Inspiration can come in many forms. Achievement itself is insufficient; it becomes inspirational when courage, determination, effort and sacrifice are applied.
It is these qualities in a number of Australian team members that have made this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham truly memorable.
The performance of Emma McKeon in the pool is one of these. Dedicated and with a military-like work ethic, McKeon overcame a volley of publicity concerning her private life to win eight medals - six of them gold - to take her overall Commonwealth tally to 20 - making her the greatest Games medallist of all-time.
Then there is Olli Hoare, a young Australian middle-distance runner few people outside of the sport had even heard of. Yet, when it counted, he bettered his personal best and broke the Commonwealth Games 1500m record to edge out Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot for the gold medal.
The victory made him just the second Australian to win a 1500 event at a Commonwealth Games - the first since Herb Elliott in 1958.
He dedicated the win to his grandfather, Fred, his inspiration as a runner, who died a week before at the age of 96. It genuinely was a beautiful moment - inspirational, and full of love.
