Americans' approach is to win as a team

China's obsession with gold paid off in a lopsided count in Beijing, with 51 of their 100 medals being gilded, the highest percentage since the US won 40 golds among 76 in 1952 in Helsinki.

"That's an incredible hit rate," said Steve Roush, the US Olympic Committee's chief of sports performance.

While the Americans, who topped the overall medal table with 110 while winning 36 golds, would love to regain their place atop the gold list in 2012, they won't do it at the expense of team medals.

"Our sports culture is very much tied to team sports," observed Roush. The Yanks had spectacular success there, winning nine medals (including four golds) and missing out only in men's soccer and women's field hockey.

The biggest surprises were the two volleyball teams. The men, who won gold, were 10th at the last World Championships while the women, who took silver, were ninth.

The task for 2012 is to get the handball teams back at Olympus. The rest of the world can't understand why a nation that excels at running, jumping, and throwing sports hasn't qualified in that sport for an overseas Games since 1992 and never has medaled.

Honorable mention

As happy as they were with the team topping the medal table, USOC officials were delighted that there were no doping positives or shenanigans. "We gauge our performance a number of ways," said chief executive Jim Scherr, a former Olympic freestyle wrestler. "The team has represented our nation in an exemplary fashion. We could not be prouder of how the team has behaved and brought honor to the United States." . . . Great Britain had a significant pre-host bump in Beijing, finishing fourth behind Russia with 47 medals (19 gold), an increase of 17 over 2004. "What you saw is what you saw in Athens with China," observed Roush. Getting the Games seven years in advance jacks up development, since the hosts don't want to be embarrassed in their own house, as the Canadians were in 1976 in Montreal, where they failed to win a gold . . . The global balance atop the medal stand has shifted considerably since the last time the Summer Games were held in Asia 20 years ago. The European countries, which grabbed nearly 70 percent of the golds in Seoul, managed only 43 percent this time. The big gainer has been Asia (9 percent then, 29 percent now, with a record 87 golds), although Africa also won a record 12 in Beijing. The Americas have held relatively steady (17 percent in 1988, 18.5 now).

Keeping it clean

Why were there only six positive doping results in Beijing after 26 in Athens? The deterrent effect, reckoned International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who had predicted that there would be 30-40. There were 4,500 tests this time, up from 3,500 in 2004, plus tougher penalties - any competitor banned for more than six months is ineligible for the next Games. Increased pre-Olympic testing also had an effect; 39 athletes were caught during the month before the athletes' village opened. As many horses as humans came up dirty at these Games, which may cause trouble for the equestrian people, who already have to deal with quarantine issues in host countries . . . If there's such a thing as a strategic loss, the US softball team's silver medal may help get the sport back on the Olympic program for 2016. Though softball is hugely popular at the Games (every seat in Beijing was sold), the Americans had won all three previous golds, running up big margins along the way. So the USOC will be pushing for reinstatement. "We'll do all we can," said chairman Peter Ueberroth, "and I'll bet you Japan will support us." South Korea's victory over Cuba won't hurt baseball's cause, either.

A short change

Now that he has those record eight Olympic gold medals, what's the next challenge for Michael Phelps? Could be the freestyle sprints, as he's been itching to take on the speed racers. "I keep saying I want to go down and start sprinting, but Bob [Bowman, his coach] isn't so keen," said Phelps, whose fantasy has been to swim the 50. "I don't think that's going to happen." Not that the world's greatest swimmer would be in over his head; Phelps was the third-fastest man on the planet this year in the 100-meter freestyle behind Australia's Eamon Sullivan and France's Alain Bernard. "He better bring his A game because us sprinters are in a different league, and we are not going to go easy on him," warned Sullivan. Phelps could experiment at next year's global meet in Italy, where he's already committed to compete. "My mom told me I'd better make the team," he said, "because she wants to go to Rome." . . . So, does anchormeister Jason Lezak get a chunk of the $1 million bonus Phelps collected from Speedo for matching Mark Spitz's seven gold medals? "We've talked about that," said Lezak, whose hundredth-of-a-second touchout of Bernard in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay kept Phelps's historic bid on track. "Michael can keep what he gets."

Splashy entrance

Jenny Thompson, who won 12 Olympic medals (eight of them relay golds) at four Games, has been named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, along with fellow sprinters Alexander Popov of Russia and Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands. Popov also is among the newest athlete members of the IOC, joining German fencer Claudia Bokel, Cuban volleyball player Yumilka Ruiz Luaces, and Korean taekwondo fighter Moon Dae Sung. They'll serve eight-year terms . . . Usain Bolt says he's not interested in taking up the long jump for London to equal the four gold medals Carl Lewis won in 1984. "I'm not thinking about that," the Jamaican sprinter said. Nor is he looking at running a leg on the 4 x 400 relay. "Mon, I don't think so," he said. "I'm happy with my three gold medals and three world records." Bolt, by the way, shrugs off criticism of his post-victory showboating. "I'm a performer," he said. "I'm just enjoying myself. That's just me. I won't change. I'll always be just me, because that's my personality. The crowd loves it when I put on a show for them. They pay money to see a good show." . . . Team doctor Herb Elliott on why Jamaicans are such terrific sprinters: "We're too damn lazy to run distance."

Breakfast treat

Decathlete Bryan Clay and gymnast Nastia Liukin both received the traditional honor that comes with winning those specialties at Olympus - their likeness on a Wheaties box. Clay, who had said that was his next dream, joins fellow gold medalists Jim Thorpe (posthumously), Bruce Jenner, and Dan O'Brien, while Liukin vaults alongside Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson. Liukin may have been born in Moscow, but she's reminded that she's an American whenever she returns to the motherland to visit her relatives. "I speak Russian and people start giving me looks like, why do you speak so badly?" said Liukin, who grew up near Dallas . . . Rohullah Nikpai, the Afghan taekwondo fighter who won his country's first Olympic medal, received a hero's welcome when he returned to Kabul. Not only did Nikpai collect a $10,000 bonus for his bronze, but president Hamid Karzai ordered that a house be built for him.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com; material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews, and wire services was used in this report.