Highlights/lowlights/memorable moments of London 2012: How was it for you?

[flipforsynchro]

Highlights
Mustafina and her glitter
Usain Bolt
Mens vault EF
Diving commentating
Chilean gymnasts vault running style
Chris Brown and his team winning

Lowlights
NBC being a propaganda machine and making the Russians look like bitches.
Al and co. nonstop talking about Gabby and her backstory and showing the same damn fluff piece a million times instead of showing routines
Komova ): and Wieber
Track disqualifications
The Chilean gymnast getting forth in both EF's

[millyskate]

Highlights:

GB gymnastics team and Tom Daley: mountains of expectation, high risk events and they somehow delivered.

Athletics: amazing performances all around.

The best opening ceremony ever: can't beat corgis, sheep and a parachuting queen.

Masses of spectators at the free events. Sold-out games.

The stamps and gold postboxes.





Lowlights:

The closing ceremony: boring until the last 20m.

The boxing referees and the RG judges.

The swimming and track cycling being dominated by one nation each. The swimming was particularly underwhelming.

The French press coverage: sore losers beyond what I expected (and I'm not talking about their athletes' performances, but about Paris not getting the games)

[Aussie Willy]

Highlights - in a nutshell whatever I got to see after the disgraceful coverage of the event by the free to air broadcaster here in Australia. If it was live to air it was a bonus.

Lowlight - our disgraceful free to air coverage in Australia. Remembering the jingles from the ads more than the actual events.

[Asli]

The French press coverage: sore losers beyond what I expected (and I'm not talking about their athletes' performances, but about Paris not getting the games)

Really? I bet noone else even remembers that Paris was the favorite seven years ago. Paris is my home city, but well-done to the Brits, they deserved it. Maybe next time there is a French candidacy, the President will remember not to insult two countries per sentence in his speeches. Doesn't go with the olympic spirit.

For me, the absolute high was the crowds. Of course the home athletes always get the loudest cheers, as they should. However at the Olympics you don't want a cold war atmosphere or an "us against the world, we'll crush you" mood. The crowds were fair, knowledgeable and good sports. It makes the whole world's lot of difference to the enjoyment of the event.

I loved the whole stadium chanting "We want Bolt!" at the end of the last day in athletics. When has that ever happened at the Olympics for someone who is not a home athlete?

[viennese]

Women's boxing - Katie Taylor's quarterfinal bout with Natasha Jonas was the highlight of that event.

Mo Farah's 5K/10K double.

[SHARPIE]

OMG where do I begin?

I cant... EVERYTHING was fab! Even the North Korean/South Korean flag cock up made me laugh!

Opening Ceremony! That 'gritty' Industrial Revolution bit was

"Good Evening Mr Bond"

Mo Farrah! Jess Ennis!

Clare Balding! And thanks to the wonders of the internet, getting to share her with the world


Shoot me but Spice Girls


Papa Le Clos!

Dancing Horsies!!!


FSU!!! Big love to Lorac, allezfred and everyone else who voided with me on the daily threads.


A few lowlights:

Realising Gymnastics bores the shit out of me

FSU occasionally having NO PRYDE moments and arguing with the server peeps lots




....I'll probably be back

But MOST OF ALL


London and Britain has put on ONE HELL OF A SHOW - I AM SO PROUD TO BE BRITISH !!!!!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! AND WHEEEEEEEEEEEE TEAM GB!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SHARPIE]

LETS HEAR IT FOR THE WEATHER AS WELL!!!! Wheeeeee!

After a total deluge of a summer so far, the clouds parted and the sun shone for the most part on the games!

[floskate]

LETS HEAR IT FOR THE WEATHER AS WELL!!!! Wheeeeee!

After a total deluge of a summer so far, the clouds parted and the sun shone for the most part on the games!

Seriously I can't believe how dry it has been on the whole for the games. Just saw the forecast for next week and it's rain, rain and more rain. Yep, the Olympics are definitely over now.

[Cachoo]

I think I saw these Olympics through the eyes of my nieces: the youngest enrolled in gymnastics for the last 18 months, the tweener a soccer player and the oldest who is on her school's track team. I'm not only proud of the American women but all of the women who came to compete (except Pharmalita and others poths mentioned.) Outside of the Olympics mens sports dominates so it is so nice to see the girls get their turn.

But I'm happy for the guys too and maybe most of all Mexico for winning the futbol gold medal. And I continue to believe Bolt will be remembered for so much more than his sport.

