BEIJING - The United States said Sunday it was disappointed the Olympics did not bring more "openness and tolerance" in China as the games ended and eight American activists were deported during closing ceremonies.

The blunt U.S. criticism -- and China's harsher treatment of foreign activists -- came at the end of 17 days of competition that generally went smoothly for Chinese organizers, who had been nervous about security and protests.

No rallies were held throughout the entire Olympics in three parks designated as protest zones after Chinese officials declined to issue permits to 77 applicants and detained some of them. But mostly foreign activists staged a series of small illegal demonstrations near Olympic venues and at Beijing landmarks.

They unveiled "Free Tibet" banners before being seized, hustled into cars and taken away to be put on flights out of China.

The White House said in a statement that eight Americans -- James Powderly, Brian Conley, Jeffrey Rae, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, Tom Grant, Jeremy Wells and John Watterberg -- were deported by Chinese authorities Sunday.

A handful of journalists trying to cover the protests were roughed up by authorities, then released. There were also tensions with the media over China's restricting access to the Internet.

Beijing had promised the media freedom to report the games. It designated the protest parks as part of efforts to address criticism that China should not have been awarded the games because of its human rights record.

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