Bermuda embarks on another Olympic campaign today as the Island’s athletes take part in tonight’s opening ceremony in London.Naturally, the primary interest will be in whether anyone will join Clarence Hill in a very exclusive club. Mr Hill is the Island’s only Olympic medallist having won a bronze in boxing in Montreal in 1976, an event which made Bermuda the most successful Olympic nation in the world, at least on a per-capita basis.There are several athletes who have a chance of standing on a podium this time, although none could be considered favourites.Nonetheless, the Olympic Games is about much more than medals. The vast majority of athletes will go home empty-handed, but richer for the memories of their days in London, performing in front of huge crowds and competing against, and mingling with, thousands of rivals from around the world.The desire to be “faster, higher, stronger” is contained deep within the human psyche, and may only be exceeded by the competitive instinct that all athletes must have. That is what makes the Olympics so special. Every four years, the world’s best gather together to stretch their talents to the maximum to determine who is the champion.In the past, this desire, and sometimes the demands of nations and governments, has encouraged cheating. It goes without saying that a victory achieved through cheating is worthless, but people fall to temptation nonetheless.Similarly, the commercialisation of all sports has changed the Olympics too, and the vast amounts of money being spent in sponsorship and the like carries its own risks and can give rise to foolishness. But there is no changing this; the city of Montreal was nearly bankrupted in 1976 when it hosted the Games, while the 1984 Games in Los Angeles made a profit through sponsorship. After that, there was no going back.Still, the Games remain an extraordinary spectacle, and the next few weeks will see extraordinary accomplishments, great disappointments and the spectacle of a world, too often riven by conflict, gripped by the spectacle of peaceful competition.Bermuda will have its attention focused on the Games, both in support of Roy-Allan Burch, Tyler Butterfield, Flora Duffy, Arantxa King, Xander Kirkland, Jesse Kirkland, Tyrone Smith, Jill Terceira and Jeneya Wade-Fray (competing for Great Britain) and to see the best athletes in the world compete.The Royal Gazette will be there too. With reporters in London and in Weymouth, we will bring you full coverage in print and online of Bermuda’s performances, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. Win or lose, it is certain that Bermuda’s team will do its best and represent this small Island with pride. And Bermuda will be proud of them. We wish all our athletes the best of luck.