Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

Children lay floral tributes at a memorial to the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough soccer disaster at Anfield stadium after the publication of the independent report into the incident on Sept. 12, 2012.

LONDON – Britain’s government apologized Wednesday after an independent report said there had been failures and cover-ups in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough soccer disaster in which 96 spectators died after a crowd crush.

There were gasps from lawmakers as Prime Minister David Cameron announced the findings of the report, which marked the culmination of a 23-year campaign the families of victims of Britain's worst sporting disaster.

"On behalf of the government, and indeed our country, I am profoundly sorry,” Cameron said, adding: "It was wrong that the families have had to wait for so long - and fight so hard - just to get to the truth."

The victims died in an overcrowded fenced-in enclosure at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, northern England, minutes prior to the start of a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

It was a tragedy that changed the face of soccer in Britain and ushered in a new era of modern, all-seated stadiums. Britain was shocked by harrowing images of young fans crushed against metal fences, bodies lying on the pitch and spectators using wooden placards as makeshift stretchers on a warm spring afternoon.

Read full coverage at ITV News

The report concluded police had sought to blame the Liverpool fans, portraying them as aggressive, drunk and ticketless and bent on packing into the already crowded stadium.

"The tragedy should never have happened," the report's authors said in a statement. "There were clear operational failures in response to the disaster and in its aftermath there were strenuous attempts to deflect the blame onto the fans."

Senior police edited their officers' witness statements from the day to paint them in a less damaging light, the report said. Their emergency response was flawed and badly organized.

While inquiries found hooliganism played no part in the disaster, the police crowd management plan was preoccupied with preventing disorder, the report said.

Liverpool fans had been tainted by the Heysel stadium disaster in Belgium in 1985. Fighting inside that stadium led to Juventus fans being crushed against a wall that collapsed. Six Liverpool fans and 33 supporters of the Italian team died.

The real danger at Hillsborough lay in the emergency services' poor planning and a stadium that failed to meet minimum safety standards, the report said. Its capacity was overstated and previous crushes at Hillsborough had been ignored.

The disaster is still an open wound in Liverpool, the port city of nearly half a million people that is passionate about soccer and has fielded players such as Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard.

All the victims during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, held at the neutral ground of Sheffield Wednesday, were Liverpool supporters.

Trevor Hicks, of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: "We feel vindicated... We have had all sorts of accusations thrown at us over the 23 years." He added: "If today says one thing to the world, we are vindicated in our search for the truth."

In the aftermath of the disaster, a government spokesman incensed families by blaming the disaster on drunken fans. The report found no reason for the coroner's decision to take blood alcohol samples from all of the victims, including children. "The pattern of alcohol consumption among those who died was unremarkable," the report said. "The weight placed on alcohol levels was... inappropriate and misleading."

The disaster was also one of the low points for Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group, currently reeling from a phone hacking scandal that has led to criminal charges against former senior executives and reporters. Its tabloid title, The Sun, accused Liverpool fans of stealing from the dying, urinating on policemen and beating up an officer who was attempting to resuscitate a victim. The newspaper's executives have since apologized for the story, which was found to be untrue. The editor at the time, Kelvin MacKenzie, apologized again on Wednesday - although his words were unlikely to end a long-standing boycott of the newspaper by consumers in Liverpool.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel, headed by the Bishop of Liverpool Rt. Rev. James Jones, was set up in 2010 to oversee the release of thousands of previously unseen documents related to the incident. 

ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.

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LONDON -- Eleven years after he was resuscitated seven times following a horrific 200 mph crash, former race car driver Alex Zanardi was among the athletes honored at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Sunday.

His return to the podium – winning two golds and a silver for handcycling - is one of many inspirational stories behind the competition.

The 45-year-old Italian triumphantly lifted his three-wheeled cycle with one arm after winning a time-trial at England’s Brands Hatch course – a track on which he used to race with four wheels.

In an emotional interview with NBC News, the ex-Formula One driver said his return to being a champion was not about victory but enjoying the long ride to it. 

Luke Macgregor / Reuters

Two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi lifts his hand-cycle after winning the Men's Individual H4 - Road Race at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

“I’m a happy man and I know that happiness does not come from a medal,” he said. “A medal makes the taste of the steak a little better.”

PhotoBlog: Stars close London Paralympics that 'lifted the cloud of limitation'

It is nothing short of extraordinary that he is alive, let alone the winner of three Paralympic medals.

