Cameron Spencer/Getty Images, Cameron Spencer/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesMisty May-Treanor can retire from international competition secure in the knowledge that she and Kerri Walsh Jennings couldn't have done it any better.
The California-born beach volleyball partners won gold for the third straight time today in London, the only bikini-clad duo to have accomplished such a feat since the sandy sport became an official Summer Olympics event in 1996.
But their straight-sets victory against fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross wasn't the only highlight for Team USA today. Here's what else popped around the park and beyond:
• Alone on Top: SoCal sprinter Allyson Felix, who came up short in the 100-meter dash, won her first individual Olympic gold medal in the women's 200 meters, topping 100-meter winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and teammate Carmelita Jeter with her 21.88-second sprint.
• Best Consolation Prize: Brazilian beach volleyball pair Juliana Felisberta and Larissa França not only won bronze, but Prince Harry was in the stands watching their third-place match!
• Making It Look Easy: Usain Bolt cruised into tomorrow's men's 200-meter final in a blistering 20.18 seconds, keeping his hopes alive for his second straight title in that race to go along with his consecutive golds in the 100-meter dash.
No Flake Here: Wheaties alert! Oregon-bred Ashton Eaton, 24, broke a 44-year-old record in the decathlon 100-meter dash in his Olympic debut, won the 400 meters and long jump and finished second in the high jump to lead the field after the first half of the two-day competition. Man, we're tired just thinking about doing all that in one day.
High-Flying Yanks: Elsewhere in track and field, Americans Brittney Reese and Janay DeLoach won gold and bronze in the women's long jump and Leshinda Demus won silver in the women's 400-meter hurdles, while Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson finished 1-2 in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
G'Day, Indeed: The U.S. men's basketball team, led by Kobe Bryant's 20 second-half points, bounced Australia from the quarterfinals, 119-86. Bryant silenced the critics who've been loudly wondering what he's been up to for the last week and a half, and an honorable mention to Russell Westbrook, who was the team's second-highest scorer with 18 points off the bench.
Load Off Her Mind: Clarissa Chun of Hawaii wrestled her way to a bronze finish in the women's 48-kilogram freestyle, made all the sweeter because she beat the Ukrainian opponent who wrestled the bronze away from her in Beijing.
Spiked Hopes: Team USA's men's volleyball and men's water polo came up short, losing their respective quarterfinal matches to Italy and Croatia to finish short of making the podium.
Worst Way to Convince People You Don't Love Media Attention: Lolo Jones' tearful lamentation on the Today show over her fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles and being compared to Anna Kournikova, who was far more successful capitalizing on her sex appeal than she ever was on the tennis court.
Magic Numbers: Thanks to the all-American beach volleyball final and much track-and-field success, United States surged past China again in the total medal count, 81 to 77, though China still leads the gold race, 36 to 34. Russia is in sole possession of third place with 52 medals.