In its wildest dreams, Hawai'i could not have imagined what transpired at these Olympics. Our tiny state sent 18 athletes to Beijing and two-thirds will come home with medals.

Let it sink in. Hawai'i's athletes — those who grew up here and those who have ties here, mostly through the University of Hawai'i — won more Olympic medals in the past 16 days than they have in the past 50 years. More than most countries.

Hawai'i played a primary part in the shocking dominance of USA volleyball, which rose from tragedy to unprecedented success indoors and on the beach. It had roles in the stunning runs of a couple of ninth-ranked water polo teams that reached gold-medal games.

Bryan Clay of Kane'ohe is the World's Greatest Athlete today and hopes to be a Wheaties cover boy tomorrow. Kahuku's Natasha Kai sports golden bling over soccer's most-decorated body after helping her team to the 1,000th gold medal ever won by the United States in the Olympic Games.

Former Rainbow Wahine Stacey Porter and Justine Smethurst — who plans to return for her final two years at UH — and their Australian teammates joined the Japan and U.S. teams after the medal ceremony to spell out "2016" in softballs in front of home plate.

The remarkable show of unity, with the teams chanting "Back Softball" in unison, was a vivid plea to reinstate their sport which, along with baseball, has been pulled from the 2012 Games. It could be the 1-2 punch, along with Japan's huge upset of the dominant U.S. in the final, that will return the sport to Olympic status.

Yesterday, Clay Stanley won a gold medal as the U.S. men's volleyball team beat Brazil, and Brandon Brooks took home a silver medal in water polo after the U.S. men lost to Hungary. Meanwhile, the U.S. women's volleyball team — known here as the American 'ohana — tried to win its first gold medal. It came up short against a top-ranked Brazilian team that did not even drop a game its first seven matches, but every medal has a silver lining.

"We're just thrilled," said Punahou graduate Lindsey Berg, one of four players with strong Hawai'i ties on the team. "It's hard because we end with a loss. But we got a silver medal at the Olympic Games, something that nobody on our team has ever gotten. It's been a wonderful experience."

'DEFINITELY ROLE MODELS'

Expect every Rainbow Wahine recruit in the near future to hear about it. Berg, who played college for Minnesota, and former Hawai'i All-Americans Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Heather Bown and Kim Willoughby had crucial roles on the most surprising team in the women's draw. Half the Americans' six victories came in five frenetic games as the team made up for 16 medal-free years of frustration with amazing balance and fortitude.

UH seniors Jamie Houston and Jessica Keefe followed it with eyes wide open.

"It's very cool to watch people who have been in this gym in that sort of atmosphere, the biggest stage," Keefe said. "You know they've been in the same gym, working just like you have. I definitely look up to them."

Tara Hittle added: "It's just cool, knowing half the team, practically, played for UH. They are definitely role models."

The U.S. was coached by "Jenny" Lang Ping, who led China to a victory over the Americans in 1984, in their only other gold-medal match. The Americans have won just one medal since, a bronze in 1992 with former Hawai'i All-American Teee Williams. Lang Ping brought a brilliant volleyball mind and the ability to inspire players and unity, and got every ounce of effort from her team.

"I've never seen a USA team that's so together, all pulling for each other, doing everything as a team," said UH coach Dave Shoji, about to begin his 34th season. "It doesn't matter who is in. Sometimes players get yanked from a game, they get down on themselves or down on something. It just hasn't happened. As a coach, you hope your team will react like that.

"We're letting all our recruits know where a third of that team comes from. Hopefully, they will understand you can come to Hawai'i and get medals."

Laurel Iversen, who played on the 1984 U.S. team and now lives in Kalaheo, Kaua'i, was instrumental in bringing Lang Ping, one of the most famous faces in China, to the United States. They met as opponents and, after Lang Ping retired as a player, she asked Iversen to help her enroll at the University of New Mexico, where Iversen was head coach. China allowed Lang Ping to leave the country on the condition that she not coach.

"Of course we had her coaching," Iversen recalled. "She was learning English and she was so funny in the gym. She never said much because she wasn't comfortable with the language yet, but she would say little things and be so direct and get away with things we couldn't say."

Lang Ping learned to coach the hard way, working camps and refereeing to make ends meet. She also immediately understood the college game's emphasis on student-athletes as a whole.

"She was really OK with that. That part of the American system she liked," Iversen said. "It wasn't just volleyball, but letting players have a life and develop as people and not just skills in a gym."

