Up, Up and Away

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If Europe no longer has the prestige that once came from its hefty medal tallies, it can still take delight in outstanding individual performances — smaller stories, perhaps, but precious because of their rarity. Britain, shocked by Paula Radcliffe's twin flameouts in the marathon and 10,000 m, was lifted by 34-year-old Kelly Holmes' double gold success in the 800 m and 1,500 m. Russia celebrated a memorable 1-2-3 sweep in the women's long jump, while Germany rejoiced with canoeist Birgit Fischer, 42, who earned a gold and a silver, becoming the first woman ever to win medals over a 24-year span. And a splendid moment of pan-European dominance came on Day 11, in the women's pole vault. The contest came down to five women: two Russians, two Poles and an Icelander. At one point, world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia was one miss away from being bounced out of the competition — and then she cleared 4.80 m, claiming the gold. Finally, she had the bar set at 4.91 m, 1 cm higher than her old world record, and soared over on the first try. That done, she packed her pole for the night. Her motives were mercenary — on the track circuit, she gets a bonus every time she breaks the record. "I would like to do just a centimeter by one centimeter," she explained, "because every centimeter is big money."

A world-record holder has the luxury to decide just how much glory — and how much cash — she wants to shoot for on a given night. Others have to make the most of the chance to compete at all. Coming into Athens, 86 of the 202 participating countries had never won a medal of any kind, and the loudest cheers went to those who made national history, however small or troubled their nation. Muslim women sprinters from Kuwait, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Bahrain — some of whom ran in head scarves — were treated with special reverence by the crowds. So was windsurfer Gal Fridman, who sailed Israel to its first gold medal in 52 years of competition, and whose victory seemed all the more appropriate given that his first name means wave in Hebrew. And when Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, perhaps the greatest middle-distance runner of all time, finally hauled in the 1,500-m gold medal that had eluded him in two previous Olympics, he fell to the track and bawled. His fellow runners picked him up and hugged him, then laughed as he performed a victory dance to the Zorba the Greek theme that played about 14,000 times during the Games. (El Guerrouj was more restrained on Saturday night, when he unexpectedly won gold in the 5,000 m.) Looking for villains? The crowd reserved its lustiest boos for the judges. There were questionable calls in the pool, on the gymnastics floor, in the boxing ring, on the baseball diamond — even in team dressage. Occasionally, the fans took matters into their own hands: after Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov was awarded a low score, his supporters unleashed a barrage of whistles and jeers, forcing the judges to revise his score up. He still only finished fifth.

Incredibly, the judging controversy almost managed to overshadow the Games' other scandal: the level of doping. At least 22 athletes in a range of sports, from boxing to track and field to weight lifting, were thrown out of the Games for doping-related transgressions, the most in Olympic history. But antidoping officials saw the high toll as progress in their fight to clean up sports. Said Costas Georgakopoulos, who runs the doping lab at the main Athens Olympic complex that analyzed about 3,000 urine and blood samples during the Games: each positive "means we're successful."

In the end, the host nation could say the same. Greece ended with a sparkling medal haul that included a dominant 400-m women's hurdles win by Fani Halkia and a fourth medal for weight lifter Pyrros Dimas. Though just a bronze, it prompted an ovation so loud and raucous that the other medalists had to wait an extra 15 minutes to join Dimas on the podium. That exuberance filled Athens during the Games, drowning out the doubters who said the Greeks couldn't — wouldn't — pull off this big show. They could and they did. The nation that has given the world so much drama and so many timeless tales has now added a new volume of rich, unforgettable stories: the Games of the 28th Olympiad.