expectations, but some veterans of past Games described it as the best that they had seen.
That brings me on to the footbridge and worries about safety around the venues. The collapse of part of a ceiling at the weightlifting arena had also raised concerns.
Swimmer Rebecca Adlington hails Delhi and the Commonwealth Games
Since the Games began, there have been no problems, or at least no injuries anyway. Yes, a scoreboard collapsed at the rugby sevens ground, but that was days before the competition started there.
Most of the venues have actually been very impressive, and, again, the feedback from athletes has been positive.
Finally, to tickets: never before have I seen such a change in atmosphere as a Games has progressed. The first few days were terrible - at times hardly a spectator in sight. But the past few days have been remarkable.
From boxing to hockey to athletics to table tennis, the venues have been packed out. If the reason for taking the Commonwealth Games to Delhi was to encourage the people of India to support new sports, then without any doubt at all these Games have been a resounding success.
I was in the main stadium with Lord Coe on Tuesday night when the Indian women's team won the 4x400 metres relay - the first track gold for India at a Commonwealth Games since 1958.
There wasn't a spare seat in the house, and the noise was deafening. Lord Coe described it to me as "potentially the moment that could change the course of athletics in Asia, the moment that could inspire thousands of people who'd never even seen an athletics track before to get involved".
That was a bold statement, but it illustrated the importance of the bigger picture. As Lord Coe said: "To build a truly global capacity in sport, you have to take it round the world - out of your own backyard. That means taking risks and facing challenges, but it has to be done."
I really do believe that Delhi has exceeded most expectations. Of course there have been problems. I said in a TV report that maybe the slogan for these Games should have been 'Better Late than Never'.
The end result, though, was well worth waiting for. Just to look at the excited faces in the crowds, to see the sense of pride in Indian success, made everything seem so worthwhile.
There's no doubt that Delhi has many lessons to learn from the Commonwealth Games experience, but isn't that part of the point of giving the Games to a city like Delhi?
Personally, I've really enjoyed my time in Delhi. It's my first visit here and it's been far better than I had expected. Maybe I, like some of the athletes who decided to stay away, had been too quick to believe some of the scare stories.
James Pearce - Sports News Correspondent BBC
It is easy to forget as these Games draw to a close that they came fairly close to never happening at all.
Even Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the Delhi organising committee, admitted to me earlier this week that, at the height of all the problems with the athletes' village, he had feared that some teams would withdraw.
So, it's been quite an adventure over the past month for all of us involved in this project - organisers, team officials, competitors and media.
It's always difficult to know how to measure the success of any event like this. For example is it really fair to compare Delhi with Melbourne, the host city in 2006? Australia has such vast experience in putting on major events, whereas these are India's first multi-sport event since the 1982 Asian Games.
Perhaps a more reasonable question is: Did Delhi manage to do more than the rest of the world predicted?
In the fortnight before the Games began, the athletes' village was described as uninhabitable, a footbridge had collapsed, hardly any tickets had been sold and, above all, there were major concerns about security.
Even a year before, those same fears existed about security, and the building of competition venues was so far behind schedule that even some experts genuinely believed that they would never be ready on time.
Whichever way you look at it, expectations were low. People acknowledged that, as Mr Kulmadi said when I spoke to him, "A Third World Games would present unique challenges."
Now let's look at what actually happened.
Security was by far the most serious concern and I don't think that anybody who has been in Delhi would feel any more could have been done.
Wherever you look around this city there are people in uniforms carrying guns. You can't go anywhere of note without passing through airport-style scanners. More than 100,000 security personnel have been deployed. It's been impressive, and so far very successful.
What about the athletes' village? It was a massive embarrassment for the organisers that some competitors had to delay their arrival in Delhi but all the athletes that I spoke to praised it.
Maybe that has something to do with low expectations, but some veterans of past Games described it as the best that they had seen.
That brings me on to the footbridge and worries about safety around the venues. The collapse of part of a ceiling at the weightlifting arena had also raised concerns.
Swimmer Rebecca Adlington hails Delhi and the Commonwealth Games
Since the Games began, there have been no problems, or at least no injuries anyway. Yes, a scoreboard collapsed at the rugby sevens ground, but that was days before the competition started there.
Most of the venues have actually been very impressive, and, again, the feedback from athletes has been positive.
Finally, to tickets: never before have I seen such a change in atmosphere as a Games has progressed. The first few days were terrible - at times hardly a spectator in sight. But the past few days have been remarkable.
From boxing to hockey to athletics to table tennis, the venues have been packed out. If the reason for taking the Commonwealth Games to Delhi was to encourage the people of India to support new sports, then without any doubt at all these Games have been a resounding success.
I was in the main stadium with Lord Coe on Tuesday night when the Indian women's team won the 4x400 metres relay - the first track gold for India at a Commonwealth Games since 1958.
There wasn't a spare seat in the house, and the noise was deafening. Lord Coe described it to me as "potentially the moment that could change the course of athletics in Asia, the moment that could inspire thousands of people who'd never even seen an athletics track before to get involved".
That was a bold statement, but it illustrated the importance of the bigger picture. As Lord Coe said: "To build a truly global capacity in sport, you have to take it round the world - out of your own backyard. That means taking risks and facing challenges, but it has to be done."
I really do believe that Delhi has exceeded most expectations. Of course there have been problems. I said in a TV report that maybe the slogan for these Games should have been 'Better Late than Never'.
The end result, though, was well worth waiting for. Just to look at the excited faces in the crowds, to see the sense of pride in Indian success, made everything seem so worthwhile.
There's no doubt that Delhi has many lessons to learn from the Commonwealth Games experience, but isn't that part of the point of giving the Games to a city like Delhi?
Personally, I've really enjoyed my time in Delhi. It's my first visit here and it's been far better than I had expected. Maybe I, like some of the athletes who decided to stay away, had been too quick to believe some of the scare stories.
James Pearce - Sports News Correspondent BBC