She went on to coach China to a silver medal in 1996, then coached professionally overseas before getting hired by USA Volleyball. The rest is more silver-medal history, as Lang Ping blended strict training with a compassionate personality. Iversen calls it "a magical gift."

LEADING SCORER

Hugh McCutcheon, a New Zealander who coaches Stanley on the men's volleyball team, appears to have the same successful touch. McCutcheon's father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was killed in a random act of violence in Beijing just before volleyball started. The coach returned to his team three matches into the Olympics and the U.S. has played with more heart, soul and skill every match, reaching its first final in 20 years.

"We've got emotion coming out our ears," said Lloy Ball, the team's 36-year-old setter.

Stanley, whose father, Jon, and step-grandfather, the late Tom Haine, played in the 1968 Olympics, has been the team's leading scorer in Athens and Beijing. He had eight aces, timed at 80 mph to 85 mph, in the semifinal victory over Russia, but the American men, whose last medal was also in 1992, have also benefited from remarkable balance and unity.

"This team represents what's good about team sports — the sum of our hearts is much greater than the individual aspects of this team," McCutcheon said going into the final. "A bunch of guys playing selflessly, a lot of unity and a lot of strength."

Clay could only look within for help as he won the decathlon — 10 events staged in a 36-hour window Thursday and Friday, through driving rain and debilitating heat. Of the 40 men who started, only 26 finished. Clay managed 4 hours sleep Friday, but never trailed in an eye-opening performance that found him leading by a gaping 479 points going into the final event.

That gave him a 68-second cushion in the 1,500 meters over his closest pursuer. Clay could coast in the dreaded run and still win by 240 points, the largest margin of victory since 1972. Americans have now won 12 of 24 Olympic decathlons, as Clay joins a legendary group that includes Jim Thorpe, Bob Mathias and Rafer Johnson.

All this from a guy a head smaller and much leaner than everyone that surrounded him — in the Bird's Nest and now on the luminous list of Olympic decathlon champions. What makes Clay's accomplishment so amazing is that he not only dominates in the sprints, but is so proficient in the throws.

"He is just so technically solid," UH track and field coach Carmyn James said. "Others are bigger and stronger, but not as technically proficient."

His success, which his manager told The Wall Street Journal might be worth as much as $20 million in "Olympic-related income," could make waves in the athletic world as wild as those caused by towering Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt.

"A successful small decathlete will be like a 6-5 sprinter," James said. "They are breaking down barriers. People will start thinking they can do anything."

GREAT BALANCE

Such as win an Olympic medal in water polo after years of frustration, something the U.S. men, with Punahou graduate Brooks, and Dutch women, with former Rainbow Wahine All-Americans Iefke Van Belkum and Meika De Nooy, accomplished in Beijing.

Brooks, the starting U.S. goalie four years ago, is only a backup now to Merrill Moses, who has been spectacular in the net with 69 saves going into last night's gold-medal match. But aside from goalie, this U.S. team also benefited from great balance, with every field player scoring.

According to his father, Scott, Brooks has come to terms with his role on a team that has captivated fans in the Water Cube.

"To win a medal and just be a cheerleader is pretty cool," Scott Brooks said. "He's into it now that it has become a fairy tale. The first few matches, he thought this really bites, but now he's happy. Plus, he said the whole situation in the Olympic Village is so much nicer than Athens.

"The last coach made them work out 12 hours a day and there was no fun allowed. This coach said you need to work, but you should also have fun. Of course, the place is full of beautiful girls. It's nice for a single guy."

The women's team from the Netherlands also got on a wonderful roll after opening with losses in two of their first three games. It scored the first four goals in the final against the top-ranked U.S., with Van Belkum getting the third, and never trailed to win their first gold.

Van Belkum and Danielle de Bruijn, who scored a spectacular seven goals in the 9-8 victory over the Americans, were the foundation of the Dutch team. Van Belkum has two years of eligibility left at UH, but told coach Michel Roy she was planning to play professionally.

"I sent her an e-mail two days ago saying I've still got money for her scholarship," Roy said. "You've got to try."

De Nooy, a backup goalie like Brooks, did not play but did dance while the ecstatic Netherlands team waited to climb the medal podium.

"I am very happy for them," Roy said. "We have three full Dutch players and three half-Dutch players now. We can't let that go."

At least not until July 27, 2012, when the torch is lit for the XXX Olympiad in London.