On the last day of the Games, men's basketball, handball, volleyball and water polo tournaments will be finalized. The last six boxing weight classes are likely decided already, but the sport will at least provide a visual presentation for those who have bought tickets. And don't forget rhythmic gymnastics, the other sport of ball and hoop. But the iconic event of the Games is complete, the men's marathon.

ATHLETICS: Kenyans have won 16 of the past 18 Boston Marathons, the past five in London, the last five in Chicago. But never before had a Kenyan runner won the original race, the Olympic marathon -- just two silvers and a bronze here. It's one of those notable exceptions that makes bad sportswriters imagine up a curse.

It's certainly not for lack of talent. The Kenyan squad in the 2008 event was so deep that Boston champion Robert Cheruiyot was replaced at the last minute with an injury -- and the alternate, Luke Kibet, is the 2007 marathon world champion. Kibet broke a two-decade Kenyan drought at the World Championships with a 2:15:59 win at Osaka last year.

But today belonged to 21-year old, 5-foot-4 Samuel Kamau Wanjiru. n temperatures that were in the upper 70's Fahrenheit at 0730 and shot upwards into the 80's as soon as the sun was high, Wanjiru was one of the few runners who didn't appear fazed by the heat. After about 21 miles, the Kenyan pulled away from the pack and later entered a full Bird's Nest waggling his finger and waving to the crowd -- he sliced three minutes off the Olympic record and came within two minutes of Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie's recently-set 2:04:26 mark. His final time was a phenomenal 2:06:32.

It was one of those marathons in which the winner looked like he could simply turn around and arrive back at the start line two hours later.

Moroccan Jaouad Gharib, 44 seconds behind, and two Ethiopians followed -- Tsegay Kebede in bronze position and Deriba Merga in fourth. They completed a street course that was the Olympics' flattest since Moscow 1980, a 26.2-mile windaround through the streets of Beijing that featured very few grade changes, in stark contrast to the steep climbs of Barcelona or Athens, or even the gentle downhill slope of Sydney. It was specifically designed not to tax the runners any more than the city smog, humidity and haze would.

Which certainly happened -- indeed, 98 runners lined up on the start list, but three did not start and five gave up their race numbers before the halfway mark. In total, there were 18 DNF casualties along the route. One was world champion Kibet, who dramatically abandoned the race around the 18 mile mark while still in the lead pack. Atsushi Sato of Japan was the final competist, finshing 76th in 2:41:08. Which, this blog must mention, is a time would have won the Paris 1924 marathon.

A sidenote: the gold was Kenya's fifth at these Games, clinching the best-ever finish for the country with 14 overall medals. Other champions are Wilfred Bungei, who took the 800m on Day 15, Brimin Kiprop Kipruto in the 3000m steeplechase, and middle distance queens Pamela Jelimo (800m) and Nancy Jebet Langat (1500m).