Take a Bow, London

The Sydney Games are widely considered the gold standard of Olympics. Magnificently staged, perfectly run.

I wasn’t at Sydney but I will take the veterans’ word for it.

We media types judge the Games less on the athletic performances (they stand on their own) and more on the experience covering them.

In the five Games I have attended, you can’t beat Beijing for sheer organization. It ran like clockwork. The venues were great and were finished way ahead of schedule. Transportation was flawless. If you want to make sure a colossal event like this comes off without a hitch, let the communists do it.

But what Beijing lacked was soul. It was antiseptic and inauthentic. What made its Opening Ceremony so spectacular — thousands of perfectly compliant performers — was also what made the Games unnatural.

They did their best to keep us in a bubble, not wanting us to wander off and discover any of the warts. We did of course, which made it a richer experience. My most memorable night was during the Closing Ceremony when a few of us ventured to one of the last remaining hutongs in Beijing. Neighborhoods of low-slung houses and alleyways; the way many Beijingers lived before the neighborhoods were flattened to build the Olympics. We ate at a Szechuan restaurant there that was one of the highlights of my trip.

Turin may always be my favorite Games. It was the first Olympics where I had an all-access credential. For a kid who grew up loving to watch the Games on TV, being able to watch live any event you wanted to is pretty heavenly.

And I also became pretty enamored with Italy: the food, the piazzas, their way of life. Since visiting there last fall, Anne has become equally smitten.

Which brings me to London, which has come dangerously close to surpassing Turin as my favorite. Mostly for the sheer joy of it all.

Anne visited London years ago and has always told me I would love it here. She knows me pretty well.

London is great whether there are Olympics here or not, but the Games felt like part of the city, despite the fact that most of the venues were outside Central London. It was organic in a way that Beijing never was.

Right from the Opening Ceremony to the Closing it was a sheer delight. And for two weeks at least, even the Brits traded in their stiff upper lips for unmitigated smiles. No easy task, i understand.

In the tube, there were actually conversations among British strangers.

And speaking of smiles, Leah and her Gamesmaker volunteers were indispensable. There was one (or 10) at every turn, willing to help.

The sights, the city, the people, the pubs and the Games themselves made this all a personal highlight reel.

Here are a few:

FAVORITE EVENT (PROFESSIONAL): Women’s soccer final. The game was exciting and the crowd was electric. I managed to talk my way into the TV gantry high up in the stadium. Not the perfect spot for pictures of goal-scoring jubilation, but perfect for taking pictures to use in graphics explaining how plays were set up and executed. Click here for that graphic

FAVORITE EVENT (PERSONAL): Diving. We are supposed to remain neutral. “No cheering in the press box” the old saying goes. And that is usually a pretty easy rule to follow. But I must admit I was secretly cheering on the U.S. divers, having come to know many of them and their coaches. They were a huge help in doing our diving motion capture interactive (this one). So when they won three medals in the first few days, it was nice to see how exited they all were, having not won a medal since Sydney.

It was that interest in the fortunes of the diving team that led me to the 10-meter final, even though most everyone else went to see Usain Bolt in the 200. So, when against some serious odds David Boudia snatched gold from China’s grip, it was left to me to pretend we had it covered all along. The story is here.

MOST SURPRISING EVENT: Weight lifting. To paraphrase Barry Bearak, “it is one of those events that when it comes on TV you reach for the remote.” But in person, at the Olympics, with crazy Iranians dancing and screaming, with dramatic lighting and even more dramatic reality show music, it can be pretty damn exciting. Archie, Bedel and me, sent there to do this graphic, all got caught up in the madness.

LEAST FAVORITE EVENT: Eating at the main press center. It was bad, even by Olympic MPC standards.

MOST FUN: Having Leah and Amy here to see the Games through their eyes. And thanks to them for some great posts.

It was my plan to finish with some of my favorite pictures taken during the past three weeks. But some are missing because Charlie, our IT guy who kept the office running here, shut off my computer and packed it away before I could get to them. I don’t blame him for being eager to get packing.

So here are some from my laptop and some from Doug Mills, Chang Lee and Jed Jacobsohn. Perhaps my favorite shot of the Games is Jed’s hurdle picture shown here. To me, it says it all.

Here is an interview with Doug on the Lens Blog of NYTimes.com. Doug leaves here and heads back to the White House and the campaign trail. As Doug says, “There are only two competitors in my next race. And they don’t move quite as fast, and it’s easier to focus on them.

Thanks London, I’ll be back as soon as I can.