SALT LAKE CITY -- Two things we know for sure about the XIX Olympiad.

1. They hate us. They really, really hate us. OK, maybe that's overstating the world reaction to what has become known as the Wimper Games. It seems that everyone with an agenda, beef or the heartbreak of psoriasis has wanted to take their ball and go home.

2. Scoreboard, baby.

It was the best finish by the United States. The 34 medals surpassed the U.S. Olympic Committee's stated goal of 20. The total was second only to Germany. The total also beat the number of Nagano medals by 24.

Jim Shea provided an emotional moment as he captured gold in skeleton in memory of his late grandfather.(AP)

Despite the blood doping, sweat and tears, the United States won these Winter Games. Not in medal count -- Apolo Ohno's flameout Saturday in short track speed skating assured the U.S would finish second -- but in performance.

The U.S. teams have never been a winter power. For two weeks here, they red, white and blew 'em away. They figured to do better with the home-country advantage, but this? Never. The U.S. grabbed the Games by the throat and shook them until they were wrung out of emotion.

This was a celebration of U.S. accomplishments that bordered on a setup. Americans had a huge advantage training in Utah beforehand and not having to travel out of the country. They were used to the courses and rinks when it came time to perform because, for the most part, they were out their back door.

The women's figure-skating team was arguably the best in history. Ohno did grab two medals, and his Olympic future seems bright at the age of 19. Those wacky snowboarders swept. Sure it's a trash sport, but it's our trash sport.

In fact, 13 of the American medals came in X Game-style sports like freestyle skiing, snowboarding and skeleton.

The United States medaled in 10 of the 15 sports. It finished in the top eight in 13 of 15.

A disclaimer: One reason for the U.S. doing so well is there are a lot more medals to be given out. Twenty years ago, there were 38 medal events. In Salt Lake City, there were 78. Since 1984, the number of winter events have doubled.

"I think one of the stories of these Games for us is the depth of quality on a lot of the teams," said Jim Page, the USOC's managing director of sport performance. "We're one of only two or three nations that really try to field competitive programs across the board, and that's paying off for us here."

Plus, all the support systems were in place. A Home Depot corporate sponsorship program gave athletes jobs while they were in Salt Lake City. Long track speed skating world-record holder Derek Parra said after winning gold: "Maybe I'll get a promotion to lumber."

The men's hockey team played up to expectations and didn't have to fly across an ocean. There is no denying that subjective judging in such events as figure skating, snowboarding and freestyle aerials tends to be influenced by home crowds. These Olympics were filled to more than 90 percent capacity overall.

They were also tremendous victory for American diversity. The first medals in Winter Olympics history were handed out to an Hispanic-American (Jennifer Rodriguez), Mexican-American (Parra) and African-American (Vonetta Flowers).

The USOC deserves credit for reaching out so that speed skaters from California and Miami (Parra and Rodriguez) and a bobsledder from Birmingham, Ala., (Flowers) were able to develop their skills.

Bode Miller embodied that American spirit. The downhill skier already had two silvers in his pocket when he stood at the top of his second slalom run Saturday. By skiing safely he could assure himself another silver, a U.S.-record third Alpine medal.

But that's not Bode's style.

"I was going for it," Miller said. "I was going for a win. That's the way it is. It's the Olympics."

He slipped, missed a gate and finished 25th.

Oh well, there's always Torino in 2006.

With that in mind, we give you the highs and lows of Salt Lake 2002

Highs

Sarah Hughes: Along with a strong president, the country needs a wholesome ice princess. Her stunning figure-skating performance was a welcome contrast to the blustery Russian press conference just hours before.

Jim Shea: Expect some movie offers for the third-generation Olympian. Shea's gold-medal grandfather died in an auto accident in January. He carried a picture of him in his helmet during his gold-medal skeleton run that he won by .05 of a second. Uh Mr. Shea? Disney on Line 2.