Zanardi's journey to the Paralympics began at the American Memorial 500 on Sept. 15, 2001, at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany — the only American-based series to go forward on the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Zanardi, a two-time CART champion, had had a difficult season. He started 22nd in a field of 27, but the car was responding well. He was enjoying the drive, passing one car after another, until with 13 laps to go he was in the lead. 

Zanardi went into his final pit stop and the crew chief waved him off urging him to "Go, go, go!" 

But as he built up speed to get back into the race, the car spun out of control and he veered onto the track. Canadian driver Alex Tagliani, traveling at close to 200 mph, could not avoid him. The reinforced carbon fiber cone of Tagliani's car sliced through the area beside Zanardi's left front wheel and cockpit, the weakest part of the vehicle. 

Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images, file

Crews help Alex Zanardi after his crash on September 15, 2001 in Klettwitz, Germany.

On the track, Dr. Terry Trammel slipped and fell as he raced to the wreckage. He thought he had fallen in oil, but it was Zanardi's blood. 

But Zanardi was alive. 

More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

The crash had severed Zanardi's right leg at the knee and his left at the thigh some five inches above the knee. The driver's lower legs had disintegrated like those of land mine victims, said Dr. Steve Olvey, director of medical affairs for CART at the time. He had lost 70 percent of his blood, his pelvis was fractured in five places and he had a lacerated liver. 

His heart stopped seven times.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images, file

Alex Zanardi celebrates after winning the CART - Honda Indy Australia in 1998.

As part of his rehabilitation, Zanardi took up handcycling, which uses a vehicle powered by the arms that features two coasting rear wheels and one steerable front wheel. 

He heard about the sport by chance. Zanardi and another athlete had both tried to pull into a disabled parking spot, setting off a dispute as to who should get it. He saw the other man's handbike on top of the car and got curious.

“I don’t know why it happened but I don’t complain because I’m here,” Zanardi said. “Everything else was up to me, to change an adversity into an opportunity…and I think you can do that with everything in life.”

'Admiration'
He said the athletes in London - the biggest Paralympic Games in history – had demonstrated that their achievements are about ability rather than disability.

“I saw a woman swimming as fast a shark with no arms and I got [goose bumps], I got tears in my eyes – but not because of pity, but because of admiration.”

“At the end of the day, I didn't do this to win the gold medal. I did what I had to do because I was enjoying what I had to do and the results I had … was just a logical consequence of adding something every day to what I had done the previous day.”

Jay-Z, Rihanna and Coldplay performed at Sunday night’s Paralympic closing ceremony, whose highlights included a spectacular fireworks display and a heart-shaped ring of flame.

China finished top of the medal table, with 95 golds out of 231 medals. Russia came second with 36 golds out of 102 medals and Britain came third with 34 golds out of 120 medals. The United States came sixth with 31 golds out of 98 medals.

The London Paralympics sold 2.7 million tickets - almost 900,000 more than in Beijing.

"Paralympians have lifted the cloud of limitation,” London Games chairman Sebastian Coe told the 80,000-strong crowd watching the ceremony at the main Olympic Stadium in East London.

'Meet the Superhumans': Paralympians burst onto world stage

That theme was echoed by Zanardi, who spoke of the ordinary sources of inspiration that can drive humans to success.

Bryn Lennon / Getty Images

Alex Zanardi celebrates winning one of his gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics.

“I want to want to share this great gift that I have with all the athletes, with all the people that do great things in life because we only need our eyes to catch examples… of great inspiration,” he said. “Not just athletes like me who had the opportunity and the luck in life to stand above all others, but also great mothers - they wake up in the morning, they are sick, but nonetheless they feed the breakfast to the kids, they take them to school and they go to work because there's a great family to feed. If we have eyes to see, we are surrounded by great examples which could be inspiration for us all.”

365 days after blindness, swimming sailor claims gold

Zanardi paid a tearful tribute to this father, who died in 1997. “It's amazing how much is anyway passed on into my, through my skin and into my soul, you know. I am my dad… and I miss him so much, and I know … that in these days he's just getting a pat on the back from all the mates he's got up there because I'm sure he was very excited for what his son did and … I just hope that one day my son will be the same.”

