Closing Caps Safe, Exciting Games
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Efharisto! A nervous world learned the Greek word for thank you and repeated it endlessly at an astonishingly successful Athens Olympics that quelled fears, surprised skeptics and greatly honored the birthplace of the games. Efharisto, Athens, for architectural masterpieces of stadiums. Efharisto, Athens, for architectural masterpieces of stadiums..

Litke: Nothing Like the Olympics
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ It began with a scandal in the sprints and ended with an ambush in the marathon. The first rocked the host nation. The second startled everyone else. Athens hosted. All it proved is that for grand stages and stunning surprises, there is still nothing in sports quite like the Olympics...

Odd Twist Makes Marathon Drama
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Three miles from the finish, the marathon leader was grabbed by a defrocked priest wearing a red kilt, green beret and matching knee-high socks. An American won a medal _ something that hadn't happened in 28 years. Definitely a bizarre way to end an Olympics. Panathinaiko Stadium hasn't hosted anything this weird...

USA Men Settle for Basketball Bronze
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Bronze is better than nothing. That's one Olympic lesson the U.S. men's basketball team was able to understand. he Americans took the third-place game seriously Saturday night, earning some revenge and salvaging some self-respect in a 104-96 victory over Lithuania.

Time to Party for Athletes, Greeks
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ In the end, it didn't matter which dream teams the other countries brought _ Greece had its own during the closing ceremony. An all-star lineup of Greek pop icons had Olympic Stadium rocking Sunday night with classic songs and new hits amid glittering fireworks, clouds of confetti and balloons....

Argentina Takes Olympic Soccer Gold
A ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Finally Argentina has something Brazil doesn't: an Olympic soccer gold medal. Carlos Tevez scored his eighth goal of the tournament and Argentina _ for decades in the shadows of five-time World Cup winner Brazil _ beat Paraguay 1-0 in Saturday's all-South American final. "To be champion of the Olympic Games is quite an achievement"...