Speed skater Derek Parra collected two medals for the USA and set a world record in the 1,500m.(AP)

Steven Bradbury: The Australian speed skater won the 1,000-meter short track race the way Jeff Gordon wins a lot of NASCAR races. He held back and waited for everybody to crash. Bradbury's gold was a lifetime achievement award considering he had been in the sport 11 years and had recovered from 111 stitches in 1994 and a broken neck in 2000. Is he coming back to defend in 2006? Probably not. "(By then) I hope to have a big belly from drinking so much beer," he said.

Curling: First, it was just insomniacs who were glued to CNBC's late-night coverage. Then, the broom-and-rock thing became as trendy as those American berets. We're still waiting for the IOC to broaden the sport's appeal to all Three Stooges fans by adding Moeing and Larrying.

Chris Witty: Hers might be the best achievement of the Games. She set the 1,000-meter speed skating world record with a case of mono. Witty is not exactly a quote machine. In fact, she's rather dull, but you've got to admire her story: Grew up a mile from Dan Jansen in West Allis, Wis. Won gold 29 days after being diagnosed.

U.S.-Russia hockey: Two games for the ages six days apart. The Americans more than wiped out the lingering bad feelings from Nagano. Two inspired performances boosted the U.S. into the gold-medal game. The Russians pouted, claimed bias and underachieved.

Belarus hockey: Their stunning upset of Sweden was the biggest in Olympic hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice. "Sometimes even a gun without bullets shoots," Belarus goalie Andrei Mezin said.

Kazakhstan women's hockey: The goalie came to the U.S. with $30 in her pocket. The team wore hospital scrubs with holes in them to games. A transportation volunteer noticed and took up a collection. Because volunteers can't show favoritism, gifts baskets were placed anonymously on the team bus. Players cried.

Lows

Sale and Pelletier: What else? The story is almost two weeks old but hung on to dominate the mood at these Olympics. First, they were innocent victims. Then they were attention-grabbing, gold-medal-sharing media creations thanks to agent Craig Fenech. Jamie and David, please go away now. Your 15 minutes are up.

Jean Racine: The U.S. bobsled driver fired her best friend Jen Davidson as pusher. When replacement Gea Johnson injured a hamstring, Racine had the unmitigated gall to call Flowers, trying to get her to switch teams. Flowers and partner Jill Bakken won gold. A nation cheered. Johnson and Racine got fifth. A nation jeered.

Russia: The press conference announcing the country's possible withdrawal from the Games featured nine unidentified people speaking Russian to a room of worldwide journalists. Chaos only begins to describe the scene. Sore losers is more like it.

Michelle Kwan: We know her, we love her, we can't live without her Chevy commercials. But when Kwan failed to win gold in perhaps her last Olympics, you had to feel for her. A great career might end without that one crowning achievement.

We will never forget ...

The official slogan for these Olympics was "Light the Fire Within." After two weeks of scandals, threats and accusations, the term has been bastardized to "Fight the Liar Within."

Hearts across America broke when Michelle Kwan failed to win that elusive gold medal.(AP)

Charlie Chaplin: We assume he wasn't the real thing, but Mr. Chaplin put in an appearance at the men's combine at Snowbasin. In full silent-movie dress, Chaplin was wondering around the grounds when a security person asked to see his credential. Chaplin wiggled his mustache, showed his credential and moved on. How does a dead movie star get access, and where the heck was his coat? It was 25 degrees!

Austria House: The Austrians are bidding on the 2010 Games in Salzburg. They certainly convinced Salt Lake they deserve it. Complimentary Zipford beer, goulash and oompah music for the masses each night.

The locals: Are they always so darn cheerful, or have the Stepford Wives infiltrated the population?

Skeleton racer Lee Ann Parsley on the emotion of winning silver: "There's no crying in skeleton."

Wacky Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann, who looks more like Harry Potter than Harry himself: "It's true we do resemble each other. But I don't think there was a fairy wand waved over me."

Finally, your ultimate Olympic moment comes from Danny Kass: Describing how he won silver in snowboarding, Kass said, "I dropped in with as much speed as I could get. (I did a) front-side indy, backside method into a rodeo seven, cab 1080 melon, air to fakie, inverted 720 mute grab to a front-side nine melon grab."

It's been gnarly, Salt Lake.