In a sort of extension of the bucket-list scenario you should never be too old for a "first" so it's been great notching up a couple today.
After decades of covering sport it was the first time I'd ever had a crowd roar at a sailing event and it was certainly the first time I'd heard the crowd sing "Rule Britannia."
Patriotic and a touch jingoistic it might have been, but it was also completely apt given that the British defending champion Ben Ainslie did indeed "rule the waves", collecting his fourth successive gold medal to go with his one silver to surpass the legendary Dane Paul Elvstrom and become the most successful Olympic sailor of all time.
A crowd of more than five thousand on the shore roared their approval as Ainslie enjoyed a "fly-past" in front of them, the applause and singing flowing out across the water.
To an innocent bystander it looked like he'd come second last in the medal race which he had. But all Ainslie had to do was finish higher than his Danish rival who he drove into last place with trademark ruthlessness.
But as he heads off to celebrate, he'll have no idea how close he came to blowing it and one day he'll thank Kiwi Finn sailor Dan Slater for unwittingly helping him out.
The Dutch sailor was looking like a possible winner which would really have spoiled the British party. But he tangled illegally with Slater and whacked the Kiwi's on-board camera with his boom to cop a penalty turn which dropped him down the field and propelled Ainslie to gold.
Slater eventually finished second which lifted him to 7th in the final standings. Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner also enjoyed second in the Star class to finish their campaign in fifth spot.
The Brits had been hoping for gold in the Star as well as the Finn, but the red-hot favourites and defending champions Iain Percy and crew Andrew "Bart" Simpson opted, like Ainslie later, to play a numbers game with the Brazilians who were their closest rivals. But in so doing the Brits watched the Swedes win the race and take gold.
Elsewhere it was a mixed day for the Kiwis but our two main medal hopes are still on track.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke enjoyed a second place then suffered a 15th but are still second overall in the 49er class, while Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie managed to redeem a poor 10th with a 4th to also lie second in the women's 470 just one point of the lead.
JP Tobin races in the boardsailing medal race but is out of medal contention. Dutch sailor Dorian van Rijsselberge, coached by Kiwi Olympic bronze medallist Aaron McIntosh, already has gold sewn up.