LONDON, Aug 12: Lithuanian Laura Asadauskaite beat Briton Sam Murray to the gold in the women’s modern pentathlon to round off the 16-day sporting extravaganza on Sunday as London prepared to bring down the curtain on the 2012 Olympics.

The United States, meanwhile, was basking in a golden glow after sealing their dominance at the Games with 46 gold medals to second-placed China’s 38 while hosts Britain were third with 29.

In the last of the 302 gold medals decided, Asadauskaite used a strong running performance in the final event to win the pentathlon hours before the closing ceremony which was due to bring the curtain down on passionate crowds and the thrill of watching hosts Britain punch well above their weight.

Britain’s best medal haul for a century, the record-breaking exploits of swimmer Michael Phelps and sprint pyrotechnics of Usain Bolt, who won his third London gold when Jamaica smashed the 4x100 metres world relay record on Saturday, have made for a memorable Olympics.

“The Games were abso-lutely fabulous. London has absolutely refreshed the Games,” International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge told reporters.

“The London Olympics have been a dream for sports-lovers. London promised an athletes’ Games and that’s exactly what we got. History has been written by many, many athletes — the double treble of Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Sir Chris Hoy, Ben Ainslie, Andy Murray winning his first major title... I could go on.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the Games in a succinct message on Twitter: “Britain delivered. We showed the world what we’re made of.”

Few moments could, however, top Saturday night’s spectacle on the track when Bolt anchored Jamaica to relay gold.

And at his final media briefing of the games, Rogge said he wanted to set the record straight: Bolt was an ‘active’ legend and the best sprinter ever.

Rogge surprised some earlier this week when he said the Jamaican runner needed to prove his greatness over more than two Olympics before achieving his self-proclaimed status of “living legend.”

On Sunday, Rogge relented a bit and came up with a different wording for the six-time gold medallist.

“I mean this is purely a semantic issue,” he said. “Let me finalise this issue as follows: to say that Usain Bolt is an active performance legend, he is an icon, he is the best sprinter of all time.”

Despite concerns about the creaky transport system and a shortfall of private security guards, which forced the government to call in thousands of extra troops to help screen visitors, the Games have so far passed by fairly trouble-free.

A furore over empty seats at several Olympic venues blew over, especially once the track and field showcase kicked in and drew capacity crowds of 80,000 for virtually every session.

Even the weather improved as the Games wore on.

For some, though, London left a bitter taste.

China bowed out of the Games with a swipe at the critics who had accused teenage swimming sensation Ye Shiwen of doping after her times rivalled the top US men.

The head of the Chinese delegation to London, Liu Peng, said the accusations were totally unfounded and stressed that China was strongly opposed to any doping “misbehaviour”.

“This is really unfair. This is groundless,” Liu told a news conference on Sunday. “There are individuals and media that are accusing, unfounded, our Chinese athletes. These people should respect sporting persons’ dignity and their reputation.” —Agencies