He added: “My dad told me that if you find some tail wind, life can be much easier - but you've got to be there waiting for it. If when the tail wind comes you are in harbor because you thought it was impossible the tailwind would come, you're not going to be that lucky b****** that gets it. So you have to work, do your part, work very hard to get out of that harbor. It’s going to be hard with no wind… but if then the wind comes there's no reason why even an old crashed boat can't win the race… you have to try to make what you can.

“Take every day as an opportunity to add something to what you've done the previous day  - this whether you have become Usain Bolt or whether you have fallen down and you are in a hospital bed with very little left. But there's something left and something you can use to compensate and to start again. And if you do it right it will for sure be very exciting.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

Oda / Getty Images

From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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LONDON -- With the end of the Paralympic Games four days away, Londoners are being promised a bright Olympic legacy of new jobs, homes and park space – but some in the city’s poorest neighborhoods are already questioning whether they will see any long-term benefit.

The regeneration of post-industrial East London was a cornerstone of the city’s bid to host the 2012 Games, and work has already begun on finding new users for the permanent venues and on transforming the 550-acre park into a new community with almost 3,000 new homes as well as schools and leisure space.

“This is a generational project – it may be 20 years before we see the full benefit of the work being done today,” Dennis Hone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, told NBC News.

The future of seven of the eight permanent Olympic Park venues has been decided, with the striking Orbit sculpture becoming a visitor attraction and the Copper Box – which hosted pentathlon, fencing and handball during the Games – turned into a multi-purpose sport and entertainment venue.

Slideshow: When the Olympics is your neighbor

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A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.

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More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

On Wednesday, a conference heard how the 700,000 square foot International Broadcast Center – the building through which television pictures of the sporting action were edited and distributed to a global audience of billions - is to be turned into a technology quarter with office space for digital and creative start-up companies, studios, and a high-powered data center. The iCITY project, led by a private developer, aims to capitalize on East London’s growing reputation as a destination for designers, artists and creative entrepreneurs.

Andy Rain / EPA

Crowds make their way out of the Olympic Park at Stratford during the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Monday.

“We estimate that it will create 4,000 jobs, plus another 2,000 in the wider local community,” Richard Gibbs, business development director of iCITY, told NBC News.

But some in that community – particularly in Stratford, the poverty-stricken district bordering the Olympic Park - are unconvinced that they will see any of the promised benefits. “The good jobs will go to people from outside the area who have skills and education,” said Judith Garfeld, director of local charity Eastside Community Heritage. “The rest will be the same part-time, low-skilled service jobs that we already have.

“They are creating a new community on the site of the park but there is no sense that those of us who already live here will see any long-term legacy from the Olympics.”

Landscaping will be carried out to turn the grass and waterside areas into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with efforts underway to encourage wildlife into what used to be a contaminated industrial zone.

Up to 7,000 people will move into the athletes’ village, whose 2,818 dormitory-style apartments are being converted into proper living spaces to be known as East Village. A housing association will take over 1,379 of the homes, making about half available to those on local council social housing lists and the rest sold through government-sponsored shared-ownership and shared-equity schemes designed to ease young people into London’s sky-high property market. The remaining homes will be available on the private market, mostly for rent.

“It will be very nice for those people, but all it will do is push up the rent and the prices for everyone else in the area,” said a hot dog stand owner who gave his name to NBC News as Tony. “I don’t think it will change things for us.”

Alastair Jamieson / NBC News

Some local business owners in the Stratford area of East London think the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games will not benefit their community. A hot dog stand owner, who gave his name only as Tony, said new homes on the site of the Olympic Park would be for wealthier incomers.

He said his stand in Stratford market – a stone’s throw from the main entrance to the Olympic Park – had seen only a 10 per cent rise in business during the Games, despite up to a quarter of a million visitors per day passing through the nearby station on their way to the venues.

“They all got channeled out of the station and straight into the Olympic Park – we hardly saw any of them,” he said.

Stall holder, Angela Brown, who sells flags from around the world, said locals had been left “very disappointed” despite being excited about the Games.

Iraq vet: 'Now it's time to win' at Paralympics

“It was an exciting time and fantastic to meet people from all over world, but in terms of business it has been really, really bad,” she said. “The athletes wandered over but we didn’t see as many spectators as we hoped for.”

Much of the bitterness is aimed at the glitzy new Westfield shopping mall, abutting the Olympic Park, whose huge increase in traffic made it one of the few immediate economic winners from London’s $14.3-billion Games.

