But the Americans did pretty well, too.

That's the perspective of the U.S. Olympic Committee, anyway, which said it was thrilled at its record medal haul and dignified performance despite some high-profile failures in track, boxing, baseball and softball. The Americans are assured of winning at least 107 medals - not counting the presumptive gold in men's basketball - which tops the 102 they won four years ago at the Athens Games in Greece.

"All in all, the citizens of the United States of America, and indeed people around the world, can be proud of our team," USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said.

Yet Ueberroth acknowledged that the U.S. must "redouble our efforts" in the next four years after witnessing precisely the Chinese dominance that officials expected.

China had won a national record 49 gold medals going into the final day of the Games on Sunday - it had 96 medals overall - while the Americans had claimed 34 for second place.

Swimmer Michael Phelps was the obvious star, winning a record eight gold medals while setting seven world records. Along with the basketball and volleyball teams - with potentially three golds among them - he helped counterbalance some of the problems the Americans encountered, such as the worst boxing performance ever and the failure to win a single sprint race on the track for the first time in history.

Ueberroth and USOC chief executive Jim Scherr also said they were pleased at fielding a clean team, something they had said was their main goal. No American athletes were among the five who were caught doping here, with organizers conducting a record 4,500 drug tests. The officials also praised China for its performance hosting the Olympics.

"They've done a great job," Ueberroth said.

mcl@sltrib.com

All in all, the citizens of the United States of America, and indeed people around the world, can be proud of our team."

PETER UEBERROTH, U.S. Olympic

2 GOLD

8 GOLD MEDALS

Stacking up

Country gold silver bronze total