The one moment that will stick with me more than anything is that incredible vault.

I think London gave us spectacular games: It is a shame they had to end.

[pollyanna]

Highlight - my favorite Olympic cauldron ever.

Lowlight - the Games are over.

[beepbeep]

LETS HEAR IT FOR THE WEATHER AS WELL!!!! Wheeeeee!

After a total deluge of a summer so far, the clouds parted and the sun shone for the most part on the games!

Another one of my highs was the Monty Phyton skit on the closing ceremony

[rjblue]

The highlights for me were the opening and closing ceremonies, they were great.
Decent live coverage by CTV.
No scandals to eat up time that should be spent on actual sports coverage.
Usain Bolt
Women's soccer

The lowlights were so many sub-par performances from Canadians with medal expectations.
Too much Michael Phelps and beach volleyball
No Pentathlon on my TV
No live events in prime time- Yay Brazil's Olympics are in MY time zone!!1!!

These were definitely my favourite summer Olympics as far as audience, venues, and atmosphere.

[DaiKozOda]

Highlights:
- Usain Bolt - Absolutely amazing athlete with a great charismatic attitude. Got to love him.
- Russia winning the gold medal @ men's volleyball.
- Evgenia Kanaeva becoming the first ever double olympic champ in rhythmic gymnastics
- Elena Lashmanova winning gold in an impressive way @ 20km women's race walk during her first senior year.
- Alexander Vinokourov winning gold @cycling men's road race
- Clarisse Cruz hurting her knee because of a fall during the 3000m Women's steeplechase, getting back on her feet to finish the race and qualify for the final. Very inspiring reaction
- Mustafina and Uchimura - total love
- Bahamas winning the gold @ men's 4x 400m relay.
- Emanuel Silva and Fernando Pimenta winning Portugal's first ever medal @ Men's kayak double 1000m. They were so happy!
- Epke Zonderland and Fabian Hambuchen during the horizontal bar final
- Ivan Ukhov winning gold @ men's high jump.

[algonquin]

It was such an amazing Olympics that I will not bother with my highs and lows. Too many highs and the lows really don't matter. Congrats to Team GB and thank you London!!!

[skipaway]

Thank you London for a fabulous Olympics!

Highs: USA Women's Gymnasts, Soccer, Basketball, WaterPolo, Beach VB teams.
Kim Rhode's epic skeet shooting
NBC's live streaming of all the events even with the occasional re-bufferings
Shannon Miller (please NBC hire her for real)
Mustafina-still amazed she could see with all that eye make-up weighing her
Eye lids down.
Boudia's Gold...way to stand up to pressure
Equestrian events

Lows: NBC's prime time announcers (time for a change)
Fluff instead of sport
USA Men's Gymnastic meltdown
Maroney's fall

[Allskate]

Highs:

The gymnastics, especially the women. (I hope Maroney sticks around and is impressed in Rio. Mustafina, too.)

G.B. doing great in the competitions and throwing a fabulous Games.

The women kicking ass, including the awesome women who were the first females from their countries ever to participate in the Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius.

Lows:

NBC. They simply suck --except Cynthia Potter.

[allezfred]

Realising Gymnastics bores the shit out of me

I do love a good shiny bum, crap choreography and some hand flourishes, but I'm perfectly happy not to hear another word about women's gymnastics for the next four years. The endless debates were extremely tedious.

[Frau Muller]

Highlights; RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS, absolutely #1 for me! Also enjoyed Synchro Swimming, trampoline and the floor-ex of 'artistic' gymnastics.

Lowlights: The messy, loud & overly-funky ceremonies. London Brought in Da Noise - Brought in Da Funk. But how much elegance did we get? (Well, at least they couldn't "funk-out" the Olympic Hymn, thank goodness.) I can't blame HM The Queen for retreating to Balmoral and missing last night's closer.

[Frau Muller]

I do love a good shiny bum,.....

OK...but not with the 'strategic spots' in which one certain beloved gymnast applied the white chalk. I noticed that by the time the Apparatus Finals came, NBC cameras had been alerted to show this gymnast only from the waist-up, in close ups. Happily, there were far more beautiful and positive moments in her performance.

[liv]

Loved almost all of it... but swimming did become tedious, especially when it was the same winner over and over again.

You knew it was going to be great when the Queen and James Bond came together !!!!!

And to have Monty Python at the end???

Awesome Job, London!!!