“Although Westfield has created jobs, they are low-skill shop jobs,” Garfield said. “Local kids hang around there but they can’t afford to buy anything, it’s not for local people. On the day a local kid got stabbed to death there they didn’t even close the doors.”

Elizabeth Dalziel / AP, file

Landscaper Jack Hunn builds a kingfisher nest, hidden at the bottom of the Olympic Stadium, on June, 20. Once the massive crowds go home, it is hoped bats will find themselves taking up residence in boxes around the park, part of a lasting environmental legacy for East London's Olympic Park.

Officials insist there has been wider economic benefit. “The cake has got bigger,” Hone said. “It isn’t about places like Westfield take a slice away from others. It may take time, but the whole area will get a lift from this regeneration.”

One of the biggest legacy questions remains unresolved: the future of the 80,000-seat $700-million main Olympic stadium.

Local soccer teams West Ham and Leyton Orient are among the bidders to become permanent tenants of the site, along with a sporting college and an ambitious scheme to host Formula One racing, the London Evening Standard reported. A final decision will be made next month.

Despite the lack of certainty, International Olympic Committee chairman Jacques Rogge believes London’s planning has set the bar high for future host cities.

“There is a lot of things London has done, with probably also a better care for sustainability and legacy than many other cities in the past,” he told an Olympic news conference last month. 

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LONDON -- If there’s one sound nobody expects to hear at a Paralympic gold medal ceremony, it’s booing - let alone the sound of the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium crowd jeering in unison. 

But that’s exactly what happened Monday evening when British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who is in charge of steering the country’s economy out of its current doldrums, was introduced to present medals for the men’s (T38) 400-meter race.

Video clips of Osborne's embarrassed reaction quickly went viral.

His anticipated cuts to public welfare spending, which have angered many in the disabled community, may have been behind the huge boo.

'Meet the Superhumans': Paralympians burst onto world stage

Adam Hills, disabled comedian and host of Channel 4’s “The Last Leg” program, joked: “Who went, ‘Hmm, who's the best person to give out medals to disabled people? I know, the guy in charge of funding cuts for disabled people. That won’t go wrong!’”

Most unpopular
A recent poll shows Osborne to be the most unpopular member of the British government, with 56 percent of voters saying he’s doing a “bad job” and 48 percent saying he should lose his job altogether.

Iraq vet: 'Now it's time to win' at Paralympics

Osborne seemed unfazed by his lack of popularity.

“If I was trying to win a popularity stakes, there are some easy things I could do. I could spend a lot more money –  that might make me popular in the short term,” he told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.  “It’s not the right decision... In a difficult environment, it’s not surprising that the Chancellor is not the most popular member of the government.”

Prime Ministers get booed too
Obsorne wasn’t the only one to feel the crowd’s disdain. Over at the aquatics center, his boss Prime Minister David Cameron was also met with jeers.

Some booing could be heard as he stepped up to present 17-year-old British swimmer Ellie Simmonds with her gold medal for the 200m individual medley.

In this case, though, wild cheers erupted in favor Ellie, drowning out much of the booing and keeping the focus firmly on the champion.

More coverage of the London Paralympics from Britain's ITV News

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Slideshow: Olympic Emotional Moments

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Click for more from the 2012 summer games in London.

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LONDON -- Following Sunday night's Olympic closing ceremony, NBCNews.com takes a tongue-in-cheek look at those who struck gold at London 2012 -- and some others who were left in the starting blocks.

WINNERS

Boris Johnson
London's tousle-haired mayor provided a moment of comedy gold when he got stuck on a zip wire at the city’s Victoria Park. For any other politician in charge of a major city, being caught on camera for several minutes dangling in front of a crowd of children like a sack of potatoes would have been career-ending. Not for Boris, whose self-deprecating style and easy charm convinced many pundits that he'll one day be elected prime minister.

The Paralympic Games
Maybe it’s the "Blade Runner" effect: Since South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius made Olympic history by competing alongside able-bodied athletes in the 400m race, sales of tickets for the Paralympics Games have broken records. Some 2.1 million tickets have already been sold for the London 2012 Paralympics, which begin on August 29 – already well ahead of the 1.8 million total four years ago in Beijing.

