Perhaps it was the ultimate sign of America’s athletic proficiency, or our high ideals, or maybe just our demanding nature that five Olympic medals in one Summer Games somehow wasn’t enough.
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Certainly Marion Jones contributed to the general sense of disappointment that accompanied her failure to win five golds, her oft-stated goal.
So it is, then, that despite an otherwise brilliant showing by Jones and a firm grip on first place in the Olympic medal count for the United States, we Americans view these Games as moderately rather than supremely successful.
It should come as no surprise, after all, that the U.S. finished atop the medal standings. Americans have consistently been first since the breakup of the Soviet Union after the 1992 Olympics.
That said, Americans can be proud of an overall Olympic effort that reflected a dominant U.S. team in swimming, a so-so performance in track and field and all-out disaster in gymnastics, boxing and freestyle wrestling.
In all, the U.S. had 97 medals (39 gold, 25 silver and 33 bronze), ahead of runner-up Russia with 88 (32 gold, 28 silver and 28 bronze) and third-place China with 59 (28 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze). Australia had 58 medals and Germany had 57.
While the U.S. dipped a bit with four fewer medals than it won in Atlanta, the Russian federation made a major leap with 25 more medals.
It all started in the pool, where the U.S. won 33 medals (14 gold, eight silver and 11 bronze), tying for the fourth most in Olympic swimming history. Australia’s swimmers won 17 medals (five gold, eight silver, four bronze).
The 14 swimming golds are the most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1972, with Lenny Krayzelburg’s three golds and the women’s relays leading the effort.
The U.S. track and field team had its highs and lows, winning 20 medals to Russia’s 12. The initial disappointment of Jones falling short of her goal to bring home five gold medals gave way to recognition of her becoming the first woman to win five medals (three gold and two bronze) in a single Olympics.
There was Michael Johnson winning the 400 meters and capping his final Olympics by anchoring the men’s 4×400 relay team to his fifth gold medal over three Summer Games. There were gold-medal-winning performances by the women’s 4×400 and men’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams, by Maurice Greene in the 100 meters and by Nick Hysong in the pole vault, with teammate Lawrence Johnson taking the silver.
And then there was the shocking conclusion to Suzy Favor Hamilton’s bid to become the first female American medalist in the 1,500 meters, when she collapsed from dehydration about 75 meters from the finish line and finished last.
In gymnastics, the U.S. went without a team or individual medal for the first time since 1972. Worse, the gymnasts and their coaches and administrators left the impression that their sport is in shambles because of infighting and differences in philosophies.
In other team competition, baseball’s dramatic gold-medal-clinching victory over powerful Cuba stood out, as did the U.S. team’s unexpectedly tough road to the gold medal in men’s basketball.
American women, while not quite the darlings they were in Atlanta in 1996, still acquitted themselves well. Jones’ five medals, Laura Wilkinson’s unexpected gold medal in platform diving, Jenny Thompson’s eighth career relay gold and Venus Williams’ victories in tennis singles and doubles were among the standout individual performances.
Softball’s come-from-behind gold medal and the basketball team’s dominance, particularly in the gold-medal win over Australia before a rabidly partisan crowd, were the top U.S. women’s team performances.
Women’s volleyball fared better than expected by reaching the bronze-medal match before losing to Brazil, and the water polo team got a silver in the sport’s debut as an Olympic event for women. But the U.S. women’s soccer reign ended with a stunning loss to Norway in the gold-medal game.
In tae kwon do, Texan Steve Lopez gave the U.S. its first gold medal, but the Kim Poe-Esther Kim saga did not have a storybook ending. Kim forfeited their match at the U.S. trials so her injured best friend Poe could realize her Olympic dream. But Poe lost in her first Olympic match.
U.S. boxers went home without an Olympic gold medal for the first time since 1948, protesting that holding cost them one gold and bad scoring a second, and U.S. freestyle wrestlers went without a gold for the first time since Mexico City in 1968.
In Greco-Roman, however, the upset of the Summer Games came from American Rulon Gardner, who ended the 13-year undefeated streak of Russian super-heavyweight Alexander Karelin for the gold medal.
In cycling, two-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong won the bronze after losing the time trial to close friend Viacheslav Ekimov.
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And then there was Jones, who acknowledged she was disappointed at falling short of her goal before putting her experience into perspective.
“Overall it was a successful meet for me, very challenging,” Jones said. “I’ll be happy to get home and have a vacation. But this was a good experience.”