Citius, Altius, Fortius -- faster, higher, stronger.

It's the motto of the Olympic Games, a giant festival of sweat and success, triumph and tragedy.

The Games always deliver a full complement of highlights -- and some low moments, too.

While hard to call, here are a few of the best and worst moments of the Sydney Games:

The fastest -- Maurice Greene of the U.S., for proving he is still the swiftest person in the world over 100 meters.

The slowest -- Eric "The Eel" Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea in the 100-meter freestyle, for which he qualified with two laps of a 20-meter hotel pool when guests were not taking a dip.

The highest -- Nick Hysong of the U.S., who launched himself over 5 meters and 90 cm in the men's pole vault.

The lowest -- The Polish 4x400-meter relay competitor who yelled at his teammates and refused to shake their hands after a bad finish.

The strongest -- Hossein Rezazadeh of Iran, who lifted world records of 212.5 kg in the snatch and 260 kg in the clean and jerk.

The greatest -- Naoko Takahashi of Japan, by running the second half of the women's marathon faster than the first half on a very tough course.

The most memorable -- Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, for his come-from-behind win over multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat of Kenya in the men's 10,000 meters.

The saddest -- Teary-eyed judo giant Shinichi Shinohara of Japan, trying to smile after losing the over-100-kg final to France's David Douillet.

The happiest -- Indigenous Australian woman Cathy Freeman's 400-meter victory, which thrilled Australia and gave new hope to those wanting to forge peace between the nation's original people and its settlers.

The most surprising -- Konstantinos Kenteris of Greece, who won the men's 200-meter final.

The sexiest -- Former Russian and now Australian Tatiana Grigorieva, who won silver in the women's pole vault.

The most impressive -- Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruin of the Netherlands, for the shower of gold they splashed up in the pool. Special mention to American Jenny Thompson and young Ian Thorpe of Australia.

The funniest -- Australia's Olympic Committee, for trying to quash the runaway popularity of unofficial Games mascot "Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat," who featured on the winners' podium with Australian swimmers.

The dirtiest (that we know of) -- The Bulgarian weightlifting team, expelled from the Games after two lifters were stripped of medals for testing positive for banned drugs following a positive test for a third team member.

The most shameful -- U.S. world shot put champion C.J. Hunter, for letting down wife Marion Jones by testing positive to nandrolone four times this year.

The toughest -- Marion Jones, for being the first woman to win five medals in her first Olympics, for winning the women's 100-meter sprint by a greater margin than Maurice Greene in the men's final, and for the way she rose above her husband's drug scandal to win three track gold medals and charm a cynical Australian audience.

The silliest -- Marie-Jose Perec of France, for fleeing the Olympics in a wake of excuses rather than staying to race Freeman in the 200 meters, and for later claiming she would have won.

The luckiest -- The U.S. "Dream Team," for downing Lithuania in the last seconds of their basketball semifinal.

The unluckiest -- Six-time world pole-vault champion Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, for no-heighting once again in Olympic competition.

The most immature -- The U.S. 4x100 relay team of Maurice Greene, Brian Lewis, Jon Drummond and Bernard Williams for their "Superman" posing on the medal podium Saturday night.

The most dignity -- Michael Johnson of the U.S., for the style and lack of fuss with which he closed out his career and defended his 400-meter crown.

The most consistent -- Steve Redgrave of Britain, for winning his fifth consecutive gold medal in men's coxless-four rowing.

The most persistent -- Japan's Ryoko Tamura, the four-time world champion and 10-time national champion who finally captured gold at the Olympics at the third attempt.