Lanyard manufacturers
Around the most security-conscious Olympic Games in history, you’re nobody without a lanyard. The 11,000 athletes, 11,000 coaching or IOC officials, 21,000 media and 200,000 on-site workers all need laminated credentials with a barcode ID strip attached to a lanyard -- an orange-and-purple ribbon worn around the neck. Then you need 12,200 soldiers and 7,000 civilian security workers to check those credentials. And they need credentials, too. That’s at least a quarter of a million people needing lanyards. And once you’re inside the Olympic Park, you need a separate lanyard to get into individual offices and venues. It was a business opportunity on a plate.

Al Bello / Getty Images

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps shows off his Olympic credentials -- and the lanyard holding it -- on July 24.

Westfield shopping mall, Stratford, East London
It opened its doors in the pit of Britain’s worst post-war recession and is located in a former industrial zone in one of London’s crime hotspots. Yet for the past two weeks, Westfield shopping mall, adjacent to the Olympic Park, has been the must-visit destination of the Games as athletes from around the world wander between the Apple Store and the Abercrombie & Fitch, posing for pictures and signing autographs for fans. The Cow, a bar at the end of the shopping center nearest the park entrance, is making more than $47,000 a day, according to one worker.

Missy Franklin
The 17-year-old's four gold medals and a bronze propelled her to a whole new level of fame. According to a sports marketing expert and two agents, this could be worth between $1 million and $5 million a year in endorsements, The Denver Post reported. "She's got a great smile," Andrew Stroth, a sports attorney specializing in endorsement deals, told the paper. "Her story's fantastic. She seems like an all-American girl, a young lady who really cares about people inside and outside the pool." 

Austria House
Of all the national hospitality houses that sprang up in London – the work of tourism agencies seeking to promote their country to the millions of Games visitors – Austria House, near the Tower of London, has been the most surprising success. Crowds regularly lined up around the block to buy beer at $6 a pint and sauerkraut at $12. How Austria managed to turn an overpriced temporary beer patio in the financial district into a to-be-seen-in venue remains a mystery, but Tower Hill has been alive with the sound of music since the Games began.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Julia Sailer pours two-liter beers as fast as she can sell them at Austria's national hospitality house on Tuesday.

London tube train and bus drivers
By threatening strike action during the Games, London’s underground train drivers -- already paid almost double the U.K. average wage -- secured a bonus payment of $1,400 to compensate for temporary changes in shift patterns. Angry at being left out, bus drivers used the same tactic to win themselves $900 regardless of whether their route was affected by the Games.

Britain's military
Britain’s soldiers stepped up to the plate when private contractor G4S failed to supply enough security workers. Despite concerns at the militarization of the Games, their placatory presence and application of much-needed courtesy and common sense at the airport-style searches was welcomed by spectators. The experience has left some Brits secretly wishing the military would also run the London Underground, most major sporting events and Heathrow Airport. 

Dave Martin / AP

British troops cheer along with the crowd as they get a break from security duties to watch the Brazil vs. Great Britain beach volleyball match on July 30.

More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

LOSERS

Greedy hotels and landlords
In February, NBCNews.com revealed that landlords in Britain's capital were evicting tenants in order to cash in on the Games by charging tourists many times the usual rent. Hotels also began charging exorbitant rates for rooms even in mediocre locations. However, up to one-third of those rooms were left unsold, according to The Daily Telegraph, while volunteers helping at the Games stayed at a temporary campsite rather than pay over-priced rates for accommodation. On top of that, Londoners have embraced the spirit of the Games by opening up their own homes free of charge to athletes’ families and spectators from around the world.

Slideshow: No tickets to the Olympics? Five London parks offer the next best thing

Around London, alternative Olympic viewing sites offer locals and tourists a cheaper, crowd-free version of the Games.

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London cyclists
It was meant to be the "greenest" Summer Games in history, but although Britain won a slew of cycling medals London 2012 hasn't been much fun for the city's ordinary cyclists. Part of a popular route for cyclists down the east side of London -- a path along the River Lea -- has been closed for security reasons because it runs close to the Olympic Park. And cyclists were also not allowed to use many of the Olympic Lanes set up for officials, athletes and others involved in the Games. To cap it all, a man cycling home to help avoid traffic congestion during the Games was knocked over and killed by an official London 2012 media bus. 

Jim Seida / NBC News

A cyclist uses his phone to help navigate around the security gate blocking the bike path along the western edge of London's Olympic Park on July 21.

British soccer players
The good grace and sportsmanship of Olympic athletes has thrown into sharp contrast the behavior of Britain’s highly-paid but mostly charmless professional soccer players.

