Golden nuggets

They had the Games first world record through visually impaired archer Im Dong-hyun,whose muscle memory they say,could help him win even blind-fold. The South Korean archery teams equate dominance,with their inscrutable faces,scrunching eyes and fancy equipment,and would be tipped to win gold,uncaring if it was won at crickets Lords or Edgbaston. Bidding Lords goodbye after the Indian archers implosion though,we moved on,presuming Korea would sweep it all. Except,Mauro Nespoli 8211; who is coached by a paralympian archer emerged the gold medal hero,helping Italy win the mens team event,with a last shot of 10. In fact,it was the US who dumped out the Koreans in the semis,taking silver,with the pre-Olympic favourites settling for bronze. The Korean contingent though,picked 13 gold,coming fifth on the medals tally,surprising even themselves.

China Mens Singles badminton

Gold won,Games lost?

Youve got to give it to Lee Chong Wei 8211; turning up final after final of big events 8211; against Lin Dan,and finishing with silver. Not even a first-game lead could upturn anything this time,though Chong Wei had done well to make it this far after twisting an ankle. The left-handed smasher toyed with the Malaysian in the second and went onto win his second straight gold. But badminton reeled under the Games biggest controversy with four womens pairs suspended for trying to lose 8211; in one ridiculous case,both teams on the court. China still went on to claim the gold,but badminton might not be a shoo in at Rio,and faces a real threat of being dropped from the Games. China,however,missed the top slot to the USA 46-38 gold.

Katie Taylor Womens Boxing for Ireland

Gold won,after 20 years

For the earliest few seconds,Indian Mary Kom would have been floored by what she saw at the ExCel Arena. A sea of saffron,white and green. Though the boisterous singing would certainly have seemed alien. It was the Irish fans who had trooped down to the venue each day of womens boxing in support of their biggest medal hope 8211; Katie Taylor. With their leprechaun hats,the Irish were the talkers of the town 8211; incessantly singing and cheering her on. The gold had come after two decades,the first since boxer Michael Carruths,and the half of Ireland that hadnt come down to London to watch her win watched on large screens. She indeed was their biggest distraction from recession.

Uganda Mens marathon

Gold won,the only one

Stephen Kiprotich,flanked by two Kenyans,will remain the best sporting memory of the London Olympic closing ceremony. For him too 8211; with a 60,000 strong ovation for the Ugandan national anthem,the only one to be played on the night besides Greece,Great Britain and Brazils for ceremonial reasons. Kenyan Wilson Kipsang led for most of the race on a hot race day,led all,except into the finish line. The Ugandan stormed past,grabbed a flag,and waded through at the finish,leaving two desperate and fading Kenyans. That single medal,not to mention the grand medal ceremony,meant Kiprotich took his country to 50 on the medals position. Five above six-medalled India.

Australia Sally Pearson 110m hurdles

Gold won,chips are down

A pool of misery for Australians who werent winning as much as they used to in swimming,and had come into this Games with severe funding cuts for their Olympic programmes. But world record holder Sally Pearson,under immense pressure to defend her reputation as the best hurdler as well as haul up Australias gold medal tally,delivered in one of the closest races of her life. She stood open-mouthed waiting for the timings to flash,and then screamed with wide open bulging eyes. Australia hung on to 10th place with a mere 7 gold medals.

Nicola Adams GB womens boxing

Gold for the gal

Team GB didnt start too happy. Their grumbling over weather,traffic,Paris not going through weather-traffic grief and costs were now spilling into Games proper when their gold medals fell in a downpour. Rowers,cyclists,track athletes,equestrian,triathlon 8211; they picked them in all sorts of sports and evenly spread over the two weeks of the Games. But the noisiest medals were reserved for their two boxers 8211; Nicola Adams in womens 51,and Anthony Joshua,the super heavy,who picked them in the last three days with all attention centred on the ExCel Arena. Adams was so dominant she shredded Chinas multiple world champ Ren Can Can. Joshua won an iffy bout,but no one was complaining moments before the closing ceremony rang out.

Sushil Kumar India wrestler

Gold lost,Silver won

Sushil Kumar came the closest to winning a gold for India 8211; Vijay Kumar trailed for silver behind the Cuban and was only fighting off bronze. Indias best ever Games haul of six medals will be much celebrated,but the absence of a gold put them in the 55th position on the table,when they could have been 41st. Count your blessings,you would say,but Abhinav Bindra has ensured that Indians dont sit satiated with silvers. The biggest heartbreak was watching Ronjan Sodhi wilt after his sensational start,and the most saddening was Deepika Kumari. The best you heard of an Indian song is the Pussycat Dolls version of Jai Ho,the national anthem never playing here in London.

Ringside view

Thank God its over

All good things must come to an end. And while you may be having your withdrawal symptomns now that the Olympics feast is over,London8217;s cab drivers say,thank goodness for that. While some people are sad to see the Olympics end,cab drivers are celebrating the re-opening of road lanes that had been used for athletes and other officials during the games. It8217;s been brutal, says Shafiq Arjaz,a 43-year-old cab driver.

Fashionable finale

London8217;s fashion sense has always avoided matchy-matchy,but the closing ceremony brought that sensibility to a whole new level. Muse was blinding in a black glitter suit,while Jessie J belted out Queen8217;s songs in a one-legged taupe glitter catsuit. Russell Brand sported tight purple-and-black striped pants with his top hat as he gyrated and sang! who knew while Annie Lennox crooned in a black lace shawl over a red Oliver-like bordello dress. Not exactly office wear.

Obama says thanks

USA President Barack Obama is congratulating British Prime Minister David Cameron and the people of Britain on an extremely successful Olympic Games,8221; the White House said. Both leaders commended the exceptional performances by both the Olympic teams of the United States and Great Britain, the White House statement says. Obama also thanked Cameron for hosting so many US athletes and fans.

Nice to work with you

It8217;s not often that an Olympic ceremony goes out of its way to honor ordinary people ,but London8217;s volunteers were a good place to start.London whipped up a army of volunteers,10,000 in all,for these Olympics,put them in goofy purple-and-pink shirts and gave them 10-hour shifts that could begin before dawn or end after midnight. But the organisers found a good way to acknowledge them in the closing ceremony. A handful of them,old,young,male,female,were brought up on the stage Sunday in a sweet tribute. Bravo,guys,bravo.

Not over for the cops

The Olympics ended without any terror incidents or disruptive demonstrations,but police say their jobs are far from over. Some 7,000 officers will be on hand to police the upcoming Nottinghill Carnival,and the same number will help secure the Paralympics,which don8217;t end until next month. That means no vacations until then. I8217;m very proud that we didn8217;t have anything serious to deal with,but that was because of a lot of hard work done by a lot of people,8221; Chris Allison with Scotland Yard said.

Heathrows busy day

Thousands of Olympic athletes have started streaming into Heathrow Airport. Some were even waved off by special volunteers wearing bearskin hats. Heathrow is bracing for one of its busiest days ever with some 116,000 people were expected to leave Britain on Monday. A special terminal with 31 check-in desks has been set up to deal with departing athletes and support staff. After three days,it will go back to its previous life: a parking lot for airport staff.

Agencies