As athletes readied for the mass frolic that signals the Olympics' close, Greece was indisputably the biggest winner here. Olympic chief Jacques Rogge has done away with his predecessor's hyperbolic insistence on declaring each Games "the best ever." But by virtually any standard, Greece would have been a contender. There were no major security incidents; the trains, trams and buses ran on time, and the international press, whose every whine can provoke a crisis, was effectively silenced. American athletes shined throughout (though China's performance presages a new sports dynasty in Beijing in 2008). Not all U.S. stars—notably the former Dream Team and Marion Jones—left happy. Most everyone else, though, leaves Athens with newfound respect for the little country that could. Greece kept its promise to thread the history of both its ancient and first modern Olympiad through these Games of a new millennium. While the Olympics will now move on, Greece forever holds the copyright.
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