Olympics belonged to China

It began somewhat innocuously on a weightlifting podium and spiralled towards a riotous finale in a boxing ring yesterday. Over 16 action-packed days, China defended its honour with an armoury of gold as formidable as the People's Liberation Army - and also managed to clear the air. When the make-up has been taken off and the moment dissipates, as it always does in sport, this staging of the Olympic Games, like those of Sydney in 2000, will hardly lose its sheen. Amid the blizzard of daily images from the past fortnight, many forget it was Chen Xiexi who collected China's first gold medal of the Games in the lightest category of female weightlifters. Her success was to usher in a gold rush that was strictly painted in red. Zou Shimming may be a small man in the light flyweight boxing division, but his gold was received with glee in proving the noble art is far from a dying one in a land that boasts nearly 1.4 billion people. It was the first boxing gold in China's sporting history. Shimming lifted China's gold standard to 50 before he settled back to watch his compatriot Zhang Xiaoping win the light-heavyweight title. The host nation had settled on 51 gold medals before throwing itself into the closing ceremony. China's success was the first time the leading nation at the Games had passed the 50 mark since the USSR won 55 gold medals in Seoul in 1988. Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, had this to say about China's staging of the Games: "The world learnt more about China, and China learnt more about the rest of world. The IOC and the Olympic Games cannot force changes on sovereign nations or solve all the ills of the world. But we can, and we do, contribute to positive change through sport." China also suffered. Liu Xiang hobbled out of the 110-metre hurdles, prompting commiseration and much wailing among his compatriots and even condolences from the actor Jackie Chan. An outpouring of finance, estimated at more than US$40 billion (Dh146.9bn), was matched by the undulating emotion of the Chinese people. It allowed the country's leaders to shed the rigid red curtain for at least a few weeks. Images as colourful as the rainbow were eminently more commonplace than the historical connotations of Chairman Mao. Not everyone was happy, though. The US Embassy was disappointed "that China has not used the occasion to demonstrate greater tolerance and openness". But the competitors seemed to revel in a tolerant environment. Vivid characters fizzled in the amphitheatre of the Bird's Nest, a 90,000-seat stadium that was still straining in the death throes of the Games last night, and in the Watercube, the austere aquatic centre. The major successes, in terms of gold medals and a new standard for modern man, were the incredible performances of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Phelps made off with eight gold medals from the swimming pool, breaking the long-standing record of his fellow American Mark Spitz. It was said no one could replicate Spitz, but a booty of eight golds is unlikely to be bettered unless the limitations and expectations of man can be further stretched. The blue-riband event of the Games - the men's 100 metres - saw Bolt race to a world-record time of 9.69 seconds, while appearing to ease up before the finish line. Not satisfied with topping his previous world record, the effervescent Jamaican would also lay waste to world records in the 200m and 4x100m relay. The American Michael Johnson - who had held the 200m record holder since the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 - described Bolt as "Superman II". Olympics cannot afford to be cast, or remembered, solely for gold medals. They must be recalled for smaller moments that contribute to a wider tapestry within sport, and the effect they continue to have on wider society. The unrest between Russia and Georgia appeared to be ignored by competitors. The Russian silver medallist Natalia Paderina and the Georgian Nino Salukvadze, who won bronze, seemed to comfort each other on a podium after the 10m air pistol event against the backdrop of a conflict that has left hundreds dead. One can forget some of the shenanigans that occur during an Olympics, but there were silvery moments, too, and pertinent times that are worth recounting. One instantly thinks of the marathon swimmer Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who swam in the first Olympic open water marathon with a left leg amputated at the knee. Then there was the Japanese horse rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, who, at the age of 67, competed in the equestrian event after a 44-year absence. As Phelps recounts the story of his gold-medal haul, it is typical of sport that no one will recall Milorad Cavic, who finished one-hundredth of a second behind the American in the 100m butterfly. The British diver Tom Daley, 14, nicknamed Tom Thumb, deserved at least a silver. He finished seventh in the 10m platform final, but was worthy of more after his older partner Blake Aldridge blamed him for his shortcomings in the pairs. Age, then, does not always carry with it wisdom. The Great Britain team will approach the hosting of the Games in 2012 with some relish after winning 19 gold medals and finishing fourth in the medals table. Chris Hoy is expected to be proclaimed Sir Chris after becoming the first British Olympian in more than 100 years to win three gold medals at the same Games. Britain had set a target of 25 medals, but this was unheralded, coming 12 years after it won only one gold medal in Atlanta. The British must wrestle with the inevitability that the only way to go from here is down. For the British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, such a mantra is depressingly true. Radcliffe's career is decked in gold medals from European and world championships, and world records, but injury prevented her from figuring prominently. Finishing 23rd left her in the same teary place she visited four years ago in Athens. Approaching the age of 40 at the next Games, her soul may already be too wounded too recover. A plethora of failed drugs tests were conspicuous by their absence, although you had to wonder about some of the horses. The Games also seemed to bound between the sublime and the ridiculous, prompted by a nine-year-old miming Ode to the Motherland at the opening ceremony. The sport of taekwondo could be cut from the London Games after the Cuban Angel Matos opted to kick a referee. That could bury alive the hopes of the UAE's Sheikha Maitha, who intends to return to the event in London. On a balmy night, there was still time for some odd final moments. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, appeared almost regal against the backdrop of the vast crowd. Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page performed a duet while the England football player, David Beckham, stepping off a London bus, made an appearance to promote the next stop in the Olympic calendar. Beckham was welcomed with some gusto, but the Games, in which the hosts finished with 15 more gold medals than the US, have belonged to China in every sense. @email:dkane@thenational.ae