LONDON – There were heroes and heartaches at the 30th Olympics here. The Filipino delegation of 11 athletes never came close to claiming a medal, suffering one disappointment after another but none more painful than flag-bearer Hidilyn Diaz’ failure to lift 118 kilograms in the clean-and-jerk to bow out in tears. A glimmer of hope shone after lightflyweight boxer Mark Anthony Barriga beat Italy’s Manuel Cappai, 17-7, in his first match but the light was extinguished by Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov in a controversial 17-16 decision in the round-of-16.
Here are the Summer Games’ 12 most celebrated gold medalists.
Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprint artist bagged his second triple crown in Olympic history by repeating as gold medalist in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100 meter relay. Bolt, 25, achieved the feat despite scoliosis and quickly claimed to be the greatest athlete who ever lived. Flamboyant and outspoken, Bolt has given athletics a poster boy with his patented “lighting” pose. But International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge toned down Bolt’s brash pronouncements, saying he’ll only be a legend if he continues his medal surge in 2016 and 2020.
Missy Franklin. In her Olympic debut, the 17-year-old swimmer pocketed five medals, including four golds. She was the undisputed queen of the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events. Her parents are Canadian and Franklin enjoys dual citizenship. Four years ago, she tried out for the US Olympic team and at 13, failed to qualify for Beijing. She demonstrated what hard work can do in four years of sacrifice, focus and unflinching discipline.
Nicola Adams. On the way to becoming the first female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal, the Leeds native topped two world champions Mary Kom of India and Ren Can Can of China. She entered the ring to figure in her first bout at 13 and didn’t lace up the gloves again until four years later. In 2001, Nicola became the first female to represent the UK in a major international boxing competition and in 2007, became the first British fighter to win a medal – silver – in a major tournament.
Zou Kai. The 24-year-old, 5-2 Chinese gymnast is the greatest Olympic ever to emerge from his country. He has now collected six Olympic medals, including three golds in 2008 and two golds (men’s artistic team all-around and floor exercises) this year. Zou is the first Olympic gymnast to retain his title in the floor exercises since Russia’s Nikolai Andrianov in 1972 and 1976.
Anna Meares. At the World Cup of Cycling in 2008, the Australian broke her neck. But the 28-year-old biker miraculously recovered and took the silver, losing to British star Victoria Pendleton, in the sprint at the Beijing Games. The archrivals faced off once more in the London finals, this time Meares getting the edge after Pendleton was ruled out of the sprinting lane in the first leg. There appeared to be some elbowing between the two near the finish line but Meares was awarded the gold medal over Pendleton who announced her retirement from the track after the bitter loss.
US basketball team. They were untouchable. Coach Mike Krzyzewski whisked the US to a perfect 8-0 sweep, downing Spain in the finals, 107-100. On the way to the gold, the US beat France, 98-71, Argentina, 120-97, Lithuania, 99-94, Nigeria, 156-73 and Tunisia, 110-63 in the Group A eliminations. The Americans ousted Australia, 119-86, in the quarterfinals and dusted off Argentina, 109-83, in the semifinals. Camelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Deron Williams joined 13 other US players on two Olympic gold medal squads. The US has now bagged 13 of the last 18 gold medals in Olympic basketball and lost only once in the finals, a disputed 51-50 setback to the Soviet Union in 1972. The other US cagers were Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Andre Iguoudala, Tyson Chandler and Anthony Davis.
Mo Farah. The Somalia native moved to England when he was eight and could hardly speak a word of English. Now, he’s 28 and expecting to be a father of twins in a few weeks when his wife Tania gives birth. Farah took a pair of golds in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs. He made headlines with his sporting gesture of raising 5,000-meter tailender Rene Herrera after the Filipino crossed the finish line all alone. It also gave Herrera a lot of global publicity despite coming in last, about 600 meters off the pace.
Chris Hoy. The 36-year-old Sir Chris is in the record books as the most successful British Olympian ever with seven medals, including six gold, in cycling. He won a gold in Athens, three in Beijing and two in London.
David Rudisha. The 6-3, 23-year-old Kenyan ran away with the gold in the 8,000-meter event. London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games head Lord Sebastian Coe hailed Rudisha as the Olympics’ real star. Rudisha set a new world record with a time of 1:40.91, the first clocking ever below 1:41. “Bolt was good but Rudisha was magnificent,” said Coe. “It was the most extraordinary piece of running I have probably ever seen. It was the performance of the Games, not just of track and field.”
Stephen Kiprotich. The 5-8 Ugandan received his gold medal in men’s marathon during the closing ceremony before an audience of 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium last Sunday. He clocked 2:08.11 and became only Uganda’s second gold medalist ever, first since 1972. The sixth of seven children, Kiprotich endured a sickness as a kid and missed school for three years but managed to blossom as one of East Afrcia’s top long-distance runners in history.
Andy Murray. The swashbuckling Scotsman, 25, lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon finals last June but tasted sweet revenge in crushing the usually unflappable Swiss, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, for the Olympic gold in tennis here. Before repulsing Federer, Murray disposed of Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, 6-4, 6-1, and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 7-5. He’s the first British tennis player to win an Olympic gold since Joshiah Ritchie in 1908.
Michael Phelps. The 29-year-old American holds the all-time record of most Olympic medals with 22 and most golds with 18. In this year’s Olympics, Phelps struck gold in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, 4x200 freestyle relay and 4x100 medley relay. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps set the record for most gold medals in a single Olympics with eight. At the London Olympics, Phelps passed nine anti-doping tests. He previously signed up with Project Believe where US Olympics voluntarily take drug tests over the above requirements of the world anti-doping body.
There were many other Olympic stars who impressed in the field of competition but in terms of their impact on the Games, these 12 golden achievers were in a stratosphere that put them above all others.