Biggest Star: Usain Bolt
Let's start with the easy one. Bolt's celebrity leaped into the stratosphere with what he did in Beijing. There were some questions about whether or not he'd actually be able to provide an encore in London. Especially after losing twice at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. He's still the best. He made that abundantly clear in London. An unprecedented double triple, giving him six career gold medals. As Ato Boldon said on the NBC telecast, "Usain Bolt is, without question, the greatest sprinter of all-time."
Biggest Disappointment: Spanish Men's Soccer Team
Spain has won the last three major championships--Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. This was the under-23 team, not the senior team, but Spain was still considered a gold medal contender in London. Instead, they were eliminated in group play without even scoring a goal. Against Japan, Honduras and Morocco!
Best Performance: David Rudisha
David Rudisha came into the Olympics as one of the biggest favorites in any event. He said his goal was to set a world record in the 800 meters. And he did it! I don't think I've ever seen a more impressive effort by an individual in an Olympic final, including Usain Bolt and Michael Johnson. Even more impressive, he ran an incredible 1:40.91 without a pacesetter. And that was just an appetizer for the people who came to Olympic Stadium to see Bolt in the 200 that night.
Best Moves: Ezekiel Kemboi
Kemboi, Rudisha's Kenyan teammate gets this award for his dance after winning the men's steeplechase. I'm not really sure how to describe the dance, but it was damn entertaining.
Most Impressive Double: Oussama Mellouli
Mellouli won a gold medal in the 1500 meter freestyle in Beijing, and took the bronze in that event in London. As if that wasn't enough, he also entered the 10 kilometer marathon swim a week later...and won the gold. Tunisia won three medals in London. Mellouli grabbed two of them.
Biggest Surprise: French Women's Basketball Team
I would say that, at best, France had the fifth-best women's basketball team in the tournament. Without question, the two best teams in its group were Australia and Russia, the silver and bronze medalists in Beijing. Yet it was France that ended group play undefeated, handing Australia its first Olympic loss to someone other than the United States since 1996 and beating Russia in overtime. (This is the same team that needed a three-pointer at the end of overtime to beat Great Britain!) And the luck continued in the medal round, as France beat the Czech Republic (which I think is a better team) in the quarters, then won a rematch with Russia in the semis. They got slaughtered by Diana Taurasi and Co. in the gold medal game, but they knew that was going to happen and were elated with silver.
Breakout Star: Chad le Clos
A lot of young swimmers had breakthrough performances in London, but le Clos might be the most promising of the bunch. Why? He beat Michael Phelps. In Phelps' signature event. In the final of the 200 meter butterfly, a race Phelps hadn't lost in 10 years, le Clos made a late charge and out-touched Phelps by .05 seconds, doing to Phelps what Phelps had done to Milorad Cavic four years ago. He later added a silver behind Phelps in the 100 butterfly. With Phelps retiring, le Clos might be the next big thing in the butterfly. Sure, he admitted to "cheating" during his gold medal-winning race. But if he dolphin kicked for too long and the judges didn't see it, more power to him. No harm, no foul in my opinion.
Best Finish: French Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay Team
This was the race where Jason Lezak's incredible anchor leg kept alive Michael Phelps's chances to go 8-for-8 in Beijing. In London, the roles were reversed. It was the United States that had the big lead and France doing the chasing. And things played out exactly the same way four years later--except this time it was French anchor Yannick Agnel catching Ryan Lochte on the anchor to bring home the gold. American media got all over Lochte after the race, but I think it was karmic payback. All the stars were aligned for Michael Phelps in 2008. In 2012, the French finally got the gold that they probably should've won four years ago.
Best Comeback: Russian Men's Volleyball
This doubles up as our best game, and it was one of the final events of the Olympics. Brazil won the first two sets in the gold medal match and had three match points in the third. The Russians saved them all, eventually winning the set 29-27 before taking the fourth 25-22 to send the match into a decisive fifth set. By then, the Russians were in complete control. They won the final frame 15-9 to win their first gold medal in the sport since 1980, when they were still the Soviet Union. (In a very similar match, the Russians also came back from 2-0 down to beat the United States in pool play, but the final was a classic.)
And finally, we have the most important category of all. There are so many candidates for this one that the runners-up have to be mentioned. Of course there's gourgeous Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice (the 2008 winner) and all of the usual suspects in tennis (Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Caroline Wozniacki, that Greek goddess Maria Sharapova). Marija Vrsaljko, the Croatian basketball player, also has to be in the discussion. So do Russian gymnasts Aliya Mustafina and Victoria Komova (and Romania's Catalina Ponor for that matter). The beach volleyball players wear bikinis, which automatically puts most of them in the running. And don't even get me started on all the hotties in track & field. It's a tough category, but there can only be one winner. So, without further ado, here we go...
Hottest: Marketa Slukova
I'm going with this 24-year-old Czech cutie. She and her partner, Kristyna Kolocova, authored one of the Olympics' biggest upsets when they beat the Brazilian team of Talita and Maria in the round of 16 before losing to Jen Kessy and April Ross in the quarters. The match against the Brazilians is when I first fell in love with Marketa Slukova. Boy was I late to the party! (I didn't even realize until after the fact that they played Kerri and Misty during pool play.) The unexpected hotness of Marketa Slukova helped put her over the top and give her the gold medal in this very important, if unofficial, Olympic event.
Joe Brackets for President 2012
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