With COVID-19 out of control in Sydney, millions of people in lockdown, hundreds of thousands dependent on income support, small businesses going to the wall, and growing fears of a second coronavirus recession the domestic outlook is bleak.

This has made the achievements of Tokyo's Olympic organisers in getting through the first week of the event without a major hitch all the more precious and remarkable.

While almost 200 people with links to the games - including 20 athletes - have been diagnosed since teams began arriving in the Olympic bubble, cases have been identified early and isolated at once.

Earlier calls for the event to be abandoned have largely been forgotten as the world concentrates on the impressive achievements of the thousands of athletes who have taken part over the past eight days.

Even the largely confected controversy over whether or not Queensland's premier should have attended the opening ceremony after Brisbane was awarded the 2032 games has faded into the background.

Australia's representatives have been at the forefront and, for a brief time on Thursday, were ranked fourth on the medal tally ahead of Russia - aka ROC - and Great Britain.

While we had slipped back to fifth place by Friday morning that was still exceptional given the much greater populations of many of the countries such as Great Britain, South Korea, France and Germany we had bested.

By lunchtime on Friday Australia's haul had grown to 22 medals; nine gold, two silver and 11 bronze. That compared more than favourably to the total of 29 medals, including eight gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze from Rio five years ago

Our antipodean neighbours across the Tasman were also punching well above their weight, coming in 13^th despite being home to less than five million people. New Zealand's impressive tally of six medals included two gold, one silver and one bronze.

An early highlight of Friday's competition was the remarkable performances of Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell in the women's 100 metre freestyle final with McKeon claiming her first individual gold and Campbell taking the bronze. This is said to be the first time Australia has had two medallists in this event since Melbourne in 1956.

Another triumph was Jessica Fox's first gold in three Olympics with an outstanding victory in the canoe slalom on Thursday. Fox, who had only managed to secure the bronze in her preferred K1 canoe slalom earlier in the week, had previously chased the elusive gold in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016.

The New York Post hailed her achievement with what must be arguably the best headline of the games so far: "Australian Olympian fixed kayak with a condom, threw up and won gold".

While the successes of recent days have been impressive, they should not overshadow the achievements of our athletes earlier in the week. Wednesday, for example, delivered one of Australia's most successful Olympic days ever with three gold medals - for the women's fours rowing, Ariarne Titmus's 200 metre freestyle win, and the men's fours rowing crew - and four bronze.

It is the fifth time Australia has taken three Olympic golds in a single day. The previous occasions were Melbourne in 1956, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008.

While the gold rush is expected to slow down as the action moves away from the pool over the next nine days our athletes have already done us proud. And, more than that, they have provided inspiration, hope and joy at a time when they are in short supply.

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