The latest summer Olympic games are over.
China had its chance to show off to the world what it could accomplish, and it certainly was a good show.
There are plenty of good memories from the athletic side of the games.
As always, there were stories of great triumph, failure and athletes overcoming tremendous odds to succeed.
Many athletes got the medals they came for, but others were just happy to be there and compete.
And they gave their best.
That’s what we celebrate.
The Chinese, who invested more than $40 billion to create the venues, feel like they got a chance to show the world what China has become — a major international power and a modern nation.
The opening and closing ceremonies were wonderful shows.
NBC, by all accounts, also did a great job with its television coverage, using not only its major network but also its ancillary stations and the Internet.
But, even though there were promises of tolerance and openness from the Chinese, there were still examples of the government cracking down or not allowing protests.
According to The Associated Press, Chinese officials said they cotinued to block politically themed Web sites and that media restrictions were less than they normally are.
But human rights groups, according to the AP, thought China still went too far in the restrictions and that world leaders visiting China didn’t do enough to protest past and current abuses.
But, as the games ended and the “torch was passed” to London, which will hold the next summer games in 2012, there was a particular moment we think sums up what we hope the games can accomplish on a small scale.
The International Olympic Commitee President Jacques Rogge told the AP that his best memory of the games came during a 10-meter air pistol event.
He said the winner of the vent, gold medalist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia, hugged the runner-up Natalia Paderina of Russia, which occurred while their two countries’ were fighting each other in Georgia.
No, the games won’t bring world peace or solve the big problems.
But it’s moments like that that show what the games can do on a personal basis.
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