Grand finale

Little passion, lots of fun The timing, deliberate or not, was perfetto. These Games were triple the size, with 80 countries, 84 medal events and 2,500 athletes spread among three villages. (By John Powers, Boston Globe)

olympic extras  Final medal count  Globe photos  AP photos  Bob Ryan's take

Snowball effect for US

Any other year but this one, the Americans would have been spraying each other with Dom Perignon and heading off to the Costa del Sol for vacation. No other US Olympic team had ever come close to winning 25 medals at an overseas Winter Games. In fact, the previous high, achieved in 1994 (Lillehammer) and 1998 (Nagano), was ... (By John Powers, Boston Globe)

 SCOT LEHIGH: Olympic agony

 BOB RYAN: He came to praise, not bury athletes

 US ALPINE TEAM: It was downhill from the start

 CROSS COUNTRY: Di Centa gives Italy a final golden moment

 SWEDEN 3, FINLAND 2: Swedes set standard

 DRUG TESTING: IOC's Rogge praises 'intensive' testing