Team USA's Top 10 Surprises and Disappointments in Beijing

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.

Shawn Johnson came into the games as the best gymnast in the world. Liukin topped her in the all-around, and would've won a second gold in the uneven bars if it weren't for an odd tie-breaker. If the reports of Chinese age issues are true, Liukin really earned three golds in Beijing.

As for Clay, he was a medal contender having won silver in 2004 in Athens and being the top US qualifier in the decathlon. However, he still had to overcome world record holder Roman Sebrle in the Olympics. The surprise was not that he won, but that he led from start to finish to earn the title of World's Greatest Athlete.

9. Cycling

Even though the US didn't have Greg Lemond or Lance Armstrong on their roster, they still collected five cycling medals. Kristin Armstrong won the women's time trial and half of the six BMX medals went to Americans (two bronze and a silver).

8. Dara Torres and Walter Dix

She didn't win gold, but at 41, losing the 50m freestyle to someone about half her age by only .01 seconds is very impressive, along with swimming the anchor leg for the medley relay team, which also won silver.

As for Dix, he was an afterthought in the sprints where US runners wound up under-performing mightily. He was a bright spot, surprising many to earn two bronze medals in the 100m and 200m sprints for the United States.

7. Water Polo

The men's and women's teams surprised in the preliminary rounds to make a shocking trip to the gold medal games before falling short. Both teams earned silvers after not expecting to be in the medal mix two weeks earlier.

6. Women's Soccer

Considering what the US had to overcome, this is a pretty big surprise. Losing top scorer Abby Wambach before the Games started and then getting beaten 2-0 in their opener against Norway was a bad sign. Brazil out-played the US in the gold medal game, but the Americans took the gold in extra time.

5. Rebecca Soni

The breaststroker wasn't the favorite in her two individual events. After earning a silver, she wasn't expected to top Liesel Jones in the 200m breaststroke, but did and pulled away in the last 25 meters to coast to a gold.

4. Jason Lezak

If you haven't seen the way he chased down Alain Bernard in the last 25 meters two weeks ago in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final, you've been living in a bubble.

3. Men's Quarter-Milers

Whether it was the hurdles or the run, the USA had some of the top talent in the world running on the track. They swept the 400m run (Merritt-Wariner-Neville) and 400m hurdles (Taylor-Clement-Jackson), and earned an Olympic record in the 4x400m relay.

2. Women's Fencing

The bronze may have been a small disappointment for the Team Sabre, but the American trio of Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson, and Becca Ward going 1-2-3 in the individual sabre was very impressive.

1. Indoor Volleyball

Neither the men's nor women's team was expected to be playing for the gold medal as the final weekend arrived.

The women came up just a bit short, but still were the only team to take a set from undefeated Brazil in Coach Jenny Lang Ping's homecoming.

The men's team rallied around Coach Hugh McCutcheon and knocked off Serbia, Russia, and Brazil in succession to go undefeated en route to the gold.