Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Beijing Games closed tonight with an endorsement from the top Olympics official, China on top of the gold-medal standings and wins for the U.S. men's basketball and volleyball teams on the final day.
``These were truly exceptional Games,'' said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge in his address to the closing ceremony of the 17-day sports event at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Rogge passed the Olympic flag to London Mayor Boris Johnson as part of the symbolic handover to the 2012 host, ending China's seven-year buildup to its first Olympics as host.
France won the final event in Beijing to leave China as the leading gold-medal winner for the first time with 51. Only the U.S. or Soviet Union had won the most golds since Germany in 1936. The U.S. led the total medal table 110 to China's 100.
``We consider this one of our most successful performances in the Olympic Games ever,'' said U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr in a statement today.
Kobe Bryant and his National Basketball Association colleagues defeated Spain 117-108 after leading by just two points in the fourth quarter to reclaim the championship the U.S. lost four years ago in Athens.
`More Important'
``It is more important and more special than any championship that any of us will ever win,'' Bryant, a three- time NBA champion, told reporters.
The U.S. basketball team rallied after failing to win the gold in 2004 for the first time since NBA players were permitted in the Olympics in 1992. The U.S., which won its seven other games in Beijing by an average of 30.3 points, led by four points late in the final before winning a 13th title in 16 Olympic appearances. Argentina won the bronze.
The victory lifted the Americans to 36 gold medals in Beijing -- the same as in Athens. The 35th gold came from the men's indoor volleyball team, 15 days after their coach's father-in-law was murdered in Beijing.
Coach Hugh McCutcheon returned for the last five of eight wins as the U.S. sealed its first gold since back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1988 with a 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 win over Brazil.
``It's been a very emotionally demanding couple of weeks,'' McCutcheon told reporters. ``After we won, I had to step outside and collect myself.''
Kenyan First
Samuel Kamau Wansiru took the men's marathon in a Games record time to become the first Kenyan to secure an Olympic title in the longest distance in track and field, a year after he suffered a bout of malaria.
Under clear blue skies and with temperatures rising into the mid-80s Fahrenheit (29 Celsius), the 5-foot-4 Wansiru broke clear of two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib in the last 10 kilometers (six miles) to enter the Bird's Nest alone.
``It feels good to make history,'' Wansiru told reporters after finishing in two hours, six minutes, 32 seconds.
China got two more gold medals today as Zou Shiming and Zhang Xiaoping became the country's first Olympic boxing champions.
Mongolia captured its first gold medal in boxing as Badar- Uugan Enkhbat took the bantamweight division title for his country's second gold of the Games -- and in Olympics history.
France beat Iceland 28-23 in the men's handball final and Hungary beat the U.S. 14-10 for a record-tying third straight men's water polo title.
London 2012
The other boxing gold medals went to Kazakhstan's Bakhyt Sarsekbayev, Italy's Roberto Cammarelle and Russia's Alexey Tishchenko. The Russians finished third with 23 gold medals. Great Britain had its century-best haul of 19 golds for fourth place, four years before it hosts the games.
Former England captain David Beckham kicked a soccer ball from the top of a London bus as part of the handover ceremony after singer Leona Lewis sang ``Whole Lotta Love'' with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
Rogge said earlier that legal documents relating to an investigation into the age of a Chinese Olympic gymnastics champion ``at first sight seem to be OK.''
The IOC this week asked the gymnastics' ruling body to probe the age of He Kexin following the emergence of Chinese media reports from last year that, if accurate, indicated she was younger than the 16-year-old minimum for Olympic gymnastics.
Doping Down
Rogge also said the reduced level of doping -- down to six cases so far from 26 in Athens in 2004 -- was partly because of more rigorous pre-Games testing, with 39 athletes failing drug tests in the month before the Olympics.
He stood by his criticism of Jamaica's Usain Bolt for his celebrations after winning the 100-meter sprint in world record time, saying the 22-year-old needed to show more respect to his fellow athletes.
``I take it with a big smile,'' Rogge said. ``I gave Usain Bolt what I believe to be fatherly advice.''
One U.S. medal remains in jeopardy after the Netherlands Antilles appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the disqualification of Churandy Martina from the 200 meters final. His ouster gave the U.S. the silver and bronze.
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