YDNEY - The final count isn't in yet (check with NBC on Monday night - or maybe Tuesday). There's probably a stray bronze or two out there somewhere (isn't somebody still playing something down in Adelaide?)
But even though the big gas Zippo is still burning inside Stadium Australia, one thing is certain: Uncle Sam has topped the medal table at a foreign Olympics for the first time since 1968, hauling in just under 100.
The Americans didn't even need Marion's five golds. They got twice as many they never counted on. Rulon Gardner, the Greco-Roman wrestler with a heart (and haunches) as big as Wyoming, dealt Alexander Karelin his first L. Nancy Johnson was Annie Oakley with an air rifle. The baseball team handed the Cubans an exploding cigar.
Laura Wilkinson, unheralded diver, found gold 10 meters up. David O'Connor won a Custom Made gold in the three-day event and Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana dug one out of the sand. Nick Hysong found one on the other side of the vaulting pole and Tara Nott got one courtesy of the doping lab. Misty Hyman swam like a butterfly, and teammates Gary Hall and Anthony Ervin cut a 2-for-1 deal in the 50.
They easily made up for the gold that didn't pan out - the women's soccer team, judoka Jimmy Pedro, boxer Brian Viloria, the men's eight-oared crew. And who knows? There might still be another sailboat race going on among the ferries in the harbor.
A sport-by-sport look at the US showing in Sydney:
ARCHERY: No double gold this time, but Vic Wunderle fired off a surprise silver and the men's team picked up a bronze. The women were closer to the mark than they were in Atlanta, but nowhere near a medal.
BADMINTON: Kevin Han, a team unto himself, made the round of 16. An upgrade from last time, but unless the US annexes Indonesia, a medal is well beyond the horizon.
BASEBALL: Maybe, as skipper Tommy Lasorda claimed, these guys could make the Fall Classic in two years. Though it wasn't even the best Triple A team available, they destroyed the Cubans for the gold medal after the collegians missed the podium last time. Guess they didn't need Boggsie after all.
BASKETBALL: Double gold ain't as easy as it used to be. The women blew out the Aussies, but the men's team is far from a Dream. They dodged a Lithuanian bullet in the semis, but easily handled the French in Sunday's final.
BOXING: Though world champs Viloria and Michael Bennett didn't make the medal round, the Yanks still won a pair of silvers - by featherweight Ricardo Juarez and light welterweight Ricardo Williams - in controversial bouts.
CANOE-KAYAK: They weren't expecting gold - but nothing? Scott Shipley, the top medal hope, was sixth in slalom and the flatwater flotilla made only two finals. Glug-glug-glug.
CYCLING: Same medal count as Atlanta for the two-wheeler set, but higher grade. Marty Nothstein's gold in match sprint was the first since 1984 and the silver (Mari Holden) and bronze (Lance Armstrong) in the time trials were a nice bonus.
DIVING: It shaped up as the first belly-flop for the US since 1912, but Wilkinson came out of nowhere to win the platform. After an anthem-free Atlanta, it was back to normal for the wet set.
EQUESTRIAN: Maybe it was crossing the dateline and the equator. Maybe it was the Australian spring. Whatever it was, the horses (and their riders) had a magic fortnight down under. O'Connor's gold and team bronzes in eventing and dressage were an unexpected payoff.
FENCING: Foiled again. The women's team just missed a bronze and Iris Zimmerman, the top individual hope for the US, went out early. What the men need is another boycott.
FIELD HOCKEY: Neither team qualified.
GYMNASTICS: After Atlanta's five medals (and the Magnificent Seven), a comedown was inevitable. But getting skunked for the first time since 1972 was a bummer. Biggest disappointment was Blaine Wilson, who left his game (but not his mouth) back in the States.
JUDO: Once Pedro, the lightweight world champ, ended up a stunned fifth, all the air went out of his teammates. No medals - and rebuilding ahead.
MODERN PENTATHLON: Not a bad effort for the men, who placed both Chad Senior and Velizar Iliev in the top 10. Remote chance in Sunday's women's event.
ROWING: No other country qualified all 14 boats and nine made the finals. But except for the pairs and the women's lightweight double, the US flotilla capsized when the medals were on the line. And the eights, the priority boats, were never in the chase. The Spanish Armada had a better weekend.
SAILING: After the worst showing (two medals) in 60 years in Atlanta, anything would have been an improvement. Four medals (including a final-day gold in Star) was a significant effort from the boat people, who are already checking out the Aegean.
SHOOTING: After Johnson won a shock gold, the markspeople hoped they'd be in for a week of bull's-eyes. Not so, but bronzes in men's skeet and women's double trap made it worth the ammo.
SOCCER: History all around. The women won their first silver medal (all that gold gets old). And the men not only survived the prelims for the first time, they ended up playing for the bronze.
SOFTBALL: After losing three in a row in the prelims, the Americans were deader than Jacob Marley. But nobody's better when the medals are on the table. There's a reason why they haven't lost a global tournament since 1982.
SWIMMING: Thirty-two races, 33 medals, 14 of them gold. Not since the old three-per-event days had the US cornered the market in precious metals. Even the Aussies were impressed. Break out those air guitars.
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: From gold to fifth in one quadrennium. Good thing Bill May will be on deck in Athens.
TABLE TENNIS: One and out for everybody but Chang Jun Gao. Can we make Sichuan the 51st state?
TAEKWONDO: Kay Poe (and selfless friend Esther Kim) was the warm-and-wonderful story of the Games. But did anyone notice that Steve Lopez won a gold?
TEAM HANDBALL: Neither team qualified.
TENNIS: Even with Andre Agassi missing and Lindsay Davenport withdrawing with an injury, the US ended up with a couple of golds, plus a bronze from Monica Seles. The Sisters Williams could be their own country.
TRACK AND FIELD: If they'd produced, the US would have gone over triple figures. But their 20 medals (and six gold by the men) were the lowest tally ever. But Maurice Greene and his fellow sprinters won the team gold for shameless showboating. When a Greek wins the 200 ...
TRIATHLON: Nice effort by the women, who placed two (Joanna Zeiger and Sheila Taormina) in the top six. The men outswam the sharks.
VOLLEYBALL: The form sheet said two beach medals from the women and a strong bid by the indoor men. The reality was a longshot beach gold from Blanton and Fonoimoana, an 0-5 week from the men and a just-miss from the gutsy women.
WATER POLO: The women, who barely qualified, were a disputed goal from the gold. The men were a one-goal loss away from the medal round. A strong statement from a program that's been under fire.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Fabulous showing from the women, who won gold (Nott, replacing a doped Bulgarian), and bronze (Cheryl Haworth). Both men made the top 12. The Yanks are on the upswing - and they're doing it clean.
WRESTLING: A week of dreams for the Greco guys, who got the gold of the Games from Gardner plus a silver from Matt (Here Come Da Judge) Lindland and a bronze from Garrett Lowney. The freestylers, who already have a pair of silvers, had four more shots at gold Sunday but all came up short.