Tourist attractions
Visitor numbers at London's traditional tourist attractions such as the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral fell by up to 40 per cent during the Games as dire warnings about likely transport chaos, congestion and long lines turned the city center into a ghost town. 

Slideshow: Graffiti Games: UK street artists take on Olympics

Jim Seida / NBC News

Street and graffiti artists have been satirizing, celebrating and making jokes about the Olympic Games in London.

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Small businesses
Many local businesses suffered too. Traders at a food market close to the Olympic Park face financial ruin, according to local reports, after paying up to $25,000 for market pitches on streets that turned out to be deserted. One spent more than $30,000 on rent, stock and equipment for his Thai food stall and failed to sell a single meal.

British taxpayers
The U.K. government spent some $14.5 billion on hosting the Games, according to organizers LOCOG, although experts suspect that cost could be considerably higher when all factors – such as public employees’ time – are taken into consideration. British Prime Minister David Cameron said before the Games that he was confident London 2012 would provide a $20 billion boost to the economy over the next four years. But that figure has been met with some skepticism. Professor Richard Jackman, of the London School of Economics, told NBCNews.com the financial benefits of the Olympics were always “grossly over-estimated” and “unfortunately our taxpayers are funding this.” He suggested the Olympics might make "a few billion." And Jackman is not alone. A poll of economists by Reuters found that 23 out of 27 thought the Games would not provide a lasting economic windfall.

Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

Oda / Getty Images

From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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Athletes in disgrace
Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella, 23, was stripped of his Olympic accreditation for posting a racist message on Twitter after his team lost 2-1 to South Korea. Swiss officials said the message was offensive and threatening. Triple-jumper Voula Papachristou was also cut from the Greece team after posting a comment mocking African immigrants.  Eight badminton players, from South Korea, Indonesia and China were disqualified after they tried to lose games in order to get an easier draw in the next round. The crowd booed the competitors when it became obvious they were not competing. Sebastian Coe, chairman of Games organizers LOCOG, said the spectacle was "depressing," adding "who wants to sit through something like that?" However, disgruntled fans were not given their money back.

Tullio M. Puglia / Getty Images

Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella lost his accreditation after sending a racist tweet.

Alastair Jamieson / NBC News

American track cycling silver medal winners Jennie Reed (L), Sarah Hammer and Lauren Tamayo (R) in front of London's Tower Bridge, Saturday.

LONDON – Posing for photos in front of Tower Bridge and buying souvenirs on the sidewalks, they could be any other tourists among the summer crowds. But with most London 2012 events now over, it's the turn of the world's greatest athletes to be awe-struck as they turn up at visitor attractions across the city.

Rebecca Soni, American gold medalist and winner of the 200m breaststroke, took a trip on the London Eye with fellow swimmers on Saturday, while double-gold winning gymnast Gabby Douglas went sightseeing on Wednesday, according to ESPN.

“Go USA!” shouted an onlooker as three of the U.S.'s four track cycling silver medalists -- Lauren Tamayo, Jennie Reed and Sarah Hammer -- took a tour of the Tower of London with NBCNews.com on Saturday.

“It’s great to get out and see a bit of London,” said Reed, from Seattle. “Tower Bridge is stunning -- it’s incredible to have seen it on the TV so many times and now to see it up close.”

The trio was greeted at the 11^th century royal fortress by a Yeoman Warder in traditional dress, and saw the Crown Jewels during their walk-through.

“It was incredible,” said Hammer. “We also saw the room where they used to keep all the exotic animals like lions and polar bears.”

Apart from a few admiring glances, the women moved largely un-noticed through tourist crowds outside the Tower, where Reed stopped to buy some art on the sidewalk.

Olympic jokers: Queen has 'a laugh,' empires compete

“For the first week we in the bubble of the village and didn’t really go out at all,” said Tamayo. “It’s easy to forget that you now need to take all your personal things again. When I went out I realized I was on the Tube and didn’t have any credit cards or ID on me except my accreditation.”

The women plan to visit Borough Market to buy gifts and specialty foods before leaving London with their teammates on Monday.

As well as turning tourist in London, the entire U.S. Olympic team has been giving back to the host nation by donating $157 per gold medal won at the Games to local sports and recreation charity Kids Company as part of Thank You Britain campaign.

Alastair Jamieson/NBC News

Silver medal-winning track cyclists Jennie Reed (L), Sarah Hammer and Lauren Tamayo (R) outside the Tower of London on Saturday.

