John Vogel and his family were standing in the concession line at the Horse Guards Parade before the women's beach volleyball medal round when an FIVB official invited them to a media reception with the international governing body's president and some British players.

Vogel, who's from Houston, said they had no plans to come to London for the Olympics until a week ago. He had no idea why they were pulled out of line to share their impressions with reporters, but it probably had something to do with the red, white and blue clothing they all wore for the all-American gold medal match.

With its iconic venue and sold-out crowds ready to party, beach volleyball is one of the London Games' biggest successes. British volleyball chief Richard Callicott said at the reception that hits at the federation's web site were up 850 percent.

FIVB President Jizhong Wei said British Prime Minister David Cameron, who crossed the street from his office at 10 Downing Street to attend Tuesday night's semifinals, "is satisfied."

There's only one problem.

"He said he can't work," Wei said, "because everything is the noise."

— Jimmy Golen — Twitter http://twitter.com/jgolen

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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.