It is with glowing hearts that we say goodbye to the Summer Olympics.

As Rio 2016 wraps, don't forget these Games had threatened to be a disaster.

The months before the 31st Olympiad were plagued by questions about the Zika virus, crime, corruption and general disorganization.

But after an admittedly imperfect Games, marked by green water, phoney robberies and more, these Summer Olympics should go down – at least in Canadian history books – as a success story.

Team Canada did us proud, bringing home more medals than during the London games in 2012.

For Canadians, these were not the games of ever-looming Olympic corruption or doping scandals.

They were the Games of Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse. They were the showcase of Rosie MacLennan, Derek Drouin, Erica Weibe and their silver- and bronze-winning teammates.

But we are not only proud of our medalists.

As a crestfallen Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., spoke with tears in her eyes Saturday night after missing out on a bronze medal in the women’s 800-metre race, it was impossible not to admire her dedication and drive.

As Evan Dunfee said he wouldn’t have felt right about keeping the 50-kilometre race-walking bronze medal he lost on appeal to Japanese rival Hirooki Arai, it was evident the native of Richmond, B.C., did not need a podium to embody the Olympic spirit.

Despite fair questions about the Olympic apparatus, we return to it every two years for one reason: the compelling human drama.

Athletes who toil in near obscurity for years at a time step into a global spotlight. And for a moment, all Canadian sport fans are as captivated by the 100-metre freestyle swim race as by a Stanley Cup final game. For a handful of heartbeats, our hopes rise and fall with the fate of an athlete who now serves as role model for our children and for all our amateur children.

These are the Olympics at their best. And over the past two weeks, Canadian athletes were at their best.

They have, through their actions, given us the best argument for why we should support amateur sport in Canada.

Kudos to Team Canada, on a job well done.