You could argue that the Games have worked better as the laboratory, with sport climbing and skateboarding graduating from being demonstration sports at Nanjing 2014 to the full Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020.

With an eye on Tokyo 2020, the Urban Park has been one of the more interesting sites to take in during the opening week of the Buenos Aires 2018 Games here.

While it is obviously more catered to appealing to youth, it has been noticeable that the park has been filled with both colour and noise. It might not be many International Olympic Committee (IOC) members' cup of tea, I suspect, but the pumping music has given the park the "urban" feel that had been touted beforehand.

One of the best aspects has been the freedom for people to stroll from one part of the park to watch an event, before shifting to another when that competition concludes. This has surely boosted the crowds throughout the preliminary rounds of the 3x3 basketball.

The idea of giving out free wristbands, rather than tickets, will surely be analysed when the Games conclude. The wristbands immediately bring the idea of festivals to my mind, with the passes allowing access to venues. Organisers yesterday confirmed they had distributed the maximum of 600,000.

It has been a superb idea in ensuring crowds are present for every competition at the Games, but it has had the consequence of enormous queues at some of the more in-demand events, such as gymnastics and hockey.

IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi insisted that the number of queues seen at various venues was a "good problem to have". Certainly you would rather have queues to get into venues rather than nobody being present at all.

However, it highlights the difficult balance organisers are attempting to make. If you ticket an event, you run the risk of being criticised for empty seats in the event of no-shows, while if you do not have tickets everyone could be stampeding in to try and secure a space.

I wonder whether a balance could perhaps be found going forward, with a policy similar to the one used at Wimbledon being adopted. Their resale scheme allows tickets to be re-sold for a fraction of the price when people depart venues, rewarding people who have queued and ensuring a venue remains filled.

It seems likely that Tokyo 2020 will have learnt from the Urban Park concept here, as they finalise their own plans. Given that Coordination Commission chair John Coates previously stated that sport initiation events could take place at venues post-competition, it seems feasible that Tokyo 2020 could potentially offer people the chance to secure a pass to enter the park.

Whether that would involve buying a pass or being able to enter for free, with the view to securing a ticket for seats to watch competitions, will surely be an area of discussion going forward.

It has been intriguing to see how some of the mixed events have worked. I am not completely sold on the idea of mixed international teams or athletes joining together to compete as a continent.

I understand why it works at the Youth Olympics, as it achieves the aim of bringing together athletes from different cultures and encourages them to work as a team. Shared experiences and a greater knowledge of differing cultures is something that should be encouraged. The idea also allows team competitions to operate, while ensuring the number of athletes at the Games does not skyrocket.

The programme does have some elements that baffle me. For instance, cyclists do not win medals individually, but instead as part of a combined team event which sees them earn points in a team time trial, road race, mountain bike eliminator and a criterium which then forms an overall combined event total.

Whereas athletes have had the opportunity to win countless medals in swimming competitions - Russians Kliment Kolesnikov and Andrei Minakov both earned six golds each.

The Games concept feels somewhat awkward at times. Is it an elite sporting event for young people? In which case the likes of Kolesnikov, the current world record holder in the men's 50 metres backstroke, rightfully belong here and should be able to show their talents and allow other young athletes the buzz of competing against a truly world class athlete.

But if it is an elite event for the athletes of the future, it seems contradictory to allow teams like Vanuatu to compete in the hockey competition, where they have been completely outplayed. While it is important to maintain diversity, I cannot see how their women's team benefited from conceding 80 goals in five games, while scoring none.

Surely it would make more sense for them to be able to play more regionalised competitions, where teams are likely to be of a similar standard and perhaps offer better opportunities for development?

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It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the awful news of Patrick Baumann's death earlier today in this blog. While others will have better stories and offer more fitting tributes, there were a couple of stories that came to my mind.

I first met Baumann at the Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Washington D.C, where I grabbed him in a lobby to ask about rumours of a Swiss bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

He suggested that while a bid was possible, he was unlikely to be involved due to being too busy with his roles as International Basketball Federation secretary general and as President of Lausanne 2020. I therefore found it somewhat amusing in the following years when Baumann continued to collect roles, with the Swiss clearly viewed as someone who would be able to perform them skillfully and effectively.

For instance, being parachuted in as chair of the IOC Evaluation Commission for 2024 after Frankie Fredericks' departure.

Sometimes he appeared to take roles up reluctantly. I remember being told a story about how he eventually was put forward for the Presidency of SportAccord. Given the chaos surrounding the organisation, the position was viewed as something of a poisoned chalice. A meeting, where an Olympic Movement choice would be decided, apparently saw some representatives disappear under the table to tie their shoes in the hope they would avoid being selected.

An observer recalled the moment it dawned on them that it would make its way around to Baumann, and they had the internal thought "just say no Patrick". As we know, that clearly did not happen and Baumann successfully steered the now-called Global Association of International Sports Federations out of the choppy waters it was in.

I also recall, gratefully, the time when in the middle of a Lausanne 2020 press conference he gave answers both in French and English, solely for the benefit of the sole English journalist present in the room.

Colleagues have also told me about the time Baumann conducted a press conference in four languages, as well as inviting media to share wine and cheese at SportAccord Convention before leaving them with it.

Unlike most sporting officials he was not averse to putting himself in a position where he might look stupid, such as taking a Muay Thai demonstration at SportAccord. While he may also not have been the best basketball player himself, Baumann has evidently been an excellent official for the sport. Baumann showed us that you don't have to be good at sport to make an important impact in sport.