The scourge of sports -- steroids, stimulants and other drugs -- intruded but didn't spoil the games. A record two dozen athletes were caught, seven lost medals, and there could be more to come as the test results keep rolling in.
"Each positive test is a blessing for us because it's eliminating the cheats and protecting the clean athletes," Rogge said. "The more we find, the better."
There were scandals and controversies, as always.
Greek sprint stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou broke their countrymen's hearts -- and angered many -- when they pulled out of the games after questions over missed drug tests and a suspicious motorcycle crash the night before the opening ceremony.
Three gymnastics judges were suspended after it was determined South Korean Yang Tae-young was scored improperly, costing him a gold medal that went to American Paul Hamm.
Even the final event, the men's marathon, was marred an hour before the closing ceremony when a defrocked Irish priest bolted from the crowd and grabbed the leader, Brazil's Vanderlei de Lima, about three miles from the finish. De Lima recovered and finished, but had to settle for a bronze when a protest by his track federation was rejected.
"I was scared, because I didn't know what could happen to me, whether he was armed with a knife, a revolver or something, and whether he was going to kill me," de Lima said. "That's what cost me the gold medal."
The marathon medalists, gold winner Stefano Baldini of Italy, American silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, and de Lima received their olive wreaths and medals at the closing ceremony.
These Olympics saw the rise of China as a sports superpower as it positioned itself for the 2008 games in Beijing. The US, buoyed by the brilliance of swimming star Michael Phelps but embarrassed by the three losses and mere bronze of its once-vaunted men's basketball team, won the most medals. Americans beat their target of 100 by three, 35 of them gold. Russia finished second with 92, including 27 gold. China was third with 63 medals, 32 gold.
Greeks gathered at cafes and tavernas in the Plaka to watch the marathon and the closing ceremony on wide screens and TV sets.
"The Greeks showed once again what they're capable of if they set their minds to it," said Yianna Mihalakpoulou, a graphic designer.
China previewed its own welcome of the Olympics with a group of children performing with the Beijing Opera. A young girl, standing by a huge red lantern-shaped stage set, held a small lantern and sang "Jasmine."
The cauldron of the Olympic Flame was slowly lowered, symbolically lighting the torches passed to children that will be carried around the world to the next Summer Games. At 10:48pm, Athens' flame was extinguished, singers took the stage and volleys of fireworks again lit up the sky.
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