China brings curtain down on epic Games

• In the final athletics race, Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru led an African sweep of marathon medals
• Despite their pedigree of distance running and big-city marathon wins, it was Kenya's first Olympic marathon title

Sunday, Beijing - The Beijing Olympics ended with a flash of fireworks on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on an event that dazzled the world with sporting brilliance and showcased the might of modern day China.

The 16-day sporting extravaganza failed to quell criticism of China's human rights record, although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the organizers the thumbs-up and said the Games would leave a positive legacy for future generations.

Reflecting China's new found confidence, the nation's athletes took their gold medal tally on the final day to 51 after winning their first two Olympic boxing titles, the most any country has won since the Soviet Union in Seoul in 1988.

The United States finished with 36 golds, level with their table-topping haul in 2004, but way behind the host nation.

The U.S. tally got a boost on Sunday when the men's millionaire basketball team beat Spain in a thrilling final.

There was emotion too for the American men's volleyball team, who beat Brazil to take gold and do their coach proud.

The father-in-law of coach Hugh McCutcheon was stabbed to death by a deranged man in Beijing on the first day of the Games -- a rare assault in the heavily policed Chinese capital.

In the final athletics race, Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru led an African sweep of marathon medals, lifting his arms in triumph as he sped around the Bird's Nest stadium for the last lap.

Beijing's polluted air had been one of the biggest concerns in the run-up, and health concerns led Ethiopian world record holder Haile Gebreselassie to pull out of the men's marathon.

In the end, those fears appeared largely unfounded when the race was held, after the government spent billions to clean the air in recent months and an overnight storm did the rest.

Running under blue skies, Wanjiru crossed himself and sank to his knees after finishing in an Olympic record time of two hours six minutes 32 seconds, looking fresh despite the heat and sealing a fifth gold for his country in athletics.

"I pushed and pushed, I had to, to tire the others," Wanjiru said. "My plan was to push my body to the limits."

Despite their pedigree of distance running and big-city marathon wins, it was Kenya's first Olympic marathon title. Morocco won the silver, Ethiopia the bronze.

The race began in the capital's massive Tiananmen Square, symbol of Communist rule, site of Mao Zedong's mausoleum and of pro-democracy protests in 1989. It ended in the Bird's Nest, symbol of China's modern face.

Redemption for the United States