Fans: Day at Olympics well worth $1,000 for family of 4

Reed said the athletes had much to be thankful for, including the Olympic Village.

“The accommodation has been great and the food probably the best of any Games I’ve been to,” she said.

Hammer described the atmosphere inside the Village, where their shared apartment overlooks part of the Olympic Park.

“Sometimes we have been watching events on TV and when you turn the sound down you can actually listen out the window and hear the same crowd noise for real -- it’s incredible,” she said.

Their verdict on London? “It’s very busy -- I’m amazed that people here are describing this as quieter than usual -- and the atmosphere is great,” said Tamayo.

"It's easy to forget that these world class athletes are tourists, too, and most are now enjoying all that Britain offers," said Mark Di-Toro, a spokesman for tourism agency Visit Britain. "When the athletes leave is when our work really begins to create a sustained and positive tourism legacy."

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Jim Seida / NBC News

L-R: Gail and Dennis Serwick from Woodbridge, N.J., and their daughter Megan, 7 (front left) and Kim and Rick Van Liew from Randolph, N.J., and their sons Matthew, 11, (front middle) and Russell, 12 (front right), In London's Olympic Park Thursday.

LONDON – A day at the Olympics in one of the most expensive cities on the planet was never going to be cheap. But for a group of sports fans from New Jersey this "once in a lifetime experience" was well worth spending the equivalent of about $1,000 for a family of four.

Ticket prices for every event -- including the opening and closing ceremonies -- start at a symbolic GBP 20.12 ($32), but most seats cost considerably more, and getting access to smaller venues such as the 6,000-capacity velodrome has proved tough.

“It was so incredibly hard to get tickets,” said Gail Serwick, from Woodbridge, N.J., who eventually managed to secure seven seats in the aquatics center at $110 each thanks to relatives who live in her native Wales.

Slideshow: No tickets to the Olympics? Five London parks offer the next best thing

Around London, alternative Olympic viewing sites offer locals and tourists a cheaper, crowd-free version of the Games.

Launch slideshow

Five were for the women’s 10m platform diving finals on Thursday morning, while two were for synchronized swimming in the afternoon.

“The allocation on sale in Britain was higher so it was the only real way we could get tickets. We tried everything and got so many rejections before we got these. You could get cheaper but we didn’t want nosebleed seats where you can’t see anything because we wanted it to be a special occasion," Serwick said.

She traveled to London with her husband Dennis and daughter Megan, 7, and another family -- Rick and Kim Van Liew and their sons Russell, 12, and Matthew, 11, from Randolph, N.J.

Their Olympic day out started with a shopping blitz for souvenirs and merchandise including London 2012 T-shirts and sweatshirts for the group and family and friends at home.

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In total, Serwick and Kim Van Liew spent $907 in the official London 2012 store in Hyde Park near their hotel -- easy to do when a T-shirt costs $40.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Kim Van Liew and her friend Gail Serwick show off their tickets to synchronized swimming at London's Olympic Park, Thursday.

Then there is the cost of food and drink inside the Olympic Park, where sponsors Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Heineken control the prices. A Big Mac costs $4.20, a Big Mac Meal $6.70 and an individual tub of Caramel ice cream $3.90. For drinks, a 500ml (16.9 fl oz) Coke costs $3.60 while a pint (19.2 fl oz) of Heineken is $7.20.

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In total, the group spent $93, or $13.40 per head on lunch and snacks while enjoying the sprawling park between their two events.

The only cost they didn’t have to worry about was transport: Free one-day Oyster transit cards are included with all tickets.

“We got a bus then a train to get here,” Van Liew said. “Everyone was very helpful – everywhere you looked there was somebody on hand to help.”

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In total, their day at the Olympics cost $1,770 between seven -- equivalent to nearly $253 per head, or about $1,011 for a family of four. So was it worth it?

“I was very impressed, I think the tickets were good for the price,” Dennis Serwick said. “I’ve been to Wimbledon and Roland Garros and these Olympic tickets were better value. We had a good view of the action, didn’t need binoculars or anything.”

Read more from NBC News about the Olympics

Rick Van Liew said the tickets were equivalent to the price of seats to watch Major League Baseball at the Yankee’s stadium.  Indeed, tickets for an October home game against the Boston Red Sox on sale Friday ranged from $38 to $200.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience," Gail Serwick said, "and it’s hard to put an exact price on that."

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