Fun finale

Good Japan.

Far more appreciated in Japan than America.

The Japanese team had a good showing overall. Great match in the women's soccer final and a good run by the men's team.

Wolfpack, the Japanese team was probably the most under-performing at this year's games.

Wolfpack, the Japanese team was probably the most under-performing at this year's games.

Really? Sure they under-preformed in a few sports that they usually excel in like Judo. However, they finished 6th overall in total medals ahead of France, Australia, Italy, and South Korea. They out performed every European country except for a few. Pretty good in my book.

However, they finished 6th overall in total medals ahead of France, Australia, Italy, and South Korea.

I see where you are coming from - but sadly the "overall medals" count does not really mean that much. The medal tally is based on gold, for better or worse. As much as I'd like to say us Aussies and Japanese bossed the Koreans by beating them in the medal tally overall - their mob brought back an amazing 13 gold - which is an awesome achievement.

Wolfpack, the Japanese team was probably the most under-performing at this year's games.

We shouldn't generalise. Yes - their Judo players have gone backwards for example, but their wrestlers are shocking the world these days.

Overall medals? We can't just use whatever quota we want to measure success. Seven gold medals is extremely dismal for a country of 127 million people that all have the opportunity to play sports as children.

Jonathan, Japan got a gold medal in boxing for the first time in 48 years. The women's table tennis team got their first ever medal. Men's wrestling - first gold in 24 years. Women's volleyball - first medal in 28 years. Men's fencing team - first ever medal. I could go on, but you get the point. Japan under-performed in one sport : Judo. They had a lot of success in other events.

Well done Japan!

great effort team you did well

Well done Japan but shame to NHK for messing up this whole finale with comments. Shows no respect towards artists!

Foxie, I have to agree, but I think broadcasts in other countries would probably be the same. You have to remember that the Japanese audience doesn't recognize a lot of the music and entertainers. At least they kept their comments short for the most part. It's much better than NBC cutting part of the opening ceremony to run a videotaped interview with Mark Phelps. A lot of Americans were angry about that. I do wish they would broadcast it with the comments on one channel and no-comments on the other channel. That would have pleased all. Congrats to the Japan team, and to all the other teams. Despite a few judging controversies it was a great Olympics overall. London, and England, you did a great job!

As for the other medal counts, debate still is it better to win more medals or win more golds? Britain has 5 more golds than Russia (29 vs 24) but a lot less medals (65 vs 82); Korea 2 more golds than Germany (13 vs 11) but 16 less medals (28 vs 44); Japan 1 less gold than Hungary (7 vs 8) but many more medals (38 vs 17).

Compared to 4 years ago in Asia, Japan is down 2 golds and South Korea down 2 medals, but Japan went up a whopping 14 medals, farther from home. If we take gold=3pts silver=2pts bronze=1pt, would that mean Japan (66 pts) had more success than South Korea (62 pts) this time around?

If we take gold=3pts silver=2pts bronze=1pt, would that mean Japan (66 pts) had more success than South Korea (62 pts) this time around

No, because all that counts is the official medal table. GB finished 3rd, South Korea 5th and Japan 11th.

If we take gold=3pts silver=2pts bronze=1pt, would that mean Japan (66 pts) had more success than South Korea (62 pts) this time around?

Then you'd also have to account for the amount of population. See medals per capita:

http://www.medalspercapita.com

Looks like a lot of fun. Congrats to everyone. As for the official medal table, here it is according to Yahoo sports:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/medals.html

If we take gold=3pts silver=2pts bronze=1pt, would that mean Japan (66 pts) had more success than South Korea (62 pts) this time around

No, because all that counts is the official medal table. GB finished 3rd, South Korea 5th and Japan 11th.

So supposedly, a delegation that sends only 1 athlete but earns silver is weighted more than a delegation that sends 100 athletes who all earn bronzes..................

Anyways, there are other ways to look at it too. Such as many sports have limits on how many participants a country can send per sport, so that limits somewhat the population factor. Say a limit of 2, a delegation that has the Top 100 athletes in a sport can only gain 2 medals max, while another delegation's 101st-ranked athlete can earn the 3rd medal - but is the 3rd medal deserved..........

did anyone else notice that the spice girls were playing the closure? they still look hot even after all those years :)

Guza, -did anyone else notice that the spice girls were playing the closure?- LOL, That is the joke of the day! They were the highlight of the closure, known months ago!