In the wee hours of yesterday morning, after 17 days of triumph and heartbreak, Olympic officials from Beijing passed the torch -- literally -- to their counterparts from London, England.
It was the moment that officially closed the book on the Beijing Games and prompted athletes and organizations alike to turn their attention to 2012.
For Ron Wuotila, that's old news.
As performance manager for British Basketball, a post he calls "the most interesting, challenging and important job" he's ever had, the former Calgarian can't help but dream about what the host hoops squads could accomplish on the hardcourt four years from now.
"I moved to a country with 60 million people in it, and if you would've asked me what's the one job I wanted when I moved over here, I would have said this job," said Wuotila, who coached the Mount Royal Cougars men's basketball squad for seven years and also served two and a half years as athletic director at the college.
"And I've got it. I'm not sure how many people can say that. I'm working harder than I've ever worked in my life, but I've never loved a job more than this job."
It's been six decades since Great Britain's men's basketball team -- the top athletes from England, Scotland and Wales competing under one flag -- qualified for its only Olympic Games.
Snagging a spot in the 2012 London Games is no slam dunk, either. The men's and women's teams recently graduated from Eurobasket's second division, and need to stick in Europe's top tier to score an Olympic berth in 2012.
The centrepiece to Great Britain's men's hoops squad is Luol Deng, a Chicago Bulls forward regarded as one of the NBA's up-and-coming stars.
Bulls guard Ben Gordon and former Phoenix Suns power forward Robert Archibald will also fill key roles on the squad.
Wuotila will get glimpse of what the squad is capable of when the Brits host the Czech Republic Sept. 6 at London's O2 Arena, a venue that has already hosted a pair of NHL contests, an NBA game and a UFC mixed martial arts card.
The 2012 Olympic tournament won't shift to the state-of-the-art stadium until the quarter-final round, but Wuotila is optimistic the host hoops squads will still be in the mix.
"At that point, with the home crowd, anything can happen," he said.
