In the moments after an Olympic gold medal win, athletes radiate with emotion.
Silver and bronze medalists sometimes show these joyful feelings, too.
If you're tuned into these emotions, you can bask in them. They swirl and flow through the body and mind, offering a share in sweet, patriotic victories.
These athletes emit a heady mix of euphoria and relief. Sometimes we see big smiles, other times tears. Sometimes both.
Years of sacrifice and commitment are written across their faces.
The Olympics are the summit of sporting agony and ecstasy. These highs and lows take us, the audience, along on a wild ride.
At these Games, we've experienced the jubilation of Ariarne Titmus's remarkable victories in the 200m and 400m freestyle.
We've felt the deflating disappointment and emptiness - distinct on Seven's broadcast - when Jessica Fox took bronze instead of gold in the K1 canoe slalom. On Thursday, she clinched that elusive gold in the C1 canoe slalom, punching the air as tears flowed. Her calm dad, Richard Fox, co-commentating for Seven, said simply: "That's beautiful," before shedding tears himself.
We sympathised with a teary Skye Nicolson, after she bowed out in the female boxing quarter finals.
"I came here with one goal and that was a gold medal and I truly believed that I was going to win it. So to go out now is really, really hard for me," she said.
When a reporter tried to console her, saying she remained Australia's most successful female boxer at the Olympics, she said that "means nothing to me".
At home in our lounge rooms and on our devices, we ride the ups and downs as if we're in the rapids, boxing ring and pool.
The swimming races, when they're close, are exhilarating. The female swimmers, in particular, gleam and shine after a race. With caps hiding their hair, their infectious smiles become more prominent.
The male swimmers are a different breed. They might punch the air and grit their teeth, letting out some deep emotion that's been building for months and years. Others flash a smile, usually a brief one.
For some swimmers, male or female, it's simply job done with no time to celebrate.
The focus switches to the next race, where another shot at glory awaits.
Australia's golden waves of ecstasy returned dramatically on Thursday, when Izaac Stubblety-Cook took gold in the 200-metre breaststroke.
His come-from-behind win was, as Ian Thorpe said, "amazing".
The athletes and the commentators are big characters in the Olympic sporting narrative - while the parents play the support act they've been playing for years.
Straight after the race, Channel 7 switched to mum Julie Stubblety-Cook.
"I am so happy for him after all that hard work and dedication," she said.
As he took in his victory, Izaac allowed himself a satisfied smile. But once he hopped out of the pool, he was cool as a cucumber.
When the poolside reporter asked him about "coming home like a train", Izaac replied nonchalantly: "It made it entertaining, right?".
Such fine margins are involved, as we saw with Kyle Chalmers' silver-medal swim in the 100m freestyle. American Caeleb Dressel beat Chalmers by 0.06 of a second. Dressel's beaming smile was a beautiful sight, despite the Aussie finishing second.
"I did everything I could to do it for my country," Chalmers said, summing up the role of the Olympic athlete perfectly.
