{image-olympic ends_24082008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Beijing, Aug 24: The tears of joy and anguish are over for the athletes at the Olympic Games. All that's left now is the closing ceremony, which starts later this evening.

The most successful Olympic Games in history comes to a close Sunday night, leaving behind a legacy of accomplishments that would be difficult to duplicate four years from now when London hosts the next Olympics. With China spending $ 40 billion to host the Games, nothing was left to chance to make this the most lavish, most colorful and biggest Olympics ever. If the opening ceremony is a yardstick, tonight"s closing will expectedly be a memorable one, too. Songs, dances and revelry will be at the forefront of the celebration as athletes and officials co-mingle without the formality and seriousness of the opening night. The Olympics will be remembered not only for the spectacular opening made grander by advances in computer engineering, that would be hard to duplicate, for sure, but also for the mind-boggling accomplishments of the athletes for which these Games will also be remembered.

This is the Olympics where Michael Phelps delivered an achievement that is truly one for the ages, an eight gold medal haul to record the most number of victories by an athlete in a single Games.

Then there"s the sprint double of Jamaica"s Usain Bolt, making his small country a super achiever as he ran in record time to win the 100m and 200m contests.

And then who can now ignore China. Leading the medal tabulation from start to finish, this giant country with its almost inexhaustible source of athletic talent can be a force in world sports for decades to come.

More than 200 countries and 15,000 athletes gathered in this meet.

OneIndia News