Just got off the phone with Scott Blackmun, CEO of the USOC, and asked him for his favorite moment during an Olympics in which his team won more medals (104) and golds (46) than anyone.

Surprisingly, his answer had nothing to do with any of those victories.

Instead, he pointed out a pair of fourth-place performances — by Sarah Groff in triathlon and Margaux Isaksen in modern pentathlon. Each missed the podium by only a couple of seconds. These are athletes who train in almost total obscurity in sports in which the Americans have very little history of Olympic success.

"You watch them train for four years and come within an inch of the the medal and barely miss it, but deal with it so gracefully," Blackmun says. "It's an inspiring thing to watch. Real cool."

— Eddie Pells — Twitter http://twitter.com/epells

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.