The Beijing Olympics will be remembered for many reasons, not all of them good. But the spectacle of sport and accomplishment stand out above the controversy and failure.

The two most dominating performances of the Games came in the pool and on the track. Michael Phelps broke 4 world records, and was part of relay teams that broke three more, on his way to an unprecedented 8 gold medals in the Olympics. Phelps was definitely the story of the Games until Usain Bolt broke both the 100-meter and 200-meter world records on the track. Many people thought that the 200-meter record, set by Michael Johnson, was unbreakable.

China’s gymnasts and divers dominated, giving the host country reason to celebrate. Barring a gold rush by the US in the last two days of competition, China will take home more gold medals than any other nation. The US is ahead in the total medal tally. With the men’s 10-meter platform diving finals, China has a chance to go 8-for-8 in diving. That is an unprecedented feat.

There were a few upsets, the most surprising being the Japanese win over the US in women’s softball. The dominant US couldn’t get it done and there will be no “next time” for them either since softball is out of the Games in 2012.

After disappointing silver in the team competition, the US women dominated in gymnastics thanks to Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. Liukin won gold and Johnson silver in the all around. The US was on the podium for every medal ceremony except for the vault.

Beijing’s pollution came into play a couple of times, but was vastly improved from earlier in the year. Heavy rains brought relief from the smog and heat on multiple occasions.

Surprisingly, there were few doping controversies, with most medal winners able to stay out of trouble, at least for the time being.