Gil LeBreton: London did Olympics in its inimitable smashing fashion

Gil LeBreton: London did Olympics in its inimitable smashing fashion

Any big city with ambition and public dollars can put on an Olympics.

Somewhere around the end of the last century, however, something - maybe it was all those velvet Elvises being hawked on the streets of Atlanta - made the hoary keepers of the Olympic flame realize that they needed to think grander than that.

So they looked beyond the stadiums and the promised shuttle buses, and they peered into the souls of the bidding cities.

They wanted greatness. They wanted a world-class city that would treat the Games with dignity.

They wanted a host big enough and comfortable enough in its skin to be willing to open its arms to the world.

Clearly, they found it in London.

Twice in modern Games history, London stepped forward to aid an International Olympic Committee in a time of need. In 1908, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius prompted Rome to relinquish its plans to host the Games, and London jumped in.

In 1948, after World War II had forced cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Olympics, London stepped forward as host to kick-start the Games.

"In a sense, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight," IOC President Jacques Rogge said at the Opening Ceremony two weeks ago.

London, its multicultural melting pot always stewing, knows all about being a good home.

Thus for 17 days we heard the cheers of common Londoners rain down not only on their beloved Brits but also upon athletes from every nation. We saw sportsmanship displayed in the very country that invented it.

They shouted. They sang. They said "sorry," even when they didn't have to.

To most of the world, the enduring images of the London Olympics will be the gold medal exploits of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Gabby Douglas and the rest of the U.S. women, who won and won and won some more.

Phelps came back from his self-imposed swimming hiatus to settle the argument, once and for all, about who's the greatest Olympian ever. He won six more medals here - four gold, two silver - raising his Olympic total to 22, 18 of them gold.

Just think if he had practiced all four years.

Bolt's Olympic saga, meanwhile, might even have been better than Phelps'. He ran, he broke records, he clowned with the crowd.

By the end of the 4x100-meter relay Saturday, he could lay rightful claim to the title he had applied for - living legend.

Douglas became the third American gymnast in a row to win the Olympics all-around title.

Overall, it was a good Olympics to be a woman.

The American women won 58 of the United States' 104 medals. They won 29 of the team's 46 gold medals.

Thanks to 17-year-old Clarissa Shields, the United States was spared the embarrassment of finishing without a medal in boxing for the first time in the modern history of the Games.

In somewhat of a surprise, the U.S. team won the overall medals race going away. China was a distant second with 87 medals (38 gold), Russia won 82 (24 gold) and host Britain had its greatest Olympics ever, earning 29 gold medals among its total 65.

The Games weren't without scandal. China, South Korea and Indonesia were charged with tanking matches in badminton - badminton! - so that they could have an easier draw in the next round.

China's Ye Shiwen, 16, raised skeptical eyebrows by coming out of relative nowhere to set one world record and earn two gold medals.

Quarter-miler Oscar Pistorius, meanwhile - who came to be called "The Blade Runner" - proved he could run with the world's best even though he wears prosthetic limbs on both legs.

His courageous runs brought the huge crowds at the Olympic Stadium to their feet.

And then there is Manteo Mitchell, who was running a leg of the 4x400-meter relay when he suddenly heard something pop. He kept running anyway, and the U.S. relay team safely advanced to the next round.

Women, meanwhile, competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei for the first time.

In this Olympics, it was good to be the Queen, real or self-appointed.

Amid a celebration of British music, from the Beatles to the recycled Spice Girls, the Games ended Sunday night with a dazzling flourish.

Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the London organizing committee, paid homage to the helpful, ever-smiling faces of the Games' volunteer corps.

The volunteers, Coe said, "have a right to say tonight, 'I made London 2012.'."

And it wasn't just the volunteers, Rogge noted.

"You, the spectators and public, provided the soundtrack of these Games and brought a festive spirit to them."

Any city can open its gates to Olympic visitors. But as London proved over this fortnight, it takes a special city - one of the world's great cities - to be a memorable Olympic host.

The Games, I would suggest, have never been welcomed any better.