Battle for Australia to stay on top
It is the hangover that can last for years and is one every sporting nation is happy to endure.
England have it at the moment but it could be Australians who end up with the headache.
There is nothing like a home Olympic Games to lift a country's sporting spirits - and its level of performance.
Australia experienced the highs during and immediately after Sydney 2000. England, and to a lesser extent their United Kingdom partners Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are enjoying the successes from the London Games two years ago when Great Britain put on a great show in and away from the theatres of action.
So England head into Glasgow 2014 with the confidence to target Australia's reign as the leading medal winner at a Commonwealth Games. Great Britain won 29 gold medals and 65 overall in London and although the member nations compete as separate entities at Commonwealth level, England will go head-to-head with Australia atop the tally when the latest extravaganza opens on Wednesday.
The Australian Sports Commission has forecast 152 of its athletes to be on the podium in Glasgow, down from the 177 (74 gold) in New Delhi in 2010.
England haven't put a number up but have a raft of medal winners from London 2010, headed by long-distance star Mo Farah, boxer Nicola Adams and cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Laura Trott.
Australia's chef de mission Steve Moneghetti expects those in green and gold to face stern opposition in their quest to head the medal tally, a position Australia have held at each Commonwealth Games since 1990.
"We are going to have a challenge with the Games being in Glasgow," said Moneghetti, a bronze, silver and gold medallist in the marathon at Commonwealth level.
"There is going to be a strong representation from England, Wales and Scotland. Home Games always improves your results.
"We saw what happened after our Olympics in Sydney. Six years later we still had a great result (at Commonwealth Games) so considering it is only two years for England that is even more at the front of mind for their athletes. There are also Englishmen inspired from London and those who just missed out on the Olympics get their chance to enjoy the moment at the Commonwealth Games.
"But what I think people overlook is that Commonwealth nations now spread the medals more. So while England won't win as many medals as they did in the past, neither will we.
"For the Commonwealth Games that is a great outcome."
But for Australia, a strong performance is crucial to achieve one of the criteria in the ASC's Winning Edge evaluation program.
Australia will need to finish top of the Commonwealth Games medals tally in order to prove to the ASC that the country's high-performance sports system is working effectively.
Australia will take 417 athletes, the biggest group to leave our shores, to Glasgow. England will have one fewer.
Moneghetti said though some of the world's elite athletes would not be at Glasgow, the event remained important to Australia.
"So while England won't win as many medals as they did in the past, neither will we.""Australian chef de mission *Steve Moneghetti *
