From one Olympic city to another: Well done, London.

And well done, one and all.

Was it only a couple of weeks ago that Mitt Romney was openly worrying that the London Olympics weren't ready? And, of course, the final preparations for any event of that size can look, even to an expert, like an impossible snarl of logistics and details, just waiting to collapse due to the failure of its weakest link.

And, though we take exception to the suggestion by Prime Minister David Cameron that Salt Lake City in any way resembles "the middle of nowhere," the P.M. was correct to suggest that the degree of difficulty in staging the event in such an already bustling city is, indeed, greater.

But the Londoners pulled out all the stops. They began with Paul McCartney, ended with John Lennon, and, in between, mounted a world gathering that succeeded as spectacle and as sport.

It was an Olympics that could please the patriotic American — as our nation led the medal count in golds, with 46, and total medals, with 104 — and a cosmopolitan sports lover — as 85 nations won at least one medal and 54 nations carried home at least one gold. Seven nations won their first-ever Olympic medals. And host nation Great Britain, with 65 total medals and 29 gold medals, had its best return on investment in more than 100 years.

Americans could revel in such glories as their women's soccer team, swimmers, gymnasts and the record-shattering women's 4x100 relay team. The USA men's basketball team held on to win another gold medal, in a tournament that showed not so much that the cream of the NBA is vulnerable as it demonstrated that basketball is a truly global sport with tough competitors everywhere you look.

Meanwhile, Jamaican Usain Bolt once again lived up to his last name by winning three sprint gold medals for the second Olympics in a row.

It is notable, too, that most of the controversy surrounding the games centered on the coverage provided by NBC and, to a lesser extent, on the eccentricities of the opening and closing ceremonies.

Other than a few questionable calls by officials and a one-day scandal involving some allegedly thrown matches in badminton, the London Olympics were mostly free of such distractions. No reports of crooked or vote-swapping judges. As of Monday, only one medal taken away due to a failed drug test. A glorious experience all around.

Now, on to Rio.