My second home, Estonia, hits the high spots in a number of artistic fields: conductors, choirs and internationally recognised ballet dancers. But in a different arena, they really have hit the heights at the Winter Olympics.

Medals Table Fri Feb 17 - 19:08 (Gold, Silver, Bronze)

1. United States 6 3 1
2. Germany 5 4 2
3. Russia 5 2 4
4. Austria 3 2 1
5. Estonia 3 0 0
6. Canada 2 4 5
7. Switzerland 2 2 2
8. Sweden 2 1 1
9. Italy 2 0 3
10. France 2 0 2

Given that the population of the Baltic state is 1.3m, that makes 1 gold per 430,000 inhabitants, compared with 1 Gold per 28m for Russia and 1 per 50m for the USA. Outstanding!

Those who saw Andrus Veerpalu winning his cross-country skiing Gold might have noticed that there was jubilation and hugging from the second placed team members, but for the Estonian winner there was a "quite pleased" look and no hugs from team members. In the Tallinn department store, where about 20 people watched the final stages of the event round a wide-screen TV, there was a near riot by Estonian standards: some mild hand-clapping. Demonstrative they ain't.