The 2012 London Olympics drew to a close Sunday with a ceremony celebrating great athletic achievements over the past 17 days with some of the finest in British music.

The Olympic Flame was extinguished, and London handed over the Olympic Flag to Rio de Janeiro, the host of the next Summer Games in 2016, as the British capital wrapped up an eventful Olympics where records were broken and tears were shed by thousands of athletes from 204 nations.



The key part of the closing ceremony was dubbed "A Symphony of British Music," in an apparent display of Britain's pride in one of its strongest cultural exports in the past half century. Several famous British acts took to the stage at the Olympic Stadium, which, at least on this night, turned into the world's largest outdoor jukebox.




The Who, Muse, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Annie Lennnox, the Spice Girls and Fatboy Slim were among the artists to take part in a show that included performances of 30 British hits from the past five decades.

The opening ceremony had also prominently featured British music, including tracks by The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen and David Bowie. The show then culminated with the live performance of The Beatles' hit "Hey Jude" by Paul McCartney at the end.

Kim Gavin, who has directed rock tours and also Princess Diana's memorial concert in London in 2007, said he put his emphasis on "songs that would work in a stadium environment or would work in a closing ceremony."

The closing ceremony kicked off with a scene called "Rush Hour," a tribute to what Gavin called "a very condensed, congested cacophony" of London life. The soundtrack covered Edward Elgar's 1988 piece 'Salut D'Amour.'

The athletes then marched in to become, in Gavin's words, "the mosh pit" and "our immediate audience on this field of play."



Song Dae-nam, the gold medalist in the men's under-90-kilogram judo, carried the flag for South Korea during the athletes' parade.

Then in time-honored tradition, the medal ceremony for the men's marathon completed the London Olympics' medal presentation. Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda won the race held earlier Sunday in 2:08:01.

After the handover of the Olympic Flag, The Who performed one of their biggest hits, "My Generation," in the grand finale.

The closing show featured more than 4,100 performers, including 3,500 volunteers, organizers said.

South Korea finished a successful Olympics with 13 gold medals, tying its record for most at a single Olympics and easily meeting its stated goal of finishing in the top-10 with at least 10 golds.

Gold medals came from seven different sports, led by three each from archery and shooting.

The U.S. reasserted its athletic dominance in London, edging China in both the gold medal and total medal counts to reclaim the top position on the medal table. The U.S. won 46 gold medals to China's 38, and swept up 104 medals overall compared to 87 by China.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, the host China dethroned the U.S.

But the Americans returned to the top in London, thanks to the usual haul from athletics and swimming.

Britain took third place behind the two giants with a record 29 gold medals. The country's previous high for a single Summer Games was 19 from Beijing.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was one of the brightest stars in London. He swept up three gold medals for the second consecutive Olympics, becoming the first athlete to defend the 100ｍ, 200ｍ and 4x100ｍ relay titles. He set an Olympic record in 100ｍ with 9.63 seconds, only 0.05 behind his own world record, and capped off his dominance by anchoring the Jamaican team to a world record time of 36.84 seconds in the relay. (Yonhap News)