Steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal, Great Britain’s richest man and builder of the twisty red ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in Olympic Park, has donated $12 million to India’s sports programs.

“I’m very disappointed,” he told The Evening Standard. “We are not only encouraging individual athletes, but I think we will also inspire Indian corporations to do much more — and not only engage themselves in one sport and that is cricket.”

How long does the home team honeymoon linger?

Australia, host in 2000, will depart London with about 30 percent fewer than the 58 medals it won Down Under and, worse, defeat against Great Britain in the gold-medal contest. Early on, Australia was in danger of being out-medaled by New Zealand.

“We don’t want to suffer jokes for the next three years and 50 weeks until Rio,” Australia deputy chef de mission Kitty Chiller said.

Tough times

Greece, teetering on the verge of economic collapse, won 16 medals in Athens, declined to four in Beijing and is down to two in London. The Greek Olympic Committee told athletes that if they leave the village early, they would have to pay a $175 refund.

China’s team, funded by its communist government, is flexing its muscle with big hauls in badminton, diving, swimming, gymnastics and weightlifting. But back home, many of its state-of-the-art venues are abandoned, weed-choked, unused.

London hopes to avoid the white elephant syndrome by converting its environmentally sustainable venues into smaller community facilities. Some will be deconstructed.

“The big job is to have a soft landing from an amazing high and continue to get value for the taxpayer from what we put in,” London Mayor Boris Johnson said. “There are a lot of legacies. People are starting to think differently about East London. You can see the Stratford location really taking off in people’s imagination.”

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is hoping for a ripple effect so that the Olympics won’t be viewed later as a temporary diversion from economic gloom.

“We really want our gold medals to turn into gold for the economy — helping to boost trade and investment,” he said, estimating that the Olympics will bring a $1 billion infusion immediately, plus another $10 billion in succeeding years.

Dave Brailsford, performance director of British Cycling and general manager of Team Sky, has simpler goals. “We want to strengthen our grass-roots programs, our talent searches in the schools,” he said. “It has to be a continual process of motivating and developing kids — just like Brad — to prevent our surge from being a blip.”

Are 13 medals worth $15 billion? Are 37 medals worth the $40 billion China spent on its extravaganza?

Fool’s gold? Or a gold rush of enrichment that goes beyond the medal podium? As with any win or loss, depends on how you look at it.