The naysayers have lost and Britain, London and sport have triumphed.
With a week remaining of more intense competition, the halfway mark has been cause for celebration among the cheering sports fans, the dedicated athletes, the IOC and Locog. Many believed the Games would be a flop. The misery brigade - with many a Brit among them - said this second-tier, broke nation in the throes of a deep recession would be unable to summon the Olympic spirit and raise its game to a high enough level.
Worse, it had to impress after Beijing's logistical spectacle. Well, how wrong the doom merchants have been. The host city is performing as well as the athletes with an exemplary performance (more or less) in traffic, crowd control and security.
And despite the pre-Games security debacle and the scandal (now more or less fixed) over empty seats, London has encapsulated the true spirit of the event, a sports competition many call the greatest show on earth.
Why? Well, aside from the spellbinding drama on the field of play and some of the greatest Olympians ever to grace the podiums - Phelps, Douglas, Wiggins, Pendleton, Ye and now Hong Kong's own cycling heroine Lee Wai-sze among them - these Games are also living up the hackneyed, chintzy moniker 'The People's Games'.
The UK's politicians, the IOC lane hogging officials and the overly imposing sponsors' logos have of course been instrumental in staging this sporting feast. But what is making these 17 days of wonderment extra special is the universal sense that the people - fans, locals and visitors - really own the games.