ENGLAND TOP GLASGOW MEDALS TABLE
England have ended a Commonwealth Games top of the medals table for the first time since 1986, thanks in no small part to the inspiration of tomorrow's stars.
The likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins, Louis Smith and Mo Farah drove the narrative ahead of Glasgow, yet they were overshadowed - or in the latter's case absent - as new talent came to the fore.
From 16-year-old Claudia Fragapane's four golds in the artistic gymnastics to fellow teenagers Siobhan-Marie O'Connor and Ben Proud in the pool, the success of young English talent has been heartening with the Rio Olympics fast approaching.
Glasgow bore witness to a number of surprise successes, but there was, of course, more glory in sports we have become accustomed to.
Like London 2012, England shone in the cycling, winning a host of gold medals on road and track despite Wiggins only managing silver in the 4,000 metres team pursuit.
The Brownlee brothers' dominance of triathlon continued, with Alistair and Jonathan securing a one-two in the men's event before winning the mixed team relay with women's gold and bronze medallists Jodie Stimpson and Vicky Holland.
At Hampden Park, England impressed despite the absence of 'Super Saturday' stars Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Greg Rutherford was the only remaining cast member and did his bit, following up his Olympic long jump title of two years ago by leaping to Commonwealth gold.
England took 27 athletics medals in all - more than any other nation - as a new crop of up-and-coming sprinters emerged, such as Adam Gemili, Jodie Williams and Matthew Hudson-Smith.
More impressive still was the swimmers' success, given the disappointment of London 2012, where they managed just three medals - none of which were gold.
England claimed 28 medals, including 10 golds, with the likes of Proud and O'Connor leading the way.
Only 19, Proud took gold in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle at Tollcross, while fellow teenager O'Connor clinched an incredible six medals, including gold in the 200m individual medley.
There was also, of course, two podium-topping performances from Fran Halsall, while in the diving Jack Laugher, just 19, won golds in the 1m springboard and synchronised 3m springboard before star turn Tom Daley weighed in with one of his own from the 10m platform.
In the gymnastics, Strictly Come Dancing star Smith made the pre-event headlines but was outshone by others.
The gymnasts excelled at the SSE Hydro, where the diminutive Fragapane became the first English woman to win four golds in a single Commonwealth Games and two-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock won three golds, a silver and a bronze.
Like 21-year-old Whitlock, weightlifter Zoe Smith has been on the scene since London 2012, but these Games represented the breakthrough moment, with her back-flip after winning 58kg gold one of the enduring images of Glasgow 2014.
In the ring, there were English golds from Olympic champion Nicola Adams, Savannah Marshall, Scott Fitzgerald, Antony Fowler and Joe Joyce.
There was gold too in the badminton, judo, shooting, lawn bowls, squash and table tennis, as well as medals in the hockey, wrestling and powerlifting.
Such success saw England's athletes comfortably pass their pre-Games medals target range of 130-145. The 142 medals haul from Delhi four years ago was overhauled, as was the 165 won in Manchester in 2002. England finished with 174 medals, including 58 golds - comfortably clear of second-placed Australia.
