Sports

The Olympics are over, but guest host Jacki Lyden takes a look at the lasting impact of the Games on young people living in the neighborhoods around Olympic Park. She speaks with East London residents Amber Charles and Rumi Begum. Both young adults participated in the Olympic torch relay in recognition of their contributions to sports in the area.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The London Olympics are over but there is a remarkable statistic left behind. If American women had competed as their own country, they would have tied for third in the gold medal count, and finished fifth in total medals.

The U.S. men's basketball team defended its Olympic title today as the London Summer Games draw to a close, and there was plenty of drama elsewhere on the final game of the competition. NPR's Tom Goldman tells host about Guy Raz the greatest moments and those that were a little embarrassing.

It's a moment of pride and glory when athletes hear their country's national anthem ringing out at the medal ceremonies of the Olympic Games. Host Guy Raz talks to freelance journalist Alex Marshall, whose writing a book on the history of national anthems, about some of the patriotic tunes.

The closing ceremony to the London Games used fireworks, theatrics and music to celebrate the athletes and their countries who participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The night included a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a performance from the Pet Shop Boys, to mark the end of two weeks of competition and stunning athletic displays.

The surviving members of the rock band Queen, The Who and the Spice Girls were on the schedule to entertain millions watching around the world.

Update at 5:11 p.m. ET: 'Imagine'

Olympic winners like gold medalist Claressa Shields have said the games were a learning experience, but what were they learning? Hard work? Sure. Sportsmanship? Maybe. The metric system? Certainly not.

U.S. judo competitor Kyle Vashkulat competes at 100 kg, which he knows means he weighs 220 lbs. But does he know height?

"We were in a sauna, and the guy's telling us the height of the boxers, and he's like, 'Yeah, this guy's like, 1.7 meters' — and we're like, 'How tall is that?'" Vashkulat says, laughing.

When Michael Phelps came to London for the 2012 Summer Games, he had 14 Olympic gold medals. He's leaving with 18 and a record 22 overall. And now he's retiring at 27, leaving the sport in which he always said he wanted to do things that had never been done before.

For a couple of days last month, I ate the same foods as some of the fastest people on the planet — the Kenyans.

I stayed at the same hotel and ate in the same dining room as the Kenya Olympic Marathon team while working on a radio story about how this impoverished nation produces some of the best endurance runners in the world.