There were many memorable moments at the London Olympics, some heartbreaking and some baffling. But each of TIME's correspondents at the Games has picked two that stood out the most, for better or for worse

Best: Opening Ceremony, Worst: McKayla Maroney’s Grimace

Left: The Olympic rings light up the stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, July 27, 2012. Right: McKayla Maroney of the U.S. on the podium after receiving her silver medal in the women's vault, Aug 5, 2012.

Best Moment:

Watching the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, I cringed as Britain presented itself to the world. David Beckham kicked a soccer ball into the crowd. Leona Lewis moaned as she rose out of a double-decker bus. And modern dancers swung umbrellas around, as if to warn potential visitors they would get drenched in four years time. As the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 drew near, I braced myself for equally shoddy staging and overt clichés. My forecast turned out to be completely wrong. The dark, almost macabre opening of Danny Boyle’s Opening Ceremony veered from the Olympic tradition of staging tedious history lessons devoid of personality. The dark hues, tribal drumming, and sheer chaos of the scenes captured the consequences of Britain’s industrial past on England’s “green and pleasant land.” By the time massive smoke stacks had risen from the center of the Olympic stadium, I was already looking forward to watching it all again on YouTube.

Worst Moment:

American gymnast McKayla Maroney, the defending world champion on the vault, entered the Olympics as the heavy favorite to win that apparatus. She nailed performances during the team competition, and seemed invincible heading into the vault final. But after landing on her backside during her second vault attempt, the presumed gold turned into silver—and Maroney could barely hide her disgust. During the medal ceremony she stood on the podium with her arms crossed and wore a scowl rather than a smile. Grimacing so visibly made Maroney look like a sore loser, and ruined the photos that she shared with the other medalists. She later claimed that she was disappointed with herself rather than the silver medal. But there is something of a silver lining. The “McKayla Is Not Impressed” tumblr, which features her looking unimpressed while watching the moon landing and other significant world events, has gone viral, bringing laughter to millions.

The dark hues, tribal drumming, and sheer chaos of the scenes captured the consequences of Britain’s industrial past on England’s “green and pleasant land.” By the time massive smoke stacks had risen from the center of the Olympic stadium, I was already looking forward to watching it all again on YouTube. Good post

"Ruined the photos that she shared with the other medalists?" I mean seriously. The girl made that face for maybe 3 seconds, and the rest of the time she was smiling. http://www.mysanantonio.com/ol... there are plenty more photos where she looks, what you might deem, appropriately happy. This is ridiculous bullying of a 16 year old.

Worst ever. Had to be watched on a video screen to make even a little sense. Had all the production quality (and faded-glory rock stars) of a Super Bowl half-time show. What's with the industrial revolution zombies and sick kids in glowing hospital beds?

Tom Daley was not a wimp. The use of flash photography is prohibited during diving events. With a maturity belying his years he sensibly requested that the rules of diving be applied during the competition. The 'wimp' would have not had the fortitude to make this proper request of the judges. I'm sure that Hannah Beech - with her extensive experience of top class diving - would have been able to execute a series of six world class dives with multiple camera flashes exploding all around her. Of course she would!