We're one week into the no worries Games

Forget the G'Day Games, a marketing phrase barely uttered since International Olympic Committee boss Juan Antonio Samaranch used it the Opening Ceremony; Sydney has turned on the No Worries Games.

No major bomb scares, day after day of beautiful weather, transport that gets where you want to go (mostly and eventually), friendly, helpful Aussies everywhere, and huge, vocal, crowds.

No Worries, unless you are troubled by "Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi" breaking out like a verbal Mexican wave whenever an athlete in green and gold so much as shows up in an Olympic event.

"It's justifiable homicide if you kill someone for doing it, mate," one Australian journalist muttered, as the infectiously annoying cheerleading rolled around Olympic Stadium.

It's like a virus. When oi becomes an oi, oi, then they're Aussie, Aussieing away in their thousands, sometimes thoughtlessly, such as when the 100m runners were in their blocks.

Rampant patriotism and would-be cheats testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs feature at every modern Games, so those are not damning faults.

Predictions there would be transport hassles, with spectators, athletes and news media hopelessly snared were wiped away on Friday, when 389,670 passengers came to Olympic Park.

They came by rail (287,893) and by road and shuttle bus (101,777), with 189,747 attending various Olympic events on athletics opening day. And out they went, without major hassles.

Morning trains left Central Station for Olympic Park every five minutes, taking about 1100 passengers per trip. It was the station's busiest day in 96-years.

In the first week of the Games trains transported more than 12,000,000 passengers. On Friday public transport made 1,918,000, an Australian record.

More than 90 percent of the original 5.7 million tickets to all events have been snapped up, with 50,000 being snapped up daily. All seats to tennis, weightlifting, swimming, softball, rowing and beach volleyball have gone.

Tickets to baseball and gymnastics are rare, with only morning session and $A455 tickets to next Saturday's finals at track and field.

No Olympic Games has ever sold out, but with a week left Sydney has overtaken the previous record - 82.3 percent - set at Barcelona in 1992.

No Worries.

Rick Reilly of CNN was effusive in his praise of Sydney.

"Let's make it official,'" he said. "Sydney is now the Olympics' permanent home. Who needs to keep dating when they have already had Cindy Crawford?"

In his midterm report in The Sunday Telegraph, veteran British journalist Ian Wooldridge called them the best Games since Rome in 1960.

"There are two common denominators: the spectacular setting, and the welcoming warmth of the natives," he wrote.

Olympic bosses were effusive too, as you'd expect, with Dr Jacques Rogge saying Sydney had a perfect score for security, venue organisation, volunteers and general atmosphere.

And the athletes haven't disappointed since the spectacular opening ceremony nine days ago. From an enthralling women's triathlon on day one, to the 100m track finals won by Maurice Greene and the dazzling Marion Jones last night, they have turned it on.

The hottest place was the pool, which tossed up Australian superkid Ian Thorpe, Dutch treats Inge de Bruijn and Pieter van Hoogenband, and the wonderful Eric Moussambani.

Eric "the Eel" put Equatorial Guinea on the map with his lonely and weary "swim" in the men's 100m freestyle heats. He became a celebrity to match those who swam twice as fast.

East Timor, who athletes are competing as individuals in Sydney, provided two of the most emotional moments at the Games.

A massive roar when its tiny team marched in the opening ceremony, was repeated today, when Timorese marathon runner Aguida Amaral ran into Olympic Stadium in third-last place.

Amaral trotted down the straight to a standing ovation, crossed the line and fell to her knees, hands clasped together. She had made a mistake, she still had 400m to run.

After an official pointed out her error she set off running, waving to crowded grandstands in which cheering people stood to applaud her, and a nation soon to be born.

At times such as those it seems tacky to mention medals, something New Zealand went without for most of the first week. Even the No Worries Games couldn't erase Kiwi worry lines.

Triathletes went missing in action, swimmers were washed away, shooters misfired, horses went lame, and injured track cyclist Sarah Ulmer lost a bronze in the shadow of the line.

For days the women's hockey team had to hold the fort, mixing gritty defence with incisive attack, until Mark Todd rode to the rescue on Friday, winning an eventing bronze.

When giant sculler Rob Waddell rowed to a gold medal yesterday and the national anthem was heard for the first time, New Zealanders on both sides of the Tasman heaved a sigh of relief.

``Kiwis Waddell out of Gold Medal Doldrums'', The Sun-Herald said. Sigh.

In all, a wonderful Games - perfect, in fact, if the Aussies would just shut up about the bloody medals table.

- NZPA