The opening ceremony was a uniquely British affair. And that included the unique British sense of humor, whether it was James Bond skydiving in with the queen or Mr. Bean running at St. Andrews with the theme from "Chariots of Fire" blaring.

You would think after one athlete was kicked out of the games for a racially tinged tweet — Greece’s Paraskevi Papachristou — the rest would adjust their social media behavior appropriately. Nope. Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella (pictured left) followed Papachristou (pictured right) out the door after insulting South Koreans on Twitter following Switzerland’s 2-0 loss to South Korea.

Before the London Games began, Great Britain’s equestrian team was the focus of much attention because of the royal lineage of one of its members — Zara Philips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II. But once the games began, they earned it of their own accord. With her cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry in attendance, Phillips and her squad earned silver.

After struggling for the past few Olympics, US diving is looking a whole lot closer to it was during its heyday in the 1980s and '90s. Americans are still trying to catch up to the Chinese, but the Americans still managed three medals during Week 1, including David Boudia and Nick McCrory’s bronze in the 10-meter synchro — the first US men's diving medal in 16 years. Abigail Johnston and Kelci Bryant (pictured, with Johnston in front) took silver in women's 3-meter synchro.

No one thought the US-Nigeria men's basketball game was going to be much of a contest. But few could have anticipated the display of scoring the Americans managed in a 156-73 rout. Even with LeBron James (pictured) on the court for only 11 minutes, they broke the Olympic record for most points in a game and set US records for 3-pointers, field goals and field-goal percentage. Carmelo Anthony scored a record 37 points (in only 14 minutes of play), and the US bested the previous mark for margin of victory by 11 points.
 

There are scant few events in the Olympics where Americans haven’t won gold. And thanks to Kayla Harrison, there’s now one fewer. Harrison scored the first US gold in judo, bringing home the title in the 78-kilogram weight class.

The host country was starting to feel a little anxious midway through Week 1. Several high-profile Brits had disappointed, and organizers had adjusted their lofty medal goals for the London Games. Enter Bradley Wiggins. Only 10 days after he won the Tour de France, Wiggins completed his very good month (while easing the concerns of the Commonwealth) with a gold in the individual time trial.

She's a one-woman dynasty. Kim Rhode is the first American to win a medal in five straight Olympics. And she did it in style, taking gold in women's skeet shooting by hitting on 99 of 100 targets. The best part? She's only 33. She might not be even halfway done with her Olympic career.

The best competition in women’s soccer during the first week didn’t come on the pitch. It came on Twitter. Hope Solo, who already had made headlines heading into the games for 1.) claiming to have been drunk on the "Today" show set and 2.) her soon-to-be released bio in which she claims to have been conceived during a conjugal visit, took to Twitter to rip former US team member and current soccer analyst Brandi Chastain for her commentary.

Few could have foreseen that badminton, of all sports, would have been one of the bigger talkers of the first week. But that turned out to be the case when eight players — two doubles teams from South Korea and one each from China (pictured, Wang Xiali and Yang Yu) and Indonesia — were expelled from the Olympics after tanking matches to try to get a more favorable draw in the knockout round.

Six months ago, Gabby Douglas was a virtual unknown considering giving up gymnastics. Today? She’s only the fourth American woman to win all-around gold and the first African-American to do so. Douglas never trailed during the competition, while extending the US run in the event to three Olympics (following Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin).

The American men's gymnastics team was shaping up to be one of the bigger disappointments of the first week of the London Games. After qualifying first in the team competition, the US men failed to medal. Then after two rotations of the all-around, their chances for individual honors seemed non-existent. But even as the rest of the world had given up hope in Danell Leyva, he refused to give up hope in himself, rallying to win bronze.

Any concerns that Jordyn Wieber’s failure to qualify for the all-around final would linger into the women's gymnastics team competition were quickly erased with four sterling performances on the first apparatus, the vault. From that point, the Americans never trailed, joining the 1996 squad as the only American women to win team gold.

Jordyn Wieber entered the London Games poised to become one of its biggest stars, widely expected to content for women's gymnastics all-around gold. But the face of US gymnastics failed to qualify for the all-around competition, as she was surpassed by teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas.

In an era when swimming records have been hard to come by, it’s notable that American Rebecca Soni (pictured on the video board during her medal ceremony) did it twice … in one event. After setting a world record in the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke, Soni broke her own mark in the final, winning gold while becoming the first woman to go under 2:20 in the event.

Two nights after Michael Phelps was celebrated as, arguably, the greatest Olympic athlete ever, he made the case that it wasn’t just a lifetime achievement award. Still seeking his first individual gold of the London Games, he bested rival Ryan Lochte in the 200 individual medley. Phelps never trailed in the race and became the first male swimmer to win an individual event in three straight Olympics.

It may have seemed like a foregone conclusion that Michael Phelps (right) was going to win at least three medals during the London Games to become the most decorated Olympian of all-time. But that shouldn’t take away from the moment, especially when the emotion of the 19th medal of his storied career, earned in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, clearly got to the normally stoic Phelps.

Ye Shiwen wasn't the only teenager setting records in the London pool. Having already won two gold medals, 17-year-old American Missy Franklin (pictured) outdid herself in the women's 200-meter backstroke. Franklin set a world record of 2 minutes, 4.06 seconds. Seems US swimming won't have much trouble finding star power in the post-Michael Phelps era.

China's Ye Shiwen turned heads with her record-setting performance in the women's 400-meter individual medley. But she also raised eyebrows with a split in the final 50 that was faster than the one turned in by men’s champion Ryan Lochte. A US swimming official voiced publicly what was in the back of most observers’ minds: This swim was too good to be true. The IOC came to Ye’s defense, pointing out the 16-year-old had passed every drug test, but that didn’t keep the cloud of suspicion from hovering over the meet.
 

The first of two heavily anticipated swimming showdowns between Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps was the highlight of the first full day of the London Games. And Lochte didn’t disappoint in the 400-meter individual medley, blowing away the field to win gold. Phelps, on the other hand, finished off the medal stand for the first time in the Olympics since 2000.