London wraps up a dazzling Olympics

LONDON, Aug 12:Usain Bolt made himself a living legend, just ask him. Michael Phelps swam a last lap into history. A man ran on carbon blades. Two track stars and a long jumper produced perhaps the greatest night in British sports history.Take a victory lap, London.The nightmare that was supposed to be the 2012 Olympics, gridlock and chaos Underground and overground, a city locked down by terrorist threats, day after day of gray and drizzle, simply never materialised.Instead, London threw a five-ring party."Nobody wanted to sit this dance out," said Sebastian Coe, the two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion and chief of the London organising committee. "Everybody has wanted to be involved."Or, as the stately Economist said: "Britain looked at itself and liked what it saw."The games were not without controversy. Eight badminton players were sent home in disgrace for trying to lose, doing it to gain a better draw in their tournament, but violating the Olympic spirit of competition.Organisers scrambled to sell last-minute tickets, and ended up giving some to the military, after unsightly photos of empty seats were splashed across the famously cantankerous British press. (Agencies)