The medal count is set, and the United States did, as expected, win the most overall medals at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, despite China having the most gold medals by quite a large margin.
The United States, to no real surprise, dominated in basketball and beach volleyball, winning golds in both. Michael Phelps set out to get his eight gold medals in the pool and did so setting world records in seven of his races.
But looking at the other winners and non-winners, there were surprises, both good and bad, in different areas for Team USA.
First, the disappointments:
10. Tyson Gay
The world champion at the 100m didn't even qualify for the final and went home from Beijing without a medal. He was injured during trials, said he was healthy, but didn't show it.
9. Men's Tennis
I know Roger Federer was the No. 1 tennis singles player in the world for four years, and doubles was not his specialty. It was for the Bryan brothers, but they managed only a bronze as the top-seeded pair on the men's hard court.
8. Amanda Beard
She's got a couple golds in her closet already, but her nude spread didn't help her in Beijing. She didn't even advance to the finals in her only event.
7. Ian Crocker
The world record holder in the 100m butterfly still has his world record but failed to medal and faded late in the final in his only event at the Water Cube.
6. Boxing
The demise of the sport in the USA was shown on the world stage as the only medal won in the ring was a bronze by Deontay Wilder.
5. Katie Hoff
Dubbed by some as the female Michael Phelps, she did earn a silver and two bronze in the pool, but failed to earn a gold in the five events she swam, and twice finished out of the medals. She's only 19, so I expect she'll be back.
4. Bernard Lagat
Competing for Kenya in the last two Olympics, he came into the Games as the world record holder in the 1500m and 5000m. He failed to medal in both events, and faded badly in the 5000m final.
3. Softball
The softball team had a lengthy winning streak in the Olympics and could only score one run off a Japanese pitcher in the gold medal game who had pitched about 20 innings the day before.
2. Diving
The Chinese won gold in all but one event at the Water Cube, while not one American won a medal of any kind in eight diving events. The US has gone from Greg Louganis' double gold in Seoul to no medals (in twice as many events) in just two decades.
1. 4x100m Relay Teams
Both the men's and women's relay teams dropped the ball and the baton in the preliminaries. Both were disqualified and did not make it to the finals.
Now for the good surprises:
10. Nastia Liukin and Bryan Clay
Two minor surprises that were about even.
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