After starting with an unspeakable tragedy, the Olympic Games ended with a gold medal for the United States' indoor volleyball team in a 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23) triumph over Brazil on Sunday.
Clayton Stanley recorded a game-high 15 points and David Lee had five blocks for the undefeated Americans, who claimed their third goal medal in the sport by downing the top-ranked Brazilians.
The gold medal was the 108th medal won by the United States in the 2008 Olympics, matching the record for American medals won since the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Prior to the start of the Olympics, a lone assailant killed coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law and badly wounded his mother-in-law before taking his own life.
After missing the team's three matches, McCutcheon returned to the sideline and watched as the United States recorded a pair of five-set thrillers in the knockout round to lead up to Sunday's match.
Assured of claiming their first medal since they picked up a bronze in 1992, the Americans secured their first gold since winning back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1988.
Also on Sunday, Maxim Mikhaylov had 16 kills to help the Russian indoor volleyball team secure their second consecutive bronze medal with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23) triumph over Italy.
Alexander Volkov and Alexey Kuleshov had four blocks for Russia, who succumbed to the United States in an exciting 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 15-13) decision on Friday.
The silver medalists in Athens, Italy finished the tournament without a medal for the first